- Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson has criticized Solana’s memecoin ecosystem, calling it a pump-and-dump scheme where 99% of tokens will fail due to lack of utility.
- His comments come as top Solana memecoins have crashed over 85% in 2025, with new launches sharply declining amid market uncertainty.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has taken a direct shot at Solana’s thriving memecoin ecosystem, warning that 99% of these tokens are doomed to fail. In a recent interview with market analyst Scott Melker, Hoskinson criticized Solana-based memecoins as short-lived speculative assets that primarily benefit insiders through pump-and-dump tactics.
Hoskinson: “99% of Solana Memecoins Will Fail”
Hoskinson compared memecoins to fleeting internet trends, arguing that most fail to establish long-term sustainability.
“A memecoin is just like the ascendancy of a celebrity that has 15 minutes of fame,” he said. “They have to become sustainable quickly, or otherwise, people stop paying attention and they die out.”
He further explained that the typical structure of memecoins incentivizes early insiders to accumulate large token holdings before launching aggressive marketing campaigns. These tactics create temporary price spikes, after which the founders and early investors sell off their holdings, leaving retail investors with worthless tokens.
Hoskinson likened the phenomenon to previous speculative bubbles in crypto, such as the initial coin offering (ICO) boom and the NFT craze. According to him, memecoins do not introduce fresh capital into the market but rather circulate wealth among a select group of early adopters.
“You’re moving water from one side of the bathtub to the other… the drain is open — it goes into the founder’s pocket,” he noted.
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Solana Memecoins See Sharp Decline in 2025
Hoskinson’s comments come at a time when Solana’s top memecoins have suffered severe losses. According to market data, the combined market capitalization of leading Solana-based memecoins—including Official Trump (TRUMP), Bonk (BONK), Fartcoin (FARTCOIN), Dogwifhat (WIF), and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)—has dropped by more than 85% from their 2025 peak of $81.83 billion.
The downturn coincides with growing risk-off sentiment in the crypto space, partly triggered by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating tariff war. The uncertainty has led investors to shift toward safer assets, leaving highly speculative memecoins vulnerable to sell-offs.
Memecoin Launches on Solana Plummet
Another sign of declining interest in Solana’s memecoin sector is the sharp drop in new token launches. While Solana was once the preferred blockchain for launching viral memecoins, the recent crash has made investors more cautious.
Despite the criticism, memecoins continue to attract a niche audience within the crypto community. However, Hoskinson believes that sustainable innovation will come from areas like Bitcoin DeFi, real-world asset tokenization, and algorithmic stablecoins—rather than viral tokens with no utility.
Whether Solana’s memecoin ecosystem can recover from this downturn remains to be seen, but for now, the hype appears to be fading.
