Post meme-ism: Solana’s quiet pivot to utility
Solana may be in “recomposition” mode, as new protocols put usefulness ahead of mere virality
Akif CUBUK/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks
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Solana is waffling around the $130 mark after a dip under $123 earlier this week. And we seem to be trailing the broader market hokey-pokey around the ongoing Trump tariff drama and bitcoin’s rejection below $88k.
But a more compelling story might be bubbling beneath the surface of this modest recovery.
Solana has been in cooldown mode for a while now, following its record-breaking Q1 surge driven by election euphoria and memecoin speculation. Daily network fees have plunged more than 97% from their January peak. Transaction volume has cratered. Even the retail-magnet pump.fun is fatigued: Fewer than 1% of new tokens now reach tradable status, and bonding levels are at their lowest since January.
But the cooldown isn’t a collapse. Not yet. It looks more like a recomposition, actually. The memecoin tide is receding in the wake of fresh Solana protocols like Zeta Market’s dedicated trading layer Bullet, BlackRock’s tokenized $BUIDL fund, and Solana-based Zebec Network’s crypto debit card. None of these are really designed for peak virality. They’re just useful. It’s crazy, I know, but they actually have genuine utility. Madness.
Meanwhile, Solana ETF filings from Fidelity and Franklin Templeton are advancing. Institutional futures products are live. BlackRock is onboarding real-world dollars. Solana’s uptime is still perfect. Validator diversity is holding. It’s actually wild that the price hasn’t caught up with all the good news yet.
Technically, SOL is hanging on to a key support zone. Recent price drawdowns mirror the drop in activity, even as the foundation underneath looks sturdier and sturdier. The only thing that’s really changed is that the speculative froth is gone. But what’s left behind is evidence of structural integrity.
Now, all we need is the façade: tools, platforms, utilities and apps that solve real problems, but which wear the same chaotic, meme-dripping, degen-vibe game-feel that brought the whole world to Solana in the first place. The pipes are ready; we just need to get the milk and honey flowing.
My best guess is that the next up cycle will belong to whoever figures out how to make actual usefulness feel like irreverent mischief.
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