Ethereum

Solana

Solana network activity surpassed Ethereum over the weekend amid a scramble for Solana-based memecoins — causing the network to struggle to keep up.
On March 16, Solana’s total trading volume soared past Ethereum, reaching $3.52 billion and beating out the daily volume on the Ethereum network by more than $1.1 billion, per DefiLlama. 
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-03/482af04a-e2e4-4c0a-b6e3-c45d52a3500c.png" alt="" title="">
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 Solana reached a new record of $3.79 billion in trading volume on March 15. Source: DefiLlama
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However, the Solana network struggled to keep up with the influx of activity, with many users across X complaining about frequent instances of failed or missing transactions. 
According to Solana validator <a href="https://explorer.solana.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">data</a>, cited by pseudonymous user “Dagnum” on X, Solana’s ping time ran between 20 and 40 seconds at 8 pm UTC on March 16, resulting in approximately 50% of transactions failing for around 20 minutes. 
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 Congestion on the Solana network also reached new highs. Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/Dagnum_PI/status/1769199791232422027?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">@Dagnum_PI on X</a>
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The huge uptick in Solana network activity was driven by an outsized appetite for new memecoins. On March 14, degens began piling into a new memecoin called Book of Meme (BOME), which rallied from near-zero to a market capitalization of $1.45 billion in just 56 hours.
Another memecoin dubbed Nap (NAP) also garnered significant attention from traders, rallying from a market cap of around $20 million to over $330 million in less than 18 hours.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trader-fumbles-1-million-solana-memecoin-frenzy">Trader fumbles $1M bag after selling a Solana memecoin early</a>
The price of Solana (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index">SOL</a>) also rallied alongside the huge uptick in network activity, with SOL currently trading at $200, up 7.6% over the last week and 38.4% in the last month, per CoinGecko <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/solana" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">data</a>. 
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 Solana’s market capitalization also notched a new all-time high. Source: CoinGecko
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Solana’s recent gains have also allowed the coin to overtake Binance’s BNB (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/binance-coin-price-index">BNB</a>) to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap at $88.5 billion.
Due to an overall increase in the total supply of Solana tokens, the network’s market cap is currently nearly $12 billion above its former top market cap of $76.5 billion — which it reached on Nov. 7, 2021. 
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/pink-drainer-security-researcher-steals-millions-from-participants/">Inside Pink Drainer — Security analyst defends his crypto scam franchise</a>

Solana activity flips Ethereum amid memecoin craze, even as txs fail

Cointelegraph

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