By&nbspRaghav Sawhney

Solana has brought major retail to various memecoins through the launch of pump.fun. There are a few token-launches that have gone absolute Nuts!

Meme-coins are loosely defined as a genre of cryptocurrency where its creators promote it on social media platforms to create initial hype and drive up the price. Tokens of these memes are available to the general public and anyone who is enthusiastic about the coin is more than welcome to hold this fun asset type.

Let’s explore a few origin stories where Solana-based Meme-coin founders took “ready to do whatever it takes” too seriously:

SLERF

Imagine launching a meme coin and accidentally burning $10 million meant for early investors. That’s what happened with SLERF, a Solana-based meme coin, in March 2024.

SLERF, a sloth-themed token, surpassed all Ethereum-based exchanges in trading volume within a day. The developer’s mistake of burning over $10 million from the presale caused a frenzy, but the value of SLERF soared from 3 cents to $1.4. In its first 24 hours, SLERF’s trading volume hit $2.7 billion, with 800,000 trades from 130,000 traders, reaching a market cap of $650 million at its peak​.

The Solana community and exchanges like HTX and Bitget rallied to support affected presale participants, raising over $450,000 in donations​. This unexpected twist made SLERF a “blue-chip meme,” with its trading volume and market cap continuing to rise.

The disaster highlighted the project’s fairness: no presale allocation to dump on investors, and burnt LP tokens ensured it wasn’t a rug pull. SLERF turned an epic fail into a massive success, cementing its place in meme coin history.

DARE

The story of the Solana-based meme coin “Truth or Dare” (DARE) is as dramatic as it gets in the crypto world. Its creator, Mikol, took the idea of daring to an extreme level that ended disastrously.

“Truth or Dare” (DARE) gained notoriety in May 2024 due to an extreme promotional stunt by its developer, Mikol. During a livestream, Mikol doused himself in isopropyl alcohol and had fireworks directed at him, resulting in third-degree burns over 35% of his body. Despite the severity of his injuries, Mikol reassured his community from his hospital bed that he was recovering and committed to continuing the project.

DARE launched at a modest price of $0.000-1 and saw a dramatic increase in value following the incident, reaching a peak price of $0.0015, marking a 14000% increase. The token’s market cap at its peak was approximately $2,650,000. The stunt, although disastrous, ironically succeeded in boosting the DARE token’s popularity and investment interest.

The crypto community reacted with mixed feelings to the incident. While some praised Mikol’s dedication, others criticised the dangerous marketing tactics. The token’s value surged temporarily due to the increased attention, and Mikol’s community has shown support by contributing to his medical treatment and continuing to back the project

Mikol’s dangerous act highlights the risks associated with extreme marketing tactics in the crypto world. Despite the controversy, the DARE community has shown support by contributing towards Mikol’s medical treatment and continuing to back the project​.

FADELIVE

The Solana-based meme coin “FADE” gained attention in May 2024 due to a promotional stunt that went awry. The creators organized a live-streamed boxing match between two fighters to promote their token, aiming to reach a $69,000 market cap and potentially get listed on the Solana DEX, Raydium. Unfortunately, during the event, one fighter lost a tooth, and the fight had to be paused for medical attention.

Despite the setback, the FADE token managed to hit a market cap of $30,000 during the event, and it gained a featured spot on Pump. The incident caused a temporary dip in the token’s value, but there is speculation about a rematch as the involved accounts remain active, though no official news has confirmed this yet.

Currently, FADE’s market cap has fluctuated, reflecting the volatile nature of meme coins. At its peak, FADE achieved a significant market cap increase, but it remains to be seen if the hype can be sustained in the long run. This incident highlights the lengths some developers will go to in promoting their tokens within the competitive meme coin space on Solana.

LIVEMOM

The LIVEMOM token became infamous due to a livestream stunt where a teenager and his mom promised to show her breasts if the token’s market cap reached $300,000. 

The stunt quickly gained popularity, attracting over 1,500 viewers. As the market cap approached the target, the stream abruptly ended, with the son claiming battery issues. This caused the token’s market cap to plummet to around $120,000 within the next five minutes.

The duo shortly launched a new token, LIVEMOM2 on a fresh stream, but it quickly fell to zero, and all related social media accounts were deleted. Despite this, the original LIVEMOM token experienced a community-driven resurgence, with its market cap reaching $3 million at one point before stabilising around $1 million. The community has since taken over the project, creating a new website and maintaining active discussions​

HANDS

The HANDS token story is a classic example of a rug pull gone viral for its audacity. The pseudonymous developer “NoHandsNoRug” streamed himself on Twitch, claiming he couldn’t rug pull the project because he had no hands, showing a piece of paper tucked under his chin to reinforce his claim. 

However, just three minutes into the stream, he revealed his hands from behind his back and pulled all the liquidity from the project, ending the stream abruptly and leaving investors empty-handed! The developer made away with about 7 SOL, worth a little over $1,000 at the time​.

Despite the initial rug pull, the HANDS token caught the attention of the crypto community. Within a day, four anonymous individuals initiated a ‘community takeover’, creating a new Twitter and Telegram account, and developing a website for the token. The token saw approximately $552,000 in trading volume, but its market cap dropped to around $16,000 shortly after the takeover​

The community’s efforts to revive the token involved burning liquidity to prevent further rug pulls, although one anonymous trader still held about a third of the entire token supply, posing a potential risk for future manipulation.

LIVESIS

The LIVESIS token, a clone project of LIVEMOM, gained notoriety for its explicit promotional strategy. The creator promised that once the token’s market cap reached $100,000, his sister would take off her bra. 

This stunt attracted significant attention and, upon reaching the target, the sister did go topless. However, many speculated that the sister was actually a man.

Following this reveal, the creator dumped his entire holding while playing “Pump it Up” in the background, causing the market cap to plummet rapidly. Although the initial stunt saw the token hitting its goal, the rug pull led to the market cap dropping to nearly zero shortly after​.

Despite this, the token had moments of significant trading volume, with around $552,000 recorded. However, the market cap eventually stabilised at approximately $16,000, and the creator’s actions left many investors disappointed and empty-handed​.

This article has been written taking inspiration from @starplatinumSOL ‘s thread on twitter.

Raghav Sawhney

Raghav is a significant contributer who uses his knowledge, skills and experience towards development & growth of the organisation in an efficient and effective manner.