Shortly before assuming the presidency, Donald Trump launched his own meme coin on Solana. Melania Trump followed suit a day later. Solana faced major congestion issues as millions of users flooded the network to trade the tokens.

In a conversation with BeInCrypto, Chris Chung, CEO of Solana swap platform Titan, said that the bottlenecks stemmed from decentralized applications (dApps) instead of the blockchain itself. The event proved that Solana was ready for mainstream adoption. 

TRUMP and MELANIA Break the Crypto Market

Only 48 hours away from taking over the United States presidency, Donald Trump announced the launch of a TRUMP meme coin on his official X and Truth Social accounts.

Within a day of the meme coin’s launch on the Solana network, TRUMP reached a market capitalization of over $14.5 billion and a trading volume of more than $26 billion. 

Taking note of the success of her husband’s meme coin, Melania Trump launched her own MELANIA coin a day before Trump’s inauguration. 

Shortly after launch, the MELANIA’s market cap exceeded $5 billion. This rapid and sharp spike caused the TRUMP token to drop by $7.5 billion within ten minutes.

It also shook performance across the Solana network. 

Users Report Congestion on Solana Amid Increased Traffic

Given the unexpected launch of these presidential tokens, the Solana ecosystem saw a surge in transaction levels as users scrambled to engage in trading. Soon enough, reports of congestion and failed transactions surged across various platforms.

“During the TRUMP launch, the entire Solana ecosystem handled it flawlessly. There‬‭ were no issues with the block production nor network congestion then, partly due to‬‭ the meme coin launching at night in North America and uncertainty whether it was‬‭ real or not. As liquidity was disbursed throughout the network, there were instances‬‭ of price discrepancies as new pools were added. The issues came when MELANIA launched. With the precedent of TRUMP,‬‭ extremely large numbers of traders started either rotating into the new token or‬‭ moved to sell TRUMP with record-breaking volumes,” Chung told BeInCrypto. 

Though the unexpected traffic certainly tested Solana’s infrastructure, Chung emphasized that the bottlenecks could be traced back to the decentralized applications (dApps) handling the transaction volumes. 

On the day of the MELANIA coin launch, Phantom, a leading wallet provider on Solana, took to social media to inform the public that it was experiencing a strain on its infrastructure. 

“We’re currently experiencing a massive surge of 8,000,000+ requests per minute. While we work to stabilize our platform, transactions may have trouble going through on the first try,” the X post read. 

Meanwhile, Jito Labs, a key infrastructure provider for the Solana network, reported that its Block Engine API was experiencing “severe degradation” due to the overwhelming volume of transactions. 

Most validators on the Solana network use services like Jito Labs, designed to help transactions execute faster. Amid the MELANIA launch, the provider’s degraded performance caused priority fees to go up for the base chain.

“This in itself is the intended mechanism in order to prioritize‭ higher value transactions; however, some applications experienced issues as their‬‭ max gas fee was no longer high enough for their users’ transactions to land. In‬‭ addition, the heightened traffic also caused some critical APIs to go down as their‬‭ services were overwhelmed, which led to some disruptions in the market,” Chung explained. 

The increased market demand also hindered the effectiveness of arbitrage bots, which typically help keep prices at bay. 

Arbitrage Bots Fail to Stabilize Prices

Arbitrage bots are automated trading programs that play a crucial role in maintaining price stability across cryptocurrency markets. 

These bots help ensure prices remain aligned and efficient by identifying and exploiting price discrepancies between exchanges. However, these programs struggled to do their jobs during the increased congestion period following the MELANIA coin launch. 

“‬‭During the market disruption and congestion, many arbitrage bots were not able to‬‭ land their own transactions which caused vast discrepancies in prices on certain‬‭ pools. In particular, we saw some of Titan’s users be able to find pools that allowed‬‭ them to buy SOL for $150 while the market price was $250. This resulted in many‬‭ more transactions being submitted to try to take advantage of these arbitrage‬‭ opportunities, thus causing even more congestion,” Chung said.

In response to the increased trading volumes, the Solana blockchain suffered.

The Solana Network Shows Resilience

The significant surge in trading volume on the Solana network, which reached a record high of $10 billion in 24 hours, inevitably placed considerable strain on the ecosystem. 

While this high volume of activity resulted in some performance challenges, Chung highlighted that the Solana blockchain remained operational throughout the period. 

The event demonstrated the network’s resilience by continuing to process transactions and maintain network stability despite the reduced performance of Solana-based dApps. 

