Solana blockchain network has become a hub for new memecoins this bull season, with several new memecoins reaching billions in market value within just a few days. This memecoin mania has led to comparisons with the 2017 ICO bubble in the Ethereum ecosystem, where many crypto projects raised millions of dollars but many failed.
The Memecoin Mania and Crypto Market
Memecoin projects are cryptocurrencies focused on internet meme culture or possessing some other humorous feature, yet they lack any real-world use case beyond being a pop culture reference. These cryptocurrencies are highly speculative and supported by some enthusiastic online communities.
Dogecoin, is considered the original memecoin and was supported by Elon Musk during the 2021 bull market. In 2024, numerous memecoins, some only a week old, reached billions in market value, creating new crypto millionaires every hour.
The most recent comparison to the 2017 ICO pre-sale period stems from many influencers managing to raise millions of dollars in pre-sales for launching new memecoin projects.
What’s Happening in the Memecoin Market?
Users on platform X compared the current memecoin offerings (MCOs) to the 2017 Ethereum ICO bubble; several crypto projects promised nothing but disappearance after raising funds. A 2018 report showed that more than 90% of ICO projects failed.
Similarly, there have been instances where influencers ran off with pre-sale money or dumped the coins right after launch. In one case, a developer who raised 535,000 SOL worth $10.4 million to launch a memecoin accidentally burned all of it.
A user on platform X stated that the memecoin craze is a more honest version of the 2017 ICO frenzy and the 2021 NFT bubble, as projects no longer need to pretend to offer a fake whitepaper and investors no longer have to act as if they are in it for the art.
Stories of investors making millions in a few days often lure others to try their luck. However, in most cases, new investors end up losing a significant portion of their investments.
