Recently, the crypto circle has finally shown some signs of life, and the Solana ecosystem is particularly booming. The SOL/ETH exchange rate has soared to a historical high of 0.08387, with SOL price steadily standing at $170. The on-chain transaction activity is like on steroids, and the MEME coin fever has swept in again. New coins are emerging one after another on Pump.fun and Moonshot, with players eager to get a piece of the action. On-chain data shows that the number of new MEME coins on Solana has surged in the past week, with trading volume directly breaking the $1 billion mark. This time, $RFC, $Defiant, $DARK, and $MTN have become the focus of the scene.
Such a boom during a market downturn is indeed eye-catching. Let's quickly explore what the Solana ecosystem has been hyping recently!
Reminder: MEME coins are volatile with huge risks. Please think carefully before participating. This article only discusses market dynamics and does not provide any investment recommendations.
$RFC: The "Capital Manipulation" Surge Backed by Musk
Let's start with $RFC, short for "Retard Finder Coin", launched by the humorous blogger @IfindRetards with 660,000 followers. This account has gained popularity by satirizing fan culture, deeply loved by foreigners and bringing massive traffic. $RFC is purely positioned as a humorous meme-style token, directly pointing to irrational behaviors in the crypto market with a self-deprecating humor. Musk has shown great favor to @IfindRetards, mentioning and replying to the account three times, causing an instant social media frenzy. Upon launching on Pump.fun, $RFC's market cap quickly reached $100 million, now fallen to $15 million, becoming the "popularity king" of this wave.
However, $RFC's surge is not simply community enthusiasm, but a carefully planned capital game with a rise of 2000%. As early as March 7th, after Musk liked @IfindRetards' post, 6 addresses quickly bought $RFC worth $800,000, instantly igniting market sentiment. The project team even planted an Easter egg: secretly embedding an "XCorp" key in the website code, with Eric Trump from the Trump family also sharing and supporting, pushing market enthusiasm to its peak. On-chain data revealed deeper insider information: $100 million USDC funds flowed from Trump-affiliated market makers, jumping through 14 wallets across ETH, SOL, and BASE chains - operating methods identical to the TRUMP coin during the 2024 election - with a staged push-up and controlled pullback within 15%, creating an illusion of "steady rise".
More unsettling is the Solana Foundation's covert involvement, quietly transferring 5000 SOL to the project team, with Serum exchange directly listing $RFC's liquidity pool. Data shows that the top 500 addresses hold 36.46% of tokens, with 181 associated wallets controlling 29.6% of the chips, a concentration even higher than SHIB's. Of the current $120 million daily trading volume, $40 million is false liquidity. The operators have prepared two scenarios: one is oscillating in the $0.08-0.12 range to harvest options markets; the other is to quickly withdraw funds after a new Solana ecosystem hot spot emerges - thinking of OM coin's 90% single-day crash, $RFC might not even last a day if it collapses. What appears to be a Musk-driven surge is actually a joint "hunting" by Trump-affiliated capital, Solana Foundation, and high-frequency traders. Would you dare to chase this wave?
$Defiant: The "Musk Effect" of a Political Traffic Account
Next, let's look at $Defiant, another project born from social platform popularity, launched by the political account @DefiantLs. With more followers than $RFC's @IfindRetards, its influence cannot be underestimated, not only catching Musk's attention but also gaining fans from the Trump family. @DefiantLs is known for sharp political views and rebellious attitude, attracting followers who pursue "challenging authority". $Defiant thus inherently carries traffic attributes, quickly becoming popular after launching on Pump.fun, with market cap once rising to $20 million.
$Defiant's positioning is very direct: to be the most "rebellious" MEME coin in the Solana ecosystem, rejecting all complex DeFi rules and focusing on community-driven momentum. The project team declared on their website: "We don't do technical gimmicks, nor play financial games, we are MEME, we are here to challenge rules!" This straightforward attitude instantly ignited community passion. Fans started a sharing wave on social platforms, with $Defiant's logo and slogan "Defy the Rules" everywhere, with some even creating memes and short videos, spreading at an incredible speed. The team subsequently launched an activity: $Defiant holders can exchange limited edition NFT avatars, inspired by Solana ecosystem's early "rebellious culture", with a cyberpunk style that community members exclaimed as "so cool". This move directly pushed $Defiant's popularity to its peak, with a "Defiant Resistance" community emerging in Discord, where members discuss daily how to push the token to higher market cap.
However, $Defiant's popularity relies more on community sentiment, lacking substantial support. Its narrative captures the "rebellious" emotion but lacks depth, making it easy for players to get trapped after chasing high. Some players directly said: "$Defiant shouts about challenging rules, but besides community slogans, it seems to have no actual content." More critically, this pure traffic-driven model can easily be overshadowed by the next hot spot. How long can $Defiant's popularity last? Once the NFT fever subsides, will players quickly withdraw? These questions leave people uncertain.
