At the Consensus event, Solana co-founder Raj Gokal emphasized that the surge in popularity of memecoins is being driven by user demand, providing a playful way to attract new participants.
Solana (SOL) has emerged as the preferred blockchain for speculating on memecoins. The increase in on-chain activity has not only boosted SOL prices but has also sparked discussions about the platform’s role in the blockchain ecosystem. CoinGecko has noted that Solana is the quickest chain, facilitating thousands to millions of memecoin transactions.
While developers have taken advantage of SOL memecoins, some users have been taken advantage of, and even celebrities are now endorsing memetic projects, adding more excitement to the trend. Gokal remarked, “We didn’t actively promote this. It just caught on,” during the final day of Consensus 2024.
In other news, Gokal mentioned that the rise of mobile crypto apps like StepN in 2021/2021 paved the way for the Saga Mobile device. By putting blockchain functionality and crypto usage directly into the hands of users, a new avenue for mass adoption was opened up, according to the founder.
Although Saga Mobile initially had modest sales, the revival of crypto last year combined with the ongoing memecoin frenzy led to sales surpassing 150,000 units. Gokal revealed that work is underway on a new device expected to be launched next year.
Furthermore, Gokal confirmed the development of a second validator client set named Fire Dancer, aimed at increasing Solana’s transaction capacity by up to 1,000 times, potentially reaching speeds of 5,000 – 10,000 transactions per second (TPS). While Solana currently boasts speeds of up to 1,053 TPS, with scaling and upgrades, the theoretical speed could reach 65,000 TPS. Additionally, the team behind staking protocol Jito is working on a third validator set focused on Maximal Extractable Value (MEV).
Looking ahead, a Bloomberg analyst anticipates the launch of a Solana ETF following Ethereum’s recent approval, signaling further growth for the platform.