Solana is now a blockchain ecosystem consumed by Memecoin activities and market speculation.
The technical advantages of the platform, including sub-second final fees and low trading fees, attracted a surge in speculative projects and encouraged comparisons with BNB chains that had experienced similar trajectories during the Memecoin boom.
Solana-based tokens reflect the early days of the BNB chain when they promoted high-frequency trading activities and when low rates and Binance infrastructure promoted rapid retail adoption.
The BNB chain, which became famous in 2021, took advantage of low transaction costs and strong integration with Binance. Projects like Safemoon and Baby Dogecoin have spurred retail interest and ultimately led to criticism over fraud, rug pulls and unsustainable toconamis.
Dexes like Pancakeswap were filled with memokines and fraud tokens as the low financial costs of attempted fraud became an opportunity for criminals.
The BNB chain has revived this year with viral tokens such as broccoli and testing, but its updated activities have not completely dispelled the reputation of the platform, driven primarily by speculative trading. Furthermore, the revival of BNB Chain relies on a copy of Solana’s Pump.Fun strategy rather than introducing new technologies.
Solana as a new BNB
The evolution of Solana reflects some of these challenges. The ultra-low rates on the platform initially provided strong incentives for traders, but network instability under high loads is eroding market trust.
Data from mid-February shows that Solana’s active addresses have dropped from 18.5 million to 8.4 million, and daily DEX volumes have dropped from $35 billion to $2.4 billion. The BNB chain saw new fee activities driven by the new Memocoin interest, which is already beginning to fade. These numbers refer to networks under tension where speculative trading could occur at the expense of wider application utilities.
Bob’s co-founder (based on Bitcoin) Dom Haz told cryptoslate.
“I will not deny the broad appeal of memecoin, but after some famous issues, the memokine frenzy has probably started to cool down a bit.
This week’s Ragpal accusations over the Argentine president, Javier Mairey’s $Libra Token, along with previous controversies such as Donald Trump’s $Trump, $Melania, and $Hawk of Baron and Hawk Toa Girl, Memocoin Bull Run It could have caused serious damage to the
BNB’s TVL peak exceeded $20 billion in 2021, but has since dropped to about $5 billion.
Solana TVL peaked at about $10 billion in 2021 before reaching a new high of about $12 billion in early 2025. It has since dropped to $8 billion, with SOL prices exceeding 40%.
Developer sentiment in both chains is also affected. According to Defillama data, both BNB and Solana have seen a dramatic decline in core developer contributions. In November 2021, Solana had over 160 core developers, but now shows fewer than 10. The BNB chain reflects this, falling from 115 to just 16.
Institutional interest in Solana faded after the prominent collapse of the child libra, a mimecoin who erased the market value of billions within hours amid an insider trading allegation.
Solana’s Memecoin Hellscape
Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs, acknowledged the serious challenges and described the ecosystem as a “hell landscape” that requires a fair launch solution without permission. This sentiment is in contrast to the BNB chain approach, with a more measured embrace of speculative tokens despite regular set-offs. However, while the BNB chain remains indifferent to US regulations and focuses on other parts of the world, Solana appears to be more interested in the US acceptance.
Memecoin looks like a low, bone-breaking fruit as the US president has launched Memecoin, which has no fundamental utility for his family in Solana. But how long does it take for Fruit Lot and Solana to get closer to Memecoin than cutting-edge blockchain technology?
The similarity between Solana and the BNB chain lies in this tension between the growth and the quest for sustainable utilities driven by Memecoin Frenzy. Solana faces the need to balance market talk with a commitment to long-term network resilience.
Solana was once considered a true competitor to Ethereum. Saga mobile phones were driving mass adoption and technical capabilities that promised an elegant implementation of Web3 for non-cryptonitatives. However, period magazines are dominated by Memocoin, and while some claims bring new users to the space, the history of the BNB chain tells a different story.
When was the last time a cutting-edge foundation-based project started at BNB? I argue that clones of fun in BNB are not counted.
MemeCoins is a PVP gamble and hopes that not all traders will become outlet liquidity for other traders. I’m not against responsible gambling, but does Solana want to be a gambling chain or will it bring about the next billion true defi users?
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