Each day, Coinrule will run through the state of the digital assets market for Blockbeat, your home for news, analysis, opinion and commentary on blockchain and digital assets
During the latter part of 2023, all eyes were on Solana. The price of SOL was edging ever closer to ETH with some predicting the next “flippening” being Solana overtaking Ethereum. However, during the New Year, Solana rested after its nearly 600% appreciation in 3 months. Ethereum took center stage as the market began pricing in the increasing likelihood of it receiving an ETF approval.
Over the past two weeks, we have seen a strong 40% resurgence in Solana, with it marching back to its March 2022 price. Solana’s drive seems to stem from a further meme token mania occurring on the chain. DEX volumes on Solana reached over $2.8 billion on Tuesday, according to DefiLlama. This is the highest daily volume on record for the chain. If the volume maintains this rate, March will have around $50 billion – almost double December 2023’s record of $28 billion.
This new category of meme tokens appears to be US political figures. Characters such as Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and Gary Gensler are all making appearances in slightly different token forms. Current US president, ‘jeo boden’ (Joe Biden) has been the biggest gainer, reaching an impressive $50+ million market cap.
Solana hasn’t been the only place where traders have been betting on memes. Base, Coinbase’s own Ethereum Layer 2, has seen significant increases in the chain’s total value locked (TVL). Its TVL reached an all-time high of almost $600 million. On Wednesday, Base had the 9th highest volume of all chains with $162 million and entered the top 10 daily active addresses with over 92,000. With Coinbase being the most common first touch point for new crypto participants, and Base being integrated into the Coinbase Wallet making accessibility easier, it makes sense that the chain is growing. Speculation of retail’s first on-chain experience being on Base has also driven more adept participants to place their bets in the ecosystem. Examples include Aerodrome Finance, a DEX, and doginme, Base’s take on dogwifhat.
Which chain will be the go-to destination for retail in this bull cycle? With their low fees and slick User experience, Solana and Base are two of the frontrunners ready to battle it out.