$DARK: The "Tech-Savvy" Newcomer of AI Competition and Cross-Chain
$DARK is a MEME coin with a "technical halo", launched by Edgar Pavlovsky, positioned as an AI-driven competitive gaming platform with the core product $DARK Games - a game universe built for AI. Human players cannot directly participate in games but can use $DARK tokens to bet on match results or sponsor AI players to improve their performance, such as purchasing stronger algorithms or items. The first game is adapted from the classic Dark Forest, using zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) and "Fog of War" mechanism, expected to start the first batch of tests next week. This setting reminds many veteran players of the Web3 community's Dark Forest fever in 2020-2021, when it was a "star project" in the Ethereum circle.
$DARK also introduces the MCP Protocol (Multi-Chain Protocol), attempting to achieve cross-chain interaction for Solana ecosystem projects, attracting many tech-savvy players. The project team revealed that the MCP Protocol might allow $DARK Games' AI players to compete on Ethereum or Polygon in the future, further expanding ecosystem boundaries. After launching on Moonshot, $DARK's market cap quickly rose to $30 million, becoming the "traffic leader" of this wave. On social platforms, players are full of expectations for $DARK's AI narrative, with some boldly predicting: "$DARK might be the next phenomenal project, AI playing games, humans betting, this model is too novel!"
However, $DARK's ambitions also hide many risks. The game has not yet officially launched, and the MCP Protocol's effect has not been market-verified, with the current popularity more of a pursuit of AI concepts. Some players worry that while AI competition gameplay is novel, the actual experience might not meet expectations and could even "fail" due to technical issues. Not to mention Edgar Pavlovsky is also a co-founder of mtnDAO, which might affect $DARK's development progress. How long can $DARK's popularity last? Will players lose patience during the testing phase? These questions still need time to be answered.
$MTN: A "New Investment Experiment" with Futarchy Governance
Let's discuss $MTN, which belongs to mtnCapital - an on-chain investment fund incubated by mtnDAO, focusing on investing in Solana ecosystem projects. The highlight of $MTN is its governance model: adopting a Futarchy mechanism where investment directions are determined by $MTN token price fluctuations. Simply put, holders express their attitude towards proposals by buying and selling tokens, with price increases indicating proposal approval and price drops leading to rejection. For example, if someone proposes investing $100,000 in a new Solana project, the proposal passes if $MTN price rises, and is rejected otherwise. mtnCapital launched $MTN pre-sale through MetaDAO Launchpad in early April, with a total supply of 11 million tokens, raising $5.76 million, and currently has a market value of $9.38 million, with the treasury holding $5.18 million in USDC stablecoin.
mtnDAO is a community organization deeply rooted in the Solana ecosystem, focusing on hosting hackathons and summits, typically held in Salt Lake City, Utah, attracting global developers, especially in DeFi and Non-Fungible Token fields. Solana's co-creators often appear at their events, discovering potential projects and talents. Well-known ecosystem projects like Backpack and Delphi Digital have participated. Edgar Pavlovsky is a co-founder of mtnDAO and also the initiator of $DARK, creating a "brotherly" relationship between $DARK and $MTN. Here's a simple diagram: mtnDAO incubated mtnCapital, Edgar Pavlovsky launched $DARK, $DARK Games is centered around $DARK token, while $MTN drives mtnCapital's governance.
Currently, mtnCapital's progress is not fast, with only two proposals under discussion: one about using treasury funds for farming, and another about investing in a Solana ecosystem DeFi project. Proposal details can be found in mtnDAO's Telegram group and will be displayed on MetaDAO's governance page. While $MTN's narrative is attractive, actual implementation needs time to verify. Some players are optimistic about its long-term potential, believing Futarchy governance might be a future trend; others question: "This mechanism sounds smart, but will it ultimately be controlled by large token holders?" Can $MTN transition from a meme narrative to a truly valuable token? We'll wait and see.
Summary: Fierce Trend, Hidden Risks
Solana's meme trend has completely ignited, with $RFC (15 million), $Defiant (20 million), $DARK (30 million), and $MTN (9.38 million) each showing their unique strengths and sparking market enthusiasm. $RFC and $Defiant leveraged Musk's endorsement and community traffic for short-term popularity; $DARK and $MTN focus on technical narratives, attempting to find long-term value amid the trend. The new SOL/ETH exchange rate added fuel to this wave, with Pump.fun's trading volume particularly enticing.
However, the wealth effect of meme coins has always been a double-edged sword, rising quickly and falling just as fast. Behind $RFC's "Musk narrative" is capital manipulation, $Defiant's traffic trend lacks support, $DARK's game is not yet launched, and $MTN's governance is still exploring. New tokens on Solana emerge endlessly, with trends often disappearing in an instant. Want to ride the trend? No problem, but don't be blinded by FOMO. Even with SOL looking tempting, don't go all in. The trend is fierce, but risks are hidden - play carefully!
