Solana meme coins have experienced a notable downturn, declining over 8.5% across the asset class on the day, according to CoinGecko [1]. The underperformance is attributed to a shift in investor preference toward more established and “quality-focused” assets such as Ethereum and other prominent altcoins. This trend marks a broader reallocation of capital within the crypto market, as traders seek projects with stronger fundamentals and clearer narratives.
Major Solana meme tokens, including Chill House, Fartcoin, and MLG, have all seen double-digit declines. BONK, the network’s second-largest meme coin, fell 6.5% despite an announced acquisition attempt by a publicly traded company aiming to buy $115 million worth of the token by year-end [1]. The broader meme coin sector has also dropped 4.1% on the day, while Solana-based meme coins have lagged behind, marking one of the sharpest declines in the category [1].
Max Shannon, senior associate at Bitwise, noted that the ETH ecosystem, including DeFi and high-beta layer-one chains, has fared better than meme coins. He highlighted Ethereum’s long operating history, zero downtime, and strong decentralization and liquidity as key drivers of institutional interest [1]. This has led to a surge in inflows, with $10.87 billion in Ethereum ETFs and $14 billion acquired by public treasury companies, collectively representing nearly 8% of ETH’s total supply [1].
Ethereum itself has gained 47.5% over the past month and rose 4.7% on the day [1]. Other quality-focused altcoins have also seen positive momentum. For instance, the real-world asset platform Provenance Blockchain jumped 10.2% on the day, while stablecoin issuer Ethena surged 40.5% in the last seven days [1].
Jamie Elkaleh, Chief Marketing Officer at Bitget Wallet, emphasized that traders are increasingly avoiding high-beta, low-liquidity meme coins and reallocating capital to deeper, more liquid markets with stronger institutional participation. This trend is particularly pronounced ahead of macroeconomic events such as the U.S. CPI print [1].
Despite the decline in meme coin trading volume on Solana, Dune data showed a seven-day increase in activity, with token launchpad volume hitting $235 million on Monday [1]. However, the dominance of meme coins on Solana DEXs has dropped to 44% from a mid-July peak of 73%, suggesting waning interest within the ecosystem [1]. Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at CEX.IO, noted that this shift could be the catalyst for further contraction in the meme coin sector [1].
Although Solana-based meme coins are struggling, the broader Solana network has only declined 0.5% on the day, remaining the third-worst performer among top 10 cryptocurrencies, behind XRP and Dogecoin [1].
Source: [1] Solana Meme Coins Slump as Investors Rotate into ETH & ‘Quality-Focused’ Altcoins (https://decrypt.co/334757/solana-meme-coins-slump-as-investors-rotate-into-eth-quality-focused-altcoins)
