A new meme coin, Slerf (SLERF), recently outpaced Book of Meme (BOME). Its market capitalization momentarily surpassed BOME’s, marking a notable shift in the meme coin ecosystem.
While the broader crypto market is down on Tuesday, Slerf has been skyrocketing.
How Meme Coin Slerf Tries to Emerge Out of a Major Fumble
Originating from the Solana meme coin presale narrative, SLERF quickly amassed a $1.74 billion trading volume. This surge happened shortly after its launch, drawing thousands of unique holders.
The coin’s value increased by nearly 50% in just 24 hours, propelling its market cap above $550 million. Consequently, major centralized exchanges like Gate.io, HTX, MEXC, and Bitget have listed SLERF.
Read more: What is Book of Meme (BOME) Crypto?
Slerf Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto
However, SLERF’s ascent has been marred by controversy. Due to an operational error, all its liquidity and airdrop tokens were accidentally burned. This incident wiped out more than $10 million from the presale, leaving no avenue for minting new tokens or issuing refunds.
This blunder led to criticism of Slerf’s management and the investors’ naivety. On social media, a user named Ice Bagz echoed the community’s frustration, suggesting that those who trusted the venture deserved their financial losses.
Finally, in a remedial move, SLERF announced a refund plan for presale participants through donations, with crypto exchange LBank as the custodian. This initiative aims to rebuild trust and assist affected individuals.
“The Slerf team will have 0 access to this wallet. So funds are SAFU. This is not a presale, these are donations to support the burned,” Slerf wrote.
The initiative has also received support from market leaders. For instance, Justin Sun from HTX pledged to donate all Slerf trading revenue to the presale participants, alongside additional support for SLERF’s trading fee mining.
This scenario sheds light on the volatile nature of meme coin presales, which, while potentially profitable, carry significant risks like rug pulls. Critics, therefore, caution against the allure of quick gains, highlighting the perils of such investments.
Yet, the meme coin presale trend continues to attract massive investments. Evidently, recent figures show that about $122.5 million have been poured into new Solana meme coins.
Read more: 7 Hot Meme Coins and Altcoins that are Trending in 2024
This trend reflects the speculative enthusiasm that drives the market, exemplified by BOME’s rapid valuation increase to over $1 billion following its Binance listing. Shortly after Binance listing, BOME’s price has been down by over 50%, showcasing the volatility of meme coins.
