Diving into the world of cryptocurrency, it is imperative to understand that volatility is the name of the game. Not even the biggest blockchain platforms like Solana are immune to this fluctuation. In 2025, Solana experienced a major financial obstacle, losing a heartbreaking $15B due to an alleged ongoing racket of market manipulation by whales. This incident severely impacted retail investors but proved highly beneficial to Solana insiders and the platform’s largest token generator, Pump.fun. Despite this instability, Solana still managed to generate over $138M in fees within one month. Let’s delve deeper and examine how it all played out.
Understanding the Role of Crypto Snipers in Destabilizing the Market
This Solana incident was characterized by the activities of crypto snipers — individuals who employ short-term investment strategies to profit from market volatility. These insiders and early adopters ideally purchase tokens at a low price and then dump them when they skyrocket, earning colossal profit margins.
One remarkable instance involved Trump’s official token where a single investor turned a humble $1.1M investment into a whopping $50M profit. Needless to say, retail investors were left holding a short end of the stick, sustaining a combined loss of $2B. Worryingly, this behavior is not an isolated occurrence and underlines a prevalent issue of market manipulation.
Even Melania’s official token ($MELANIA) isn’t immune to this trend, losing nearly 85% of its market value, leading crypto experts to question its future viability. This pervasiveness of crypto opportunists can severely impact the market and potentially overshadow genuine ecosystems like Solana.
Unpacking the Implications for Solana
Blockchain researcher and cryptocurrency expert, Aylo, perceives this as a temporary setback for Solana, similar to what other crypto entities have faced in the past. For instance, in 2023, Coinbase faced a hefty penalty of $100M after a Department of Financial Services (DFS) investigation unveiled major loopholes in the company’s compliance program.
Despite this setback, Coinbase’s reputation bounced back relatively quickly, with its stocks surging over 600% from $33 to $235 within two years. Similarly, the Bitcoin narrative also confirms that perception, regardless of how negative, can rectify over time, provided the project is fundamentally strong. Aylo believes this principle applies to Solana as well:
“Similar things happened last cycle with OpenSea, Coinbase, and others, it’s an ever-repeating story…This too shall pass, as it always does.” Aylo commented in an X post.
So, considering this, how does Solana’s new Layer 2 upgrade, Solaxy, aim to steer its future course?
The Potential of Solana’s Forthcoming Layer 2 Upgrade
Solaxy ($SOLX), Solana’s impending Layer 2 upgrade, is set to navigate the platform out of troubled waters. Designed to enhance scalability, speed up transaction times, reduce failed transactions and crashes, and eradicate network congestion, Solaxy is positioned as a game-changer for Solana.
Solaxy is currently in one of the most successful presales in the crypto sector, raising over $23M so far. The presale offers numerous perks to investors, including an APY of 175% for stakers and the opportunity to purchase the tokens at the lowest prices before public listing. This, coupled with Solaxy’s transparent token distribution, creates a perception of a reliable, trustworthy project.
However, it’s essential to keep in mind that investing in such ventures involves a considerable degree of unpredictability and risk, so always do your research.
The Future of Solana
Solana has maintained its status as the most productive blockchain for meme coins and new crypto projects, capable of delivering up to 64K transactions per second (TPS). This capacity is projected to increase substantially with the integration of Solaxy.
Owing to its swift and affordable global transactions, NFT marketplace support, and robust foundation for DeFi platforms, Solana remains a significant player in the crypto landscape. With the assistance of Solaxy ($SOLX), there is a strong belief that Solana will rejuvenate and continue its meteoric rise.
Once again, the importance of conducting diligent research before investing in such ventures cannot be overstated. The realm of cryptocurrency is unpredictable and full of risk.