Solana, the third most popular blockchain, has experienced significant growth in recent weeks due to the emergence of AI memecoins, a new niche in the crypto world that combines artificial intelligence with cryptocurrencies based on internet jokes. This surge has propelled Sol, the native token of the Solana blockchain where many memecoins are developed, to over $175 for the first time in two months.
While the overall crypto market is currently in a consolidation phase following lows in early October, Solana’s gains have outpaced those of major cryptocurrencies. Sol has outperformed Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and other cryptocurrencies included in the CoinDesk 20 Index. Over the past seven days, Solana has seen a 19% increase, whereas Bitcoin has only gone up 0.8%, with Ethereum and XRP experiencing a decrease of 3%.
The recent price action from Solana, which positions itself as an alternative to Ethereum’s high fees and slow transaction speeds, has led SOL to reach a new all-time high against Ethereum, with 1 Sol now equivalent to 0.07 Ethereum, as well as its highest price against Bitcoin since August.
The rise of AI memecoins has captured the attention of the crypto community, particularly following the introduction of Goatseus Maximus, a new memecoin that has sparked discussions about the intersection of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies. This craze has driven daily active users on the Solana blockchain to a record high of nearly 9 million and caused transaction fees to peak at $4.5 million on Wednesday, according to DeFiLlama data.
Goatseus Maximus, or GOAT, was launched on October 10 by an anonymous developer known as Pump.fun and gained significant traction after being endorsed by the Marc Andreessen-backed AI bot Truth Terminal. The token, inspired by the AI bot’s fascination with goat memes, has achieved a market cap of $722 million since its inception two weeks ago, sparking a wave of new AI-generated memecoins.
This sector now boasts a market cap exceeding $2 billion, marking a 24% increase in the last day according to CoinGecko. Other Solana-based memecoins, such as “Popcat” and “cat in a dogs world,” have also seen significant gains during this frenzy, with both tokens climbing over 20% this week.
Another contributing factor to Solana’s recent surge may be the rapid expansion of decentralized finance (DeFi). Solana has appreciated by more than 450% this year, with the total value locked on the blockchain through DeFi—representing the U.S. dollar value of digital assets staked—nearly quadrupling to $6.9 billion since January.
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