It’s been an eventful few days in the memecoin market, with a high-profile mainnet launch and new project presales getting underway.
The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) has declined since the rollout of the Shibarium network amid reported glitches, while the newly-launched Sonik Coin (SONIK) has seen some enthusiastic early demand.
In this article, we look at the top memecoin news stories making headlines - including one new memecoin that has now raised over $24.5 million in investor funding.
1. Shiba Inu stumbles amid Shibarium launch issues
The price of leading memecoin Shiba Inu (SHIB) has retreated over 20% in the past five days, despite the long-awaited launch of the Shibarium layer-2 network.
SHIB is currently hovering around $0.0000090, sharply down from its August 12 price of $0.000011.
This decline comes as the rollout of the Shibarium mainnet hit some technical snags.
A post circulating on Twitter showed leaked screenshots from a Shiba Inu developer Telegram chat where the developers were discussing apparent issues with retrieving bridged assets on the new Shibarium network.
This news sparked concerns over the network’s reliability, likely contributing to the SHIB sell-off.
Until the reported issues are resolved, doubts will likely remain around Shibarium’s capabilities – hampering Shiba Inu’s price potential.
2. Sonik Coin makes presale debut and hits the $75k Milestone in three days
Sonik Coin (SONIK), which has just commenced its public presale event, is a new memecoin attempting to capture the spotlight in the market.
SONIK token price is fixed at $0.000014 during this presale.
In its first few days, the Sonik Coin presale has raised over $75,000 from early investors – and with the hard cap set at just $2 million, the current buying pace could see the presale conclude successfully.
A key potential driver of early interest is Sonik Coin’s staking system, outlined in the project’s whitepaper.
This system promises that SONIK holders can lock their tokens and earn yields exceeding 1,000% APY.
SONIK also benefits from its Sonic the Hedgehog-inspired branding, tapping into a globally-recognized pop culture design.
With its transparent presale structure and staking perks, Sonik Coin has built some traction, even while the broader memecoin space faces familiar volatility.
3. Wall Street Memes nears first exchange listing after raising $24.5M
Presale cryptocurrency Wall Street Memes (WSM) has also sustained momentum, now raising over $24.5 million in early funding.
The project’s presale is now in Stage 29 out of 30., meaning investors only have a narrow window to purchase WSM tokens before their open market launch.
Wall Street Memes’ team has hinted at significant exchange listings once the presale concludes, although no specific details have been released yet.
However, there are some rumors among members of the Wall Street Memes Telegram community that major exchange partnerships are in the pipeline, given that the project’s roadmap notes plans for “Tier-1 CEX listings”.
Much of Wall Street Memes’ early success has been down to the brand’s remarkable online following, made up of 1.1 million people spread across social media channels like Instagram and Twitter.
Amid a volatile crypto market, this engaged community could have a significant effect i on WSMtoken if it hits public exchanges.
4. Cat Token’s meteoric 1,000% catches traders’ attention
A new memecoin called Cat (CAT) has rapidly risen in popularity in the last few days.
As its name suggests, the token features accessible branding around cats and memes, appealing to a broad demographic of memecoin enthusiasts.
CAT was initially listed on PancakeSwap in June 2022, making it accessible for anyone.
With a vast one quadrillion token supply, the developers aimed to make CAT accessible to the masses – but the token didn’t initially take off as they’d hoped.
Since launching, CAT has gone through multiple cycles of speculation, experiencing colossal value increases in December 2022 and then again in January 2023.
However, CAT is back in the news after the token’s price surged over 1,000% in the past three days.
Cat token’s recent astronomic rise catches the attention of memecoin trading community l.
5. Meme Coin market trading volume lumps 3%
Lastly, although coins like SONIK, WSM, and CAT have been gaining momentum, the overall memecoin sector has recently seen trading activity cool off.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total trading volume for memecoins dropped 3% in the past 24 hours to $1.18 billion.
Flagship coins like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Pepe have all seen price slides, reversing the uptrend from last week.
The pullback in signals waning short-term enthusiasm from memecoin investors as bearish momentum takes hold.
This trend may be down to the broader cryptocurrency market experiencing volatility, which often leads to heightened caution among traders – especially those invested in highly-speculative assets like memecoins.
As such, investors are staying prepared for further downside, with many choosing to steer clear of trading for the time being.