MELANIA meme coin is trending, but as interest spikes, Solana is struggling under heavy load – fuelling demand for layer-2 scaling; luckily, Solaxy is building a Solana layer-2.
Meme coins on Solana are back in the picture again. In 2024, Pump.fun was the primary driver of SOL prices, thanks partly to the explosion of tokens like Popcat and PNUT hitting the market through the launchpad.
In 2025, all the buzz around meme coins has been due to the actions of Donald and Melania Trump. Within 36 hours, they released meme coins, both of which have soared to multi-billion valuations.
MELANIA and TRUMP tokens launched on Solana, funneling demand for meme coins.
Hours after launching, MELANIA soared to a market cap of over $1.8 billion, flipping some of the most successful meme coins on Solana, including WIF and BONK.
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MELANIA Crypto Is Soaring: But Will It Spark a Divorce?
MELANIA now has a market cap of $1.6 billion. At this pace, it is outpacing TRUMP, a meme coin that’s now also one of the most valuable on Solana.
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By Sunday, TRUMP was trading at over $70.
However, MELANIA’s launch forced TRUMP prices to lower, causing a 30% drop to around $50.
As popular as both meme coins are, they have been criticized.
Additionally, they are centralized, as seen in the distribution of tokens via Solscan.
There is something else going on behind the scenes.
Solana Struggling Against Major Congestion
It all concerns the success of TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins. That both tokens are running on Solana has put a strain on the platform.
The network is struggling to keep up with the sharp spike in transaction processing demand.
Earlier today, the network was congested, increasing the transaction failure rates to as high as 70%.
That means that for every 10 transactions posted, only three went through.
This development can be pinned to on-chain trading of meme coins.
According to Jito Labs, Solana’s Block Engine API was “severely” degraded earlier today due to “unprecedented load levels.”
The @jito_labs Block Engine API is experiencing severe degradation due to unprecedented load levels.
Our engineering team has been actively mitigating the issue for several hours. While the Solana network continues to operate and process blocks, transaction submission through…
— buffalu (@buffalu__) January 20, 2025
As a result, priority fees spiked by a reported 50X.
Although this has been fixed and the network stabilized, it shows just how fragile Solana becomes, especially when under high load.
Solana Needs a Layer 2 and Solaxy (SOLX) Is Here To Deliver
Given what’s going on, there are debates about whether Solana should adopt layer-2 solutions like Ethereum.
Layer-2 platforms reroute transactions off-chain, offsetting mainnet load, and scaling the network.
On these platforms, users are guaranteed high speeds and transaction processing. These features mean fees are also perpetually low, attracting meme coin developers.
Already, layer-2s are attracting projects and capital. L2Beat shows that these platforms, most of them on Ethereum, currently manage over $54 billion.
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Arbitrum is the largest, with a total value locked (TVL) of $17 billion. On Solana, scaling solutions are being worked on.
Solaxy is planning to develop the first Solana layer-2. The solution will address Solana’s scaling issues and unclog the mainnet during periods of heightened network activity and speculative trading, as we are seeing with TRUMP and MELANIA trading.
Solaxy will be interoperable with Solana, deriving its security from the mainnet.
For what it offers, it is gaining traction, raising nearly $12 million in the ongoing presale.
Smart investors are scooping up the token in droves since SOLX is trading for just $0.001606.
Prices will increase in two hours; this is the best time to buy SOLX.
Those who buy SOLX now also get a chance to stake, receiving a 305% APY.
Join the project’s community on X and Telegram to stay updated on its latest developments.
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