Solana Co-Founder Highlights Memecoins as Key to User Engagement

Solana co-founder Raj Gokal addressed attendees at Consensus 2024, emphasizing that user demand drives the popularity of memecoins, which offer an engaging entry point for new participants.

Solana (SOL) has emerged as a prominent blockchain for memecoin speculation. This surge in on-chain activity has positively impacted SOL prices, sparking discussions about Solana’s role within the broader blockchain ecosystem. CoinGecko reports that Solana processes between thousands to millions of memecoin transactions, marking it as the fastest blockchain in this domain.

However, this trend has a downside. Developers have scammed numerous users through SOL-based memecoins, and celebrity endorsements have further fueled the craze. “We didn’t do anything to make that happen. It’s just a thing to do,” Gokal remarked on the final day of Consensus 2024.

Solana’s Grassroots Strategy with Saga Mobile

Gokal noted that the rise of mobile crypto apps like StepN in 2021/2022 paved the way for Solana’s Saga Mobile device. By integrating blockchain operability and cryptocurrency functionality into a mobile platform, Solana aimed to drive mass adoption. Although initial sales of Saga Mobile were underwhelming, the resurgence of cryptocurrency last year and the ongoing memecoin frenzy boosted sales to over 150,000 units. Gokal announced that a new device is in development, expected to launch next year.

Expanding Transaction Capacity with New Validator Sets

Gokal also confirmed ongoing work on a new validator client set, Fire Dancer, designed to increase Solana’s transaction throughput up to 1,000 times, achieving speeds of 5,000 to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS). Currently, Solana handles up to 1,053 TPS, but with scaling and upgrades, its theoretical speed could reach 65,000 TPS. Additionally, the team behind the staking protocol Jito is developing a third validator set focused on Maximal Extractable Value (MEV).

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