Well-known crypto researcher ZachXBT recently exposed that twelve pre-sale meme coin projects on the Solana blockchain were left adrift by developers. This warning came after the realization that, collectively, these projects raised an impressive US$26,7 million from investors.
In an update shared on April 21 via Platform X, ZachXBT not only listed these projects but also advised investors to stay away from future initiatives linked to the aforementioned founders. This recommendation comes at a critical time, as most of these projects faced rapid depreciation shortly after their respective launches.
A notable example was the “I like this coin” (LIKE) project, led by a founder under the pseudonym pokeee.eth, which raised a total of 52.220 Solana (equivalent to about $7,7 million). Despite the large initial capital, LIKE's value fell by more than 90% in just the first eight hours on the market.
The MOONKE project, created by RockyXBT, another pseudonym, also had no better fate, falling more than 99% shortly after being launched, despite an initial valuation estimated at 500 million dollars. Similarly, an effort led by Jared_eth, which raised 4.567 Solana (approximately $812.000), failed to launch any real tokens, leaving many investors in a disadvantageous position.
Only 1 month has passed and 12 of the Solana presale meme coins have been completely abandoned after raising >180,650 SOL ($26.7M).
Would avoid any future projects launched by these founders. https://t.co/J0zFldRIa6 pic.twitter.com/K610MAEPMn
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 21, 2024
Additionally, a recent study by Blockaid, a cybersecurity firm, found that half of the presale tokens launched on Solana between November 2023 and February 2024 were identified as malicious. Ido Ben-Natan, co-founder of Blockaid, attributed the growing number of scams to the FOMO (fear of missing out) phenomenon, especially during the peak popularity of meme coins.
One particularly notable incident occurred in March, when the developer of the Slerf meme token claimed to have “accidentally burned” all pre-sale allocations due to human error.
Currently, there is a decline in market enthusiasm for meme coins, with several Solana-based tokens recording significant drops in value.