“‬‭In fact, the launches were well handled by the blockchain itself. The priority fee‬‭ mechanism worked as intended, and it was mainly dApps that were having trouble‬‭ keeping up. It just shows that now is the time for applications and ecosystem‬‭ participants to upgrade and evolve to be able to handle the future amount of traffic‬‭ that everyone believes is possible,” Chung said.

Solana has a history of network outages caused by sudden surges in transaction volume, such as those caused by meme coin launches or high trading activity. In 2022, the network experienced up to 14 outages.

However, as the network took proactive steps to increase scalability, these outages became less frequent. The last time Solana experienced a network shutdown was in February 2024. 

For Chung, the fact that Solana did not experience an outage after the TRUMP and MELANIA coin launches is indicative that the network is ready for mass adoption.

“With the learnings from the weekend, I believe that Solana is extremely well‬‭ positioned for a massive increase in user activity as the blockchain itself kept‬‭ processing transactions under load and increased priority fees as expected,” Chung said. 

However, dApps must prepare themselves for when this becomes a reality.

Decentralized Applications Struggle to Keep Pace

For Chung, the main reason Solana users experienced so many issues in trading the presidential meme coins was the inability of dApps to facilitate transactions.

“Many dApps had issues where they had set the max gas fee to a certain pre-set‬‭ number, so when the gas fees went above this ceiling, the users on these dApps had‬‭ issues landing transactions as their gas fees were now too low. This then caused‬‭ users to spam the network even more in an attempt to land a transaction on-chain,” he explained.

While on-chain dApps face fewer obstacles that hinder their ability to handle high transaction volumes, those that rely on external servers face scalability issues.

“dApps, such as aggregators, that rely on their own servers for‬‭ their products have to ensure that they can handle the projected increase in volume‬‭ and volatility. This means that extra capacity to handle far more requests and‬‭ upgrades to dynamically scale depending on user demand will be important going‬‭ forward, because Solana is likely to see more and more trading activity as it gains‬‭ mainstream appeal,” Chung added. 

Though the launch of the TRUMP and MELANIA coins was unprecedented, as cryptocurrency adoption continues to rise, such events will likely reappear. As a response, decentralized applications that facilitate network transactions must be prepared accordingly. 

Strengthening dApp Infrastructure for Future Growth

To avoid repeating similar scenarios in the future, dApps need to revisit their core infrastructure and ensure that it can effectively sustain intense traffic. 

“DApps have to plan for their operations to work in worst-case scenarios where‬‭ multiple components can fail in the pipeline. This means operating with the‬‭ assumption that the only way to send transactions would be through priority fees and‬‭ to have reliable backups for critical infrastructure. Although this may mean an‬‭ increase in expenditure, it is imperative that applications be able to function 24/7 for‬‭ their users as the blockchain does not stop. In addition, rigorous mechanisms to‬‭ protect their users have to be enabled if congestion leads to a distortion of‬‭ information,” Chung said. 

These service providers will also need to consider that, as Solana adoption continues to grow, the traffic experienced last week will likely be greater in future scenarios.

“Many dApps had set‬‭ artificial limits assuming that these would not be breached and external services‬‭ would keep functioning, but meme coin frenzy showed us a glimpse of‬‭ what mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies would look like. To truly build‬‭ applications where billions can be onboarded, critical infrastructure has to have the‬‭ ability to keep running,” Chung added.

In the meantime, the Solana network has already laid out the next steps it will take to handle increasingly larger transactions. 

Firedancer: A Key Innovation for Solana’s Future Growth

Jump Crypto, a Web3 infrastructure developer, has built a new third-party validator client software for the Solana blockchain for the past two years.

Developed independently from the original Solana Lab’s validator client, Firedancer offers enhanced network resilience by minimizing the risk of widespread outages. By sharing virtually no code, issues within one client will not impact the other. Additionally, Firedancer aims to improve Solana’s transaction processing capabilities significantly. 

While Firedancer currently only operates on the Solana testnet, it is expected to launch on the mainnet sometime this year. 

“The most eagerly anticipated upgrade of Solana would be the Firedancer client that‬‭ is set to be released with massive improvements to the amount of transactions per‬‭ second that the network will be able to handle. It promises to process up to 1 million‬‭ transactions a second – far more than traditional payment networks. Visa, for‬‭ example, handles just 65,000 TPS at peak capacity. This is just the next step to‬‭ making Solana ready for mass adoption,” Chung emphasized.

The launch of the TRUMP and MELANIA coins on the Solana blockchain highlights the growing appeal of the Solana ecosystem within the cryptocurrency market. 

