Solana Founder Sounds Alarm on Meme Presales Post-SLERF Mishap

Are unknown memecoin presales really worth the risk? Insights from Solana’s staff raise concerns.

Solana CEO Anatoly Yakovenko doesnt get the whole trend with SLERF.
Created by Kornelija Poderskytė from DailyCoin
  • Solana’s memecoin eruption has caused a flurry of memecurrency presales.
  • SLERF presale investors incurred a $10.8M loss due to developer’s mistake.
  • On-chain detective shares a list of sketchy presale projects swirling around X.

Solana’s Layer-1 blockchain continues to thrive, with a price milestone above $200 for the first time since November 2021. However, the achievement on March 18, 2024, comes with additional challenges, as Solana’s latest memecoin craze has taken its toll on quite a few memecoin presale investors.

According to an inspection by veteran on-chain sleuth ZachXBT, 33 memecurrency projects on Solana (SOL) have accumulated more than 796,000 SOL from crypto enthusiasts investing in the presale stages. ZachXBT revealed that his research includes only presale funding on Solana’s chain, starting from March 12, 2024.

Totaling $149.2 million in presale crowdfunding, these SOL memecoin projects are extremely risky due to constant rug pulls. For instance, the crypto wallet ascribed to the Twitter account SartoshiOx was shown by ZackXBT to have pocketed 62% of presale funds. In a screenshot, it’s evident that 4,434 Solana tokens were transferred to a new crypto wallet rather than to the Liquidity Pool as promised.

Solana’s Co-Founder Calls for Quality Over Quantity

Meanwhile, Solana’s co-founding members have weighed in on the controversial situation. Kevin R. Ricoy, a prominent Solana Foundation developer, remarked that crypto enthusiasts who want Solana’s blockchain to be successful should “throw less SOL at presale rugs and donate more to community projects on @_cubik.”

The developer refers to the Cubik Grants project, where community developers are crowdfunded but later multiplied by pool sponsors. In a crusade to support emerging builders on Solana’s chain, the first Cubik Grant round will run until the end of March.

Ricoy’s message was reposted by Solana’s co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko. This comes days after Solana’s SLERF memecoin attracted criticism for potentially being a Ponzi scheme due to a $10.8M mishap. Binance also launched an insider trading investigation on Book Of Meme (BOME) with a $5M bounty on March 18, 2024, a day since the memecoin was listed on the platform.

On the Flipside

  • Some crypto traders believe that the recent market drawdown was caused by crypto investors losing trust in Solana’s network due to many rug pulls.
  • Additionally, these rugpullers are said to have caused a sell-off, contributing to SOL sharply dipping to $164 after claiming a new yearly high of $208.

Why This Matters

Memecoin presales often bank on investors’ rising Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) sentiment, which can cause devastating losses without proper research.

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This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Tadas Klimasevskis

Tadas Klimaševskis is a Lithuanian journalist at DailyCoin, specializing in covering the lighter side of the crypto industry such as memecoins and pop culture in the metaverse. He has experience as a music artist, English language teacher, and freelance writer, and uses his creative writing skills to summarize valuable information in his work. He is also a strong believer in the potential of blockchain and spends his free time listening to music, traveling, and watching basketball games.