Solana

Elon Musk

The Solana&nbsp;blockchain has become a hub for new memecoins as the new bull season kicks off with several new memecoins reaching market capitalizations in the billions of dollars within days of launching. 
One memecoin that has grabbed the crypto community’s attention is Slerf. The creator behind the project mistakenly burnt over $10 million in Solana before the launch, however, despite that the memecoin was launched and reached $500 million market cap within hours.
The developer raised 535,000 Solana&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index"></a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index">SOL</a>) tokens to launch the memecoin but accidentally burnt $10.4 million worth of Solana tokens while trying to clear their wallet.
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 Developer burns $10 million of SOL. Source: <a href="https://x.com/Slerfsol/status/1769628588809031864?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Slerf on X</a>
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The&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-memecoin-presales-hit-peak-degeneracy-over-one-hundred-million"></a><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-memecoin-presales-hit-peak-degeneracy-over-one-hundred-million">memecoin frenzy has led to comparisons</a> with the Ethereum initial coin offering (ICO) era bubble of 2017 when several crypto projects raised millions of dollars but many failed to deliver.
Memecoins are cryptocurrencies stemming from an internet meme or having some other humorous characteristic, but they lack any real-world use case other than being a pop culture reference. These cryptocurrencies are highly speculative and supported by some enthusiastic online communities. 
Dogecoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/doge-price-index">DOGE</a>) is considered the OG memecoin and received support from Elon Musk during the 2021 bull market. In 2024, multiple memecoins, some barely a week old, have reached billions in market capitalization, creating new crypto millionaires by the hour. 
The recent comparison to the ICO presale era of 2017 comes amid many influencers managing to <a href="https://x.com/SolanaFloor/status/1768725590218006826?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">raise</a>&nbsp;millions of dollars in presales to launch new memecoins.
Users on X compared the current memecoin offerings (MCOs) to the Ethereum ICO bubble in 2017 when several crypto projects promised to deliver only to vanish after raising funds. A 2018 report indicated that over 90% of ICO projects failed.
Similarly, there have been several instances where influencers have run away with the presale money or have dumped it on the market right after the launch.
One user on X <a href="https://x.com/WRabbit1111/status/1768793562056171626?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">said</a>&nbsp;the memecoin mania is a more honest version of the 2017 ICO craze and the 2021 nonfungible token/crypto-art bubble, as projects “no longer have to pretend to deliver on a fake white paper and investors no longer have to pretend to be in it for the art.”
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 Scammer defrauding people during thememecoin frenzy. Source: <a href="https://x.com/zachxbt/status/1769150002490638597?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">ZachXBT on X</a>
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Stories of a few traders making millions of dollars in a couple of days often attract several others to try their luck. However, on most occasions, they lose a significant chunk of their investment.
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 A trader’s memecoin portfolio. Source: <a href="https://x.com/Eljaboom/status/1769605995997655258?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Elja on X</a>
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Crypto proponents <a href="https://x.com/hmalviya9/status/1769416652393779479?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">claim</a>&nbsp;the memecoin bubble will eventually liquidate millions of new users who blindly put their money into technology with no utility.
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>

Slerf dev accidentally burns $10M as Solana meme frenzy takes hold

Cointelegraph

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