Solana Memecoins Rally Alongside SOL As Crossroads Conference Kicks Off

Solana’s Crossroads 2024 conference in Istanbul Turkey is live, and the markets are responding.

SOL, Solana’s network token, is up more than 8% in the past 24 hours amid the event, last changing hands for $153.5, according to CoinGecko. SOL is the second strongest performing among the top 35 cryptocurrencies by market cap, with only Toncoin (TON) outperforming it after a 13.5% rally.

The impressive performance comes as most leading digital assets are trending sideways, with the combined capitalization of crypto assets posting a modest daily gain of 2.8%.

Solana’s meme markets outperform

Memecoins unironically endured as a serious topic throughout the event, with multiple panelists requesting a show of hands from active meme token traders seated amongst the audience — each time eliciting an enthusiastic response.

The buzz for Solana’s meme sector is already manifesting in the markets, with the combined capitalization of Solana memecoins bouncing 12% to $7.83 billion in 24 hours. For comparison, the broader memecoin sector is up 6.8% in 24 hours, with assets within Solana’s ecosystem comprising the segment’s top gainers.

Dogwifhat, the network’s top memecoin, is leading the charge with a 12% daily gain. Bonk, Solana's second-largest memecoin and a Crossroads sponsor, is up 6%, while Book of Meme jumped 12%, and Popcat rallied 19.5%.

Speaking to The Defiant, Thomas, the co-founder of Kamino, described memecoins as enabling the tokenization of viral culture. “We think that tokenizing virality is the future of France and Kamino is committed to building products to power this economic activity,” he said.

King, the co-founder of Bonkbot, a Telegram trading bot, argued on-stage that meme tokens offer a superior mechanism for onboarding retail users than offering legacy trading products within a web3 setting.

“I think that memecoins are a good way to onboard retail… they’re a simpler product than other, more complicated products like options,” he said. “A user can look at a meme, and if they laugh, they can buy the meme.”

However, Streggs from Flash Point noted that the surge in memecoin trading activity has also driven congestion on Solana, with some users’ trades being included several blocks after their intended execution.

“These are markets that can move 30% [to] 50% in a matter of minutes,” he said. “If I made a trade and it landed give blocks later, it would a difference [...] to my [profit and loss].

King also noted the memecoin-induced congestion, noting that many Solana traders expect their transactions to execute “within seconds.”

“Keeping users safe as well as congestion are the main issues that we face,” he said, acknowledging the prevalence of rug-pulls within the fast and loose memecoin segment. “I’ve been rugged my fair share of times,” King added.