Solana Bearish Trend Deepens, Underperforming Bitcoin Amid Meme Coin Bust

Solana has seen a challenging market performance in recent weeks, posting a significant 32% price drop over the past 30 days. This marks a more bearish trend compared to Bitcoin’s more modest decline during the same period. Data from Glassnode reveals that Solana outperformed Ethereum on 23 out of 49 days since the start of the year. However, Solana has proven more sensitive to market downturns. Over the last 30 days, SOL dropped by 32%, Ethereum saw a 17% decline, and Bitcoin dropped by just 8%. At press time, Solana is trading at $169.74, reflecting an 8.47% drop in the last 24 hours. This price also reflects a 16.16% decline over the past week. Meanwhile, Ethereum showed more stability, trading at $2,700 with a 2.83% drop in the last 24 hours but a slight 0.41% increase over the past week. https://twitter.com/glassnode/status/1891803270332498033   Increased Discussions and Market Concerns Data from Santiment shows Solana is among the crypto assets seeing a rise in discussions compared to average rates. According to a report, Solana's discussions largely centered around meme coins minted on its network. However, traders have expressed concerns about the legitimacy of many of these tokens. They lack utility and are prone to price manipulation. Skepticism regarding Solana-based meme coins has also fueled discussions about potential investment shifts to other assets. Meanwhile, Ethereum has also been a trending topic, with discussions revolving around its price movement and comparisons with other cryptocurrencies. "It's Over for Solana" Amid Solana's price challenges, crypto trader ‘Xremlin’ took to X to declare, “It’s over for Solana.” He drew a comparison between Solana’s decline and the aftermath of the FTX collapse—calling it even “worse.”  Xremlin highlighted how Solana’s popularity spiked in recent months, fueled by speculation and the boom of meme coins. The network's low transaction fees attracted traders who minted tokens on platforms like Pump.fun. However, most of these tokens are believed to be part of pump-and-dump schemes, contributing to the negative sentiment surrounding Solana’s ecosystem.  https://twitter.com/0x_gremlin/status/1891520675170468072 Notably, controversy followed the launch of the TRUMP meme coin, which saw rapid price surges before investors shifted focus to a new token, MELANIA. This subsequently led to a sharp decline in TRUMP’s value. Reports also surfaced of large sums extracted during the launch. Additionally, other projects, such as CAR, associated with the Central African Republic’s President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, experienced rapid declines, raising concerns about market manipulation.