- Tron enters the CoinMarketCap top 10, ousting Cardano.
- The SunPump memecoin generator is a factor in Tron’s upward momentum.
- Memecoins are high risk, high reward.
Market cap gauges a cryptocurrency’s popularity and influence compared to other projects. Tron (TRX) has recently climbed the market cap rankings and surpassed Cardano (ADA) on August 19 to claim the 10th spot on CoinMarketCap.
A key factor in Tron’s ascent is the launch of SunPump, a new platform for creating and trading memecoins. Since its debut on August 9, SunPump has experienced a surge in activity, with users eagerly generating and trading memecoins, driving up demand for TRX tokens.
Tron’s SunPump on a Roll
Crypto markets are grappling with uncertainty from macroeconomic and geopolitical factors impacting investor sentiment. Yet, amidst this volatility, the surge in activity on Tron’s SunPump platform indicates a potential memecoin resurgence. SunPump’s growing popularity has coincided with Tron’s ascent in the market cap rankings, propelling it past Cardano to secure the 10th spot on CoinMarketCap.
Observers have blamed Cardano’s slide down the market cap rankings on various factors including poor marketing and the lack of a major USD stablecoin. However, influencer Max Maher attributed this decline to a lack of hype as a result of negative sentiment among holders.
Tron launched SunPump on August 9, enabling users to create their own memecoins without coding knowledge. The platform offers a seeding service where Tron contributes 100,000 TRX in liquidity to projects exceeding a $69,420 threshold. As of August 20, over 12,000 memecoins have been created on SunPump, generating more than 4.2 million TRX (approximately $609,000) in activity, per Dune Analytics.
While these figures are modest compared to what Solana achieved at its peak, which saw 20,000 new memecoins created daily at one point, savvy investors are taking notice of the growing Tron memecoin trend.
Tron founder Justin Sun has been promoting Tron as the hot, new chain for memecoins, suggesting that its dominance in USDT stablecoin could pave the way for “dozens of billion-dollar meme coins” on the network.
The current top coin on SunPump is Sundog, boasting a market cap of $144.7 million, up 60% in the last 24 hours. Another standout, Suncat, which launched on August 16, has quickly become the third-largest SunPump token, reaching a market cap of $10.9 million by Tuesday.
Despite rising demand for SunPump tokens, memecoin investing remains risky.
Memecoins Investors Ignore the Risks
Memecoin investing is considered high-risk, high-reward because these tokens generally lack intrinsic value and are often plagued by scams and rug pulls.
Despite these risks, many investors are drawn to memecoins by the potential for significant returns. Indeed, early Dogecoin or dogwifhat investors would argue that the benefits outweigh the risks.
However, memecoin investing remains divisive, with critics stating that memecoins detract from the serious goals of utilizing blockchain to build fairer systems and do away with centralized gatekeepers.
In 2021, at the height of the Wall Street Bets movement, Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz explained the lure of memecoin investing as giving the middle finger to an inherently unfair economic system.
On the Flipside
- Cardano has exited and re-entered the top 10 several times since its 2017 debut.
- While memecoins can drive short-term growth, their long-term impact on a blockchain’s reputation and utility remains debatable.
Why This Matters
Tron’s memecoin mania pushing Cardano out of the 10th spot highlights how hype and the allure of quick profits can sometimes overshadow fundamental value.
Tron taking Cardano’s top 10 spot was poised to happen:
Tron’s Surge Threatens Cardano’s Top 10 Ranking
Cardano founder offers $1M to anyone who cracks Lace’s new paper wallet:
$1M Bounty: Cardano Founder Dares Hackers to Crack Lace