Some crypto traders have made millions of dollars from the latest leading narrative, Artificial Intelligence (AI) related tokens. However, the sector’s quick rise in popularity has received backlash from several community members and industry figures, who consider the tokens “worse” than the memecoin trend. Related Reading: Bitcoin Bounces Back Above $100K – Is the Bull Run Resuming or a Correction Ahead? Crypto Traders Make Millions From AI-Related Tokens On January 6, on-chain data analysis firm Lookonchain shared that a smart Solana trader obtained massive returns from AI agent and memecoin ai16z (AI16Z). The investor turned $2 million into $21 million in less than two months amid the AI-related tokens rally. The AI-managed crypto fund is on the Solana blockchain and governed by the ai16zDAO. Its name is a wordplay originating from the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, seemingly created to bring attention to the project. According to the post, the whale purchased 10.6 million ai16z, worth $2.27 million, between November 15 and November 22, 2024, at an average cost of $0.214. Since then, the cryptocurrency has seen a 965% surge to trade around $2.28. At the time of the report, the investor’s holdings were valued at around $21 million, making $19 million in unrealized profits. Earlier today, the whale sent 5.3 million ai16z, worth $10.68 million, into Jupiter to sell via limit order. Meanwhile, another trader turned $123,000 into $4.5 million after betting on ai16z when the token’s market capitalization was $22 million. The whale purchased 6.17 million ai16z and sold 4.67 million for around $1.78 million last month. The investor currently holds 2.65 million ai16z tokens, valued at $2.9 million, bringing the total profits to more than $4.5 million in two months. This whale also made another $13.4 million from other AI crypto tokens like GOAT, FARTCOIN, and ARC. Community Calls AI Agent Tokens ‘Overrated’ In late 2024, AI Agent tokens gained massive popularity among crypto investors, with several experts predicting that AI-related tokens, alongside memecoins, would be the largest narrative of this year. Meanwhile, AI memecoins stole the spotlight as the year ended, sending some of the tokens in the sector to the top 10 memecoins ranks in late December. Ai16z, the largest AI memecoin by market capitalization, has seen a 251% increase in the past month, hitting an all-time high (ATH) of $2.47 on January 2. The token is also the third-largest AI agent crypto and has seen a 25% surge in the last 24 hours, trading between $2.25 and $2.28 throughout Monday morning. Nonetheless, the sector has received heavy criticism recently from the crypto community. On-chain sleuth ZachXBT recently called AI agent tokens a scam. Responding to Justin Taylor, another industry member, the crypto detective stated that “99% of it is a scam” and suggested that “the AI agent wrapper grifts are probably worse than other past trends.” Related Reading: Litecoin Comeback: LTC Breaks Free And Guns For $400 Zach argued that memecoins “at least” promised nothing, “AI coins try to larp as much as possible to appear legit to unsuspecting buyers.” Similarly, Solana founders consider AI agent tokens to be overhyped. According to an anonymous poll of 42 Solana founders, several of the polled considered AI Agents, alongside Blinks, to be the “most overrated Solana sector.” Despite the criticism, the sector still registers a 5% increase in the last 24 hours, with a daily trading volume of $2.28 billion and a market capitalization of $17.5 billion, according to CoinGecko data. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Popular Solana-based Launchpad Pump.fun started 2025 with a record-breaking $15 million daily revenue amid the ongoing frenzy surrounding memecoins. The sector continues to be the best-performing narrative of the cycle, driving millions into the hands of investors. Related Reading: Altcoins To Explode In Early 2025: Analyst Says “Grand Finale” Is Around The Corner Pump.Fun Sees Record-Breaking Daily Revenue Memecoins have been this cycle’s largest narrative, with Solana-based tokens stealing the spotlight throughout 2024. This trend is seemingly set to continue this year after Solana’s launchpad Pump.fun saw a record-breaking performance on January 1st, 2025. Last year, Pump.fun cemented itself as the most popular token launcher for simplifying the creation of memecoins and facilitating token deployment. During Q3 2024, the launchpad surpassed Ethereum and most Solana protocols, doubling the fees and revenue of these projects. The remarkable success of Pump.fun saw the creation of several competitors, including the Tron-based SunPump and multi-chain platform GraFun. Despite being banned in the UK in December, the launchpad’s performance remained steady, recording a daily revenue between $2 million and $3 million throughout the month. As of this writing, the platform has deployed 5.39 million tokens since its launch and generated over 2.02 million SOL in revenue, worth $418.7 million at current prices. Moreover, the Solana launchpad started 2025 with a new record-breaking day, surpassing its previous milestone. According to Dune Analytics data, Pump.fun registered 72,506 SOL, around $15 million, in daily revenue this Wednesday. This performance represents a nearly 30% increase from the 55,000 SOL recorded in late November. Additionally, the launchpad continued to dominate Solana decentralized exchange (DEX) transactions last month. Dune data shows that Pump.fun-related transactions accounted for 52.8% of all SOL DEX transactions in December. Memecoin Mania Continues Despite Criticism The platform’s success has also brought heavy criticism. At the end of 2024, Pump.fun received criticism after several users broadcasted harmful and violent content using its Livestream feature. In late November, users created numerous memecoins using controversial prompts to become viral and pump their tokens. The trend started after a 12-year-old livestreamed himself rugging a memecoin. Amid the livestream chaos, the Solana launchpad registered its largest revenue day, recording 55,832 SOL, worth around $11 million, in a single day. However, the incident resulted in backlash from the crypto community and the temporary shutdown of the feature. Moreover, on-chain data analysis firm Lookonchain reported that Pump.fun deposited over 355,608 SOL to Kraken during the last day. This brings the total tokens sent to the exchange to 1,564,064 SOL and the amount sold to 264,373 SOL for 41.64 million USDC. The platform’s transfers and sell-offs have also received significant backlash, with community members driving comparisons between the Solana-based launchpad and the Ethereum Foundation. Related Reading: Bitcoin Retests $95,000 Amid 4.2% Surge, Is A New Year Rebound Coming? Nonetheless, the memecoin narrative continues to dominate the crypto market, with the “Solana Meme” category on CoinGecko recording a 12.5% increase to a market capitalization of $20.9 billion in the last 24 hours, suggesting that the trend is likely to extend. Newer players like ai16z (AI16Z) and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) saw an 8.9% and 43.7% daily surge to hit new all-time highs (ATHs) on January 2nd. Ultimately, these relatively new tokens have stolen the sector’s spotlight, making it to the top 10 memecoin list in record time. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com