Solana-based DApps rake in record fees as memecoin frenzy returns

Solana-based apps notched record fees and revenue activity in the last 24 hours amid an apparent return of memecoin mania.

According to a Nov. 18 X post from decentralized finance commentator Patrick Scott, who cited DefiLlama data, five out of the top ten protocols by fees in the last 24 hours were on Solana. 

Solana-based automatic market maker Raydium notched a record $11.31 million in fees on Nov. 17, while the liquid staking protocol Jito saw its third-highest day of fees at $9.87 million on the same day, per DefiLlama data. 

Meanwhile, the memecoin launchpad pump.fun saw its seventh-highest day of earnings, netting $1.65 million in fees. 

Photon, a Telegram trading bot for Solana memecoins, came in as the seventh highest earning product, generating its fifth highest day of fees on record at $2.36 million.

The record fees for several Solana protocols come amid a frenzy of speculation on memecoins and a major price move for the native Solana token (SOL) itself, which pushed to $242 — its highest since November 2021.

A memecoin based on a squirrel called Peanut (PNUT) rallied over 2700% in the last fortnight to reach a peak value of $2.4 billion on Nov. 14, as Elon Musk shilled the token several times on X alongside the launch of the Department of Government Efficiency. 

Related: Odds favor Solana ETF in 2025: VanEck

The largest Solana memecoin Dogwifhat (WIF) was listed on the United States crypto exchange Coinbase on Nov. 15, sending it briefly to a new six-month high of $4.19 on the same day. 

The Department of Government Efficiency is a new United States government agency under President-elect Donald Trump that bears the same abbreviated name as the ticker of the memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE), which also saw a significant rally over the last seven days — climbing more than 140% in the last two weeks. 

Solana pushes above $240 despite supply inflation

SOL is currently trading at $234, a mere 8.5% move away from reclaiming its all-time high price of $259.

Notably, Solana is trading at a market capitalization of $112 billion, 44% higher than its $77 billion market cap at its previous all-time high on Nov. 6, 2021.

The increase in market cap comes from overall growth in the number of Solana tokens being issued as a part of its inflation schedule, which rewards stakers for their efforts with newly minted SOL tokens.

At the time of publication, Solana’s inflation rate is running at 4.9% and decreases at a rate of 15% per year, per SolanaCompass data. 

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