Meme Coin Traders Ignite a Frenzied Weekend on Solana

The weekend of January 18-19, preceding the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, emerged as one of the most active periods in cryptocurrency history, particularly for the Solana ecosystem. 

The most significant factors were the meme coins TRUMP and MELANIA launched during this period.

DeFi enthusiast and founder of the Pink Brains studio, known as Ignas, highlighted spikes in several key industry metrics over the past two days.

Probably the craziest weekend in crypto.

Here are 10 charts to visualize it:

1. Record-breaking DEX trading volume:

$27B on Solana, leaving ETH’s $5B well behind. pic.twitter.com/Yao1KDfPJs

— Ignas | DeFi (@DefiIgnas) January 20, 2025

“Probably the craziest weekend in the crypto industry,” he noted.

Amid the frenzy surrounding the Trump family meme coins, as of January 19, trading volume on Solana’s DEX blockchain reached a record $26.8 billion, compared to Ethereum’s $5 billion.

The total turnover of decentralized exchanges reached 19% of that of centralized counterparts.

The net inflow of funds into the Solana ecosystem for the week was $153.2 million. Simultaneously, outflows from the Arbitrum network reached $405 million.

The activity of TRUMP traders spurred SOL’s growth relative to ETH. The indicator reached a three-year high — over 25% in a day.

Amid the excitement, fees on the Solana network increased on average 20 times compared to normal levels. A total of approximately $57 million was collected as transaction fees.

On January 19, the value of burned SOL coins reached a record $16.7 million — 81% of the daily issuance.

On January 18, the price of SOL reached a historic high of $270, and the next day set a new record — around $295. At the time of writing, the coin is trading at $255.6 with a market capitalization of $124.18 billion.

Previously, experts from Fidelity described Solana as a “serious competitor” to Ethereum.