The chatter surrounding Solana’s SOL and The Book of Meme (BOME) coin has surged on social media platforms, potentially signaling a growing interest among retail investors. According to data from Santiment, both SOL and BOME emerged as the top two trending tokens across various platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, Telegram, and 4Chan.
This surge in interest is attributed to their recent outperformance in the markets, with many in the crowd viewing Solana and its associated meme coins as attractive alternatives to Ethereum-based projects.
SOL’s price has seen a notable increase of 45% over the past seven days, reaching highs of over $200 for the first time since December 2021, as reported by CoinDesk. Similarly, BOME has experienced a significant surge of 82% since its introduction on March 10, with Binance listing BOME perpetual futures on March 16.
In contrast, Ether (ETH), the native token of the leading smart contract blockchain, has declined by 6.3% to $3,640 despite the successful implementation of the Dencun upgrade. Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC) has remained relatively flat, hovering around $68670, while the broader CoinDesk 20 Index has recorded a modest gain of 0.7%.
Solana’s impressive rally is in line with the renewed interest in its DeFi ecosystem. Data from Top Ledger and OurNetwork indicate that Solana-based decentralized exchanges have witnessed a significant surge in trading volume, reaching $30 billion this month, a tenfold increase compared to the same period last year.
The number of mentions of “SOL” on social media platforms has risen to 322, according to Santiment. A similar surge in mentions in late December coincided with the cryptocurrency’s peak at $125, eventually correcting to $85.
At the time of writing, Google Trends shows a provisional value of 100 for the worldwide search query “Solana,” indicating peak popularity. This suggests that more individuals are turning to the internet for information about the cryptocurrency, which has recently outperformed market leaders.
The increased chatter in online discussions is often interpreted as a sign of an impending retail investor frenzy, commonly observed at market tops. Google Trends data showed similar values in the final four months of 2021 as SOL’s bull market peaked above $200.
