Solana Revenue Plummets 93% as Memecoin Hype Fizzles Out

Solana memecoin frenzy that once fueled its growth fades into the background. Data from DeFiLlama reveals that Solana’s weekly network revenue has plunged from a record $55.3 million in mid-January to just $4 million—marking a staggering 93% decline.

The blockchain’s decentralized application (DApp) revenue has also taken a massive hit, dropping 86% from $238 million to $32 million in the same timeframe. The downturn is not limited to revenue alone—Solana’s total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has nearly halved, slipping from $12 billion in January to around $6.4 billion today.

Analysts point to the sharp decline in memecoin trading volume as the primary reason for this downturn. A March 5 report by VanEck suggests that around 80% of Solana’s network revenue comes from memecoin speculation, particularly from the trading platform Pump.fun. However, the platform’s daily revenue has nosedived 95% from a peak of $15 million in late January to just $800,000 on March 7, according to Dune Analytics.

Trump’s Memecoin Sparked the Peak—Then the Crash

The January launch of Trump-themed memecoins appears to have marked the peak of the craze. On January 18, Donald Trump’s TRUMP token launched, followed by Melania Trump’s MELANIA token two days later. While both tokens initially surged in price, the excitement was short-lived.

CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong noted on March 6 that the Trump-themed tokens diverted liquidity and attention away from other memecoins, effectively marking the beginning of their decline. TRUMP has since dropped 86% from its peak, now trading at $10.50, while MELANIA has collapsed 95% to just $0.71.

Solana Price Takes a Hit

The broader memecoin market has also suffered a heavy blow, with its total market capitalization falling 68% from a peak of $137 billion in December to $44 billion today, per CoinMarketCap data.

With memecoin interest drying up, Solana price has followed suit, falling 58% from its mid-January all-time high of $293. At the time of writing, SOL is down another 5% on the day, trading at $122.

While Solana remains a dominant player in the blockchain space, its heavy reliance on memecoins for network activity has exposed its vulnerability to speculative hype cycles.