The cryptocurrency community is sounding the alarm about what they perceive as the "peak of depravity" in the market, as the founder of a memecoin reportedly makes millions worth of Solana (SOL) in just 72 hours. During this time frame, the token pre-sale attracted approximately $100 million worth of SOL from crypto traders, according to data compiled by cryptocurrency researcher 0xGumshoe. These funds were raised for unreleased tokens through controversial pre-sale models, including Book of Meme (BOME), Nap (NAP), Nostalgia (NOS), and others.
The surge in memecoin pre-sales gained traction when Book of Meme was launched using a contentious crowdfunding model. Created by the pseudonymous artist Darkfarms1 on March 14 with an initial value of about $4 million, BOME skyrocketed over 36,000% within 56 hours, reaching a peak market cap of $1.45 billion. Early investors like Sundayfundday.sol, a personal acquaintance of the BOME creator, saw their initial investment of 420.69 SOL (worth $72,000 at the time) balloon to a staggering $32 million in less than three days.
The pre-sale mechanism involves investors sending cryptocurrency to a designated wallet address in exchange for a weighted allocation of tokens when the token launches. However, there's no guarantee that investors will receive the promised cryptocurrency in return for their investment, making pre-sales a fertile ground for fraud and scams. Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano criticized the pre-sale model, labeling anyone who participates in such schemes as "stupid."
The memecoin frenzy has extended beyond the cryptocurrency community, catching the attention of mainstream figures like entrepreneur David Sacks. Sacks, co-host of the All In podcast, saw significant interest in his memecoin, with one user reportedly making a profit of around $39,000. Another memecoin associated with the podcast, JASON, experienced a surge in value after Elon Musk expressed interest in buying its tokens, indicating the widespread reach and impact of the memecoin craze.
