Key Insights
- •Why Solana meme coin trading volumes may offer insights into organic demand.
- •Solana concludes November as the top blockchain by DEX volume and app revenue.
- •Solana ETF and whale demand reveal the state of SOL demand.
Solana meme coins have been an interesting phenomenon during bullish market phases over the last two years. They fueled most of the organic demand taking place on the network. Many analysts have associated Solana meme coins with bullish sentiment, considering their massive volume. The current consensus favors market recovery, but Solana meme coins have yet to make a comeback. Instead, Solana meme coin popularity dropped to a multi-year low. This segment reportedly accounted for less than 5% of meme coin trading volumes on DEXes, according to the latest Blockworks data. For reference, Solana meme coin volumes accounted for as much as 70% of Solana DEX volumes.
Robust demand for SOL was partly driven by meme coin hype. Its ability to mount another rally on this catalyst is in question amid plummeting volumes.
Solana Secures Top Spot in the List of Blockchains by DEX Volume
Declining meme coin volumes confirmed that one of Solana’s biggest demand drivers for SOL crypto was no longer a viable demand force. At first glance, one would expect this development to have a sizable impact on the cryptocurrency’s organic demand. However, the network still managed to achieve robust volumes to the extent that it had the highest app revenue and DEX volume in the last 24 hours.
Solana outperformed other top networks including Ethereum and the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) to secure the top spot. In other words, the network has been experiencing robust activity despite the sharp decline in Solana meme coins. This suggests that it was able to attract robust network activity beyond the meme coins. This is noteworthy because meme coins are highly speculative, and this latest information confirms a shift away from speculation to real value. In other words, SOL crypto may still secure healthy organic demand beyond speculative forces.
SOL Price Closes November With a 28% Discount
Speaking of demand, SOL price action leaned heavily on the bearish side in November. The crypto concluded the month in the red by about 28% from its opening price.
SOL price’s latest recovery attempt in the last week of November was thwarted, thus its downside in the last few days. Nevertheless, analysts remained curious regarding Solana’s ability to bounce back strong. SOL was among the top cryptocurrencies that experienced robust demand over the last 12 months. This was partly due to its robust network activity and Solana’s position among the top blockchains. While the narrative of top blockchains by network activity and volumes remained in its favor, demand was not quite there yet.
Nevertheless, whale activity revealed that whales remained interested in accumulating SOL, especially at recently discounted prices. SOL spot demand from the whales cohort remained overall positive during the weekend as prices pulled back once again. However, demand from whales remained relatively weak and inconsistent with robust accumulation patterns.
Meanwhile, the Solana ETFs segment was quite promising judging by positive flows recorded during the month. They collectively received about $618 million worth of inflows in November. Solana ETFs have been making headlines for maintaining overall positive flows since their launch. Note that they only registered one day of negative flows during the month.