The crypto community is sounding the alarm on what they perceive as “peak degeneracy,” with founders of memecoins accumulating millions worth of Solana’s SOL through token presales in the past 72 hours alone.
At the time of publication, approximately $100 million worth of SOL has been sent by crypto traders in an attempt to participate in new Solana memecoins over the last 72 hours, according to aggregated data viewed by Cointelegraph and cited by crypto researcher 0xGumshoe.
The tokens have been raising funds for unreleased coins through a controversial presale model, including notable examples like Book of Meme (BOME), Nap (NAP), Nostalgia (NOS), and others.
“This is legit peak degeneracy. Aping $180k and $90k into memecoins,” wrote pseudonymous crypto investor Nick in a March 18 post on X — attached to a screenshot of significant purchases on an undisclosed memecoin.
The frenzy around memecoin presales intensified with the launch of a memecoin called Book of Meme, initiated by pseudonymous artist Darkfarms1 on March 14. Initially valued at around $4 million, BOME surged more than 36,000% to reach a peak market capitalization of $1.45 billion in less than 56 hours.
One early investor, Sundayfunday.sol, reportedly turned an initial investment of 420.69 SOL — worth $72,000 at the time — into a staggering $32 million in less than three days, according to a March 17 post from blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain.
A “presale” involves crypto investors sending cryptocurrency to a wallet address and then receiving a weighted distribution of tokens in return when the token goes live. However, there’s no guarantee that an investor will receive tokens, making presales a popular model for frauds and scams.
Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano criticized the presale model, stating that anyone sending money to a random wallet address in the expectation of receiving a token was “dumb as hell.”
Meanwhile, the memecoin mania has attracted attention beyond the crypto sphere. Entrepreneur David Sacks, known for his role as the All In podcast co-host, found himself at the center of memecoin drama, resulting in significant profits for some users.
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