Developments like Firedancer will further equip Solana to handle similar events in the future, raising its potential as a preferred platform for individuals and entities looking to engage with cryptocurrencies. 

Meanwhile, dApps must ensure they are ready before that moment arrives. 

Digital Currency Group (DCG) has launched Fortitude Mining, a wholly-owned subsidiary focused on venture mining opportunities across various digital assets. 

The new venture will build on Foundry, DCG’s mining division, which has been active for five years. Foundry is the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool.

DCG’s Fortitude Mining to Build on Foundry’s Legacy

According to an announcement, Fortitude Mining aims to mine Bitcoin and other high-growth digital assets in emerging ecosystems with strong return potential. DCG is basically spinning off the self-mining unit of its Foundry subsidiary into a separate business.

Andrea Childs, former Senior Vice President of Operations & Marketing at Foundry, has been appointed CEO of Fortitude Mining. Mike Colyer, who founded Foundry in 2019, will continue as CEO of the parent company. 

Fortitude Mining’s primary goal is to generate returns by leveraging its mining expertise and substantial industry relationships.

DCG’s Founder and CEO, Barry Silbert, noted that Fortitude Mining’s spin-off allows the venture to explore greater growth opportunities, including capital raising, investments, and talent acquisition. 

“Originally part of FoundryServices, FortitudeCrypto is pioneering venture mining- a unique model providing diversified exposure to crypto and engages early in fast-growing Proof of Work ecosystems beyond just Bitcoin,” Silbert noted on X.

Since its launch, Foundry has grown significantly, becoming the world’s leading Bitcoin mining pool since January 2022. This strong foundation positions Fortitude Mining for future success.

“The launch of Fortitude Mining as a standalone DCG subsidiary is a pivotal next step in allowing the business to continue to capitalize on the lucrative self-mining market,” said Foundry CEO Mike Colyer.

In 2024, Fortitude Mining invested heavily in new mining machines, ensuring the fleet remains efficient. The company plans to reinvest cash flows into further acquisitions and infrastructure in 2025. This focus on reinvestment supports Fortitude Mining’s long-term growth strategy and vertical integration.

Foundry will continue to operate its Bitcoin mining pool and other services. It remains focused on its core business while benefiting from Fortitude Mining’s independence. 

The latest developments come after it was reported in December that Foundry laid off 60% of its workforce. The layoffs targeted the company’s non-core functions, including its entire hardware team.

Moreover, in 2023, the bankrupt crypto lender Gensis sued DCG, its parent company, over unpaid loans.

Solana-based meme coin Dogwifhat (WIF) recorded a 34% price surge during the intraday trading session on Wednesday. The rally followed speculation that the project might receive a promotion on the Vegas Sphere. 

However, this price uptick has proven to be short-lived. WIF’s value has started to retreat, erasing much of the gains made earlier. 

Dogwifhat‘s Rally Cut Short By the Sellers

In an X post on Wednesday, the developer team behind Dogwifhat teased a possible promotion of the Solana-based meme coin on the Vegas Sphere. 

WIF, whose price performance had been lackluster, immediately climbed by over 30% as demand poured through its spot markets. However, this price spike turned out to be temporary, as the meme coin reversed the trend. Currently trading at $1.19, WIF has dropped 13% from yesterday’s intraday high of $1.37.

An assessment of WIF’s open interest confirms the waning demand. According to Coinglass, this currently sits at $372 million, falling 19% in the past 24 hours.

Open interest refers to the total number of outstanding contracts, such as futures or options, that have not been settled. When open interest drops during an asset’s price decline, investors are closing their positions and exiting the market. This trend indicates reduced market participation or waning confidence in the WIF’s future price movement.

Furthermore, the meme coin still trades below the red line of its Super Trend indicator, suggesting that bearish bias remains significant. 

This indicator helps traders identify the market’s trend by placing a line above or below the price chart based on the asset’s volatility. As with WIF, when an asset’s price trades below the Super Trend line, it signals a bearish trend, indicating that the market is in a downtrend and selling pressure is dominant.

WIF Price Prediction: Token Risks Falling Below $1

If selloffs continue to dominate the market, WIF’s price could extend its decline and fall below $1 to trade at $0.97. This would mean an 18% drop from its current value.

However, if buying activity resumes and the bulls regain dominance, they might be able to push the meme coin’s price above the dynamic support resistance of its Super Trend indicator at $1.62. A successful break above this level could propel WIF to trade at $1.83.