Recent investigations by blockchain sleuth ZachXBT have uncovered that at least 12 memecoin projects on the Solana blockchain have been abandoned in the past month, leading to a collective loss of $26.7 million from investors. This revelation came via a post on X on April 21, where ZachXBT highlighted the instability and risk associated with the presale methods used by these tokens.
Major Failures and Market Reactions
Among the notable failures is a memecoin called ‘I like this coin’ (ticker: LIKE), which plunged over 90% within eight hours of its launch. Despite a promising start with a market cap of $577 million, LIKE’s value has since plummeted by 99.2%. The project’s founder, known pseudonymously as pokeee.eth, has been silent since March, further suggesting abandonment.
Another significant loss was observed with the memecoin MOONKE, which also suffered a steep decline, losing over 99% of its value shortly after launch. RockyXBT, the founder of MOONKE, has not been available for comments, similar to other project leaders involved in these presales.
Comparative Perspective and Investor Caution
These events have drawn parallels to the Ethereum ICO boom in 2017, a period marked by high enthusiasm but low delivery, leading to significant financial losses for many investors. The current trend of failing Solana-based memecoins like dogwifhat, which has seen over a 40% decline, suggests a cooling market sentiment towards such speculative investments.
Moreover, the mishap with the Slerf memecoin, where the developer accidentally burned the entire pre-sale allocation, ironically turned the coin into a cult favorite, rallying to a $750 million market cap. This anomaly highlights the unpredictable nature of memecoin markets.
