Memecoin: Con Dao Hai Lưỡi Làm Đứt Tay Solana

Solana - a high-throughput Layer 1 blockchain once expected to be the "Ethereum killer", is facing a serious reputation crisis. A series of scandals related to memecoins, especially political memecoins like LIBRA, TRUMP, and MELANIA, have undermined investor confidence and raised questions about the future of this ecosystem. The long episode of memecoin scandal For crypto investors willing to take high risks, Solana is seen as a "promised land" for memecoin trading thanks to its low network fees, fast speed, and newbie-friendly ecosystem, especially with the support of tools like bot trading. Recently, Solana has been attracting attention, but not in the way supporters of this blockchain expect. The meme coin-related scandal has overshadowed the core advantages of the platform, while also raising concerns about fraud, rug pull, market manipulation causing heavy losses to investors. Among them, LIBRA - a memecoin associated with the image of Argentine President Javier Milei is one of the most typical examples of the chaos unfolding in this ecosystem. On-chain data from Nansen Research shows that 86% of LIBRA traders are losing money, with total losses amounting to 251 million USD, while only 2,101 wallets profit 180 million USD. In particular, a wallet earns 5.1 million USD, raising suspicions of insider trading and the fact that individuals with special advantages are controlling the majority of the supply and dominating the market.

Do not stop, LIBRA is also accused of having a connection with the memecoin MELANIA. According to analysis from Bubblemaps, the development team behind LIBRA seems to also control MELANIA along with many other memecoins like ENRON, BOB, and RAG. This discovery raises questions about a large-scale manipulation scheme, in which investors in the Solana ecosystem may be the hardest hit. Before LIBRA, meme coins like TRUMP and MELANIA launched on Solana also left many negative consequences. TRUMP is said to have caused approximately 2 billion USD in damages to over 800,000 wallets, while MELANIA is accused of a 'snipe' token - a tactic in which the development team uses bots to buy a large amount of tokens as soon as they are launched, creating an unfair advantage and undermining the transparency of the project. After a series of memecoin scandals, trust in the Solana ecosystem is being tested. Investors are becoming more cautious, fearing that this blockchain could become a "playground" for fraudulent activities and market manipulation, rather than a platform for sustainable innovation as originally expected. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, called LIBRA the 'latest episode in the series of scandals' of the memecoin ecosystem on Solana - which has significantly declined since reaching its peak in January 2025, when TRUMP memecoin hit a market cap of $75 billion. The collapse of LIBRA could lead to a decline in the entire memecoin ecosystem, thereby reducing the demand for holding SOL. “The collapse of LIBRA could lead to a decline in the entire memecoin ecosystem, thereby reducing the demand for holding SOL,” he added. “Despite Solana having many other applications unrelated to memecoins, SOL is still being ‘punished’ for the LIBRA incident,” David Canellis - an analyst from Blockworks commented. Solana "plays" double-edged sword The rise of meme coins can be seen as a "double-edged sword" for Solana. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Solana's network revenue surged 261%, mainly due to the explosion of the memecoin wave. This growth reflects the appeal of memecoins to users as well as their ability to drive revenue for the network.

In which, Pump.fun and similar platforms play an important role in promoting the memecoin fever on Solana. Pump.fun, by simplifying the process of creating and launching memecoins, has attracted a large number of users to participate. According to data from Dune Analytics, over 1.69 million new memecoins have been created in just January 2025, reflecting the explosive growth rate of this trend on Solana. As of the time of writing, the accumulated revenue of this platform alone has reached over 2.9 million SOL (and over 450 million USD), showing that the amount of memecoin issued on Pump.fun and the memecoin craze on Solana are the main reasons driving both the project and this ecosystem. However, Pump.fun is also criticized for lacking user protection measures. The founder of Pump.fun is calling for tightening regulations for the 'launchpads' of memecoins following the LIBRA scandal. He proposes to raise awareness of users about creating transparent memecoins, while applying measures to protect investors such as hiding risk tokens and limiting slippage to less than 20% to reduce the risk of manipulation.

The Vũng Lầy memecoin on Solana also brings political and legal ramifications. Ben Chow - co-founder of Meteora, resigned amid controversy over LIBRA, although both Meteora and Jupiter deny allegations of insider trading. To allay concerns, Meow - co-founder of Jupiter, announced that they have hired the law firm Fenwick & West to conduct an independent investigation to clarify all related allegations.

It can be seen that the memecoin season has been and is overshadowing other potential projects on Solana, causing attention and capital flow in the ecosystem to be seriously dispersed. If this trend continues, Solana risks losing momentum for sustainable long-term development, as for retail investors, this is no different from a “crypto casino”. In fact, retail investors are often the ones facing the greatest risks when dealing with insider trading, price manipulation, and fraudulent schemes. As the meme coin fever cools down, can Solana strengthen its ecosystem or will it face bigger challenges?