Solana Price Crashes Below $200 As SOL Founder Calls Meme Coin Rug Pulls a ‘Hellscape”

Solana price continues to extend its decline below $200 amid a surge in rug pulls on meme coins created on the blockchain. These rug pulls have drawn the attention of Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, who has termed the current situation a “hellscape.” 

SOL price trades at $172 today with a slight 2.5% gain. As the crypto community continues to raise concerns about SOL-based meme coins, how will this impact the price? 

Solana Founder Calls for Solutions to Meme Coin “Hellscape”  

In a recent X post, Yakovenko urged developers in the crypto industry to come up with solutions to the problem of meme tokens flooding the market. According to him, this problem has created an opportunity and a ready market for developers. He noted,

“Every problem is an opportunity. Solve permissionless fair and fun token launching at scale and you’ll have a ton of customers.”

Yakovenko’s remarks follow growing concerns over the losses experienced by traders speculating on the price of these Solana meme coins. An earlier report by Coingape revealed how the Libra meme coin promoted by Argentinian President Javier Milei left nearly 100% of holders in losses. 

On February 19, 2025, Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, was also accused of a rug pull after creating a meme token dubbed “Greed”. Portnoy bought 35% of the meme coin’s supply and sold the tokens two hours later in a single transaction, triggering a 99% crash. 

The other popular meme coins launched on Solana include TRUMP and MELANIA, which are down by 77% and 90%, respectively in one month. 

Due to these losses and the growing concerns, Yakovenko noted that one of the ways out of the current “hellscape” was to solve permissionless token launching. 

The meme coin frenzy on the blockchain has also coincided with bearish trends for Solana price, which recently dropped below $170 for the first time since November 2024. 

Bearish Sentiment Pushes Solana Price Below $200 

According to Santiment, the market sentiment on Solana dropped significantly after the SOL dipped to a 3-month low on February 18, 2025. While the number of discussions around SOL have increased, most of these discussions are negative and dampening the long-term Solana price forecast. 

Additionally, a death cross was looming on Solana’s daily chart. The 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) is tipping south, and approaching the 200-day EMA. For now, traders should watch out for a bearish crossover that could accelerate the downtrend. 

SOL’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) also recently dropped to a multi-month low of 30 indicating an oversold situation. The RSI is recovering and tipping north suggesting that buyers took advantage of the recent dip. The RSI needs to make a higher low to confirm buyer strength. 

If a bullish reversal commences, the immediate resistance lies at the 200-day EMA at $189, with a swing above this level set to resume the uptrend. The market sentiment also needs to flip bullish for Solana price to sustain an upside momentum.