Solana’s memecoin mania: What’s beyond the ‘hype’ and is there ‘impact’?

• Bitcoin maximalist claim memes are scams and have no “impact.” 
• Exec at Pantera Capital fund disagrees, citing the impact of memes on Solana. 

The conversation on memecoin’s utility and impact seems far from over. In Q1, the so-called “degenerate gems” outperformed the market hands-down. The meme sector rallied 1300% and 4.6X the second-best performing segment (RWA). 

But Bitcoin Maxi and investor Fred Krueger have downplayed memecoin’s value proposition or impact on chains. He specifically took a swipe at new-generation memes posted on billboards. 

 “Whenever you see crypto on a Billboard, you know a scam is coming. I’m starting to see the same things now for the next generation of memecoins.”

Additionally, Krueger poured cold water on memecoin’s “impact”; 

“Another trigger for me is the word “impact”. My pattern recognition algo always completes. “Impact is …. bullshit”

Impact of memes on Solana

However, other crypto figures have underscored how the Solana [SOL] network has benefitted from the explosive meme mania in Q1. 

For instance, BitMEX exchange founder Arthur Hayes highlighted their potential impact last month and said; 

 “The chains that can support meme culture are going to be the chains that have value.”

Paul Veradittakit, Managing Partner at Pantera Capital, a cryptocurrency-focused venture capital fund, elaborated on the impact of memes on the Solana network. 

Veradittakit noted that Solana swung to life and shook off the FTX overhangs after the airdrop of Bonk [BONK].

“The airdropped memecoin became a rallying point for Solana, rapidly integrating into hundreds of DeFi protocols & apps on the platform. Activity rebounded.”

The exec added that even Avalanche [AVAX] and the new Ethereum L2, Blast, seek to leverage memecoins to stimulate activity. 

Veradittakit expounded that, 

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“I believe more networks & platforms should think about leveraging memecoins to supercharge activity.”

According to CoinGecko, the meme segment had a $63 billion market share, which translated to 2.4% of the total crypto market, which stood at $2.62 trillion as of the time of writing. 

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The attention and activity memes bring to chains might be hard to downplay, even if it’s tasteless to people or Bitcoin maximalists like Krueger. 

Even so, some memes could become scams, and Solana has witnessed several rug pulls in this cycle. But overall, the meme segment isn’t a passing fad, especially as other chains seek a piece of meme action.