Solana News Today: Institutions Shift to Staking, Meme Coins Lose Mindshare

The once-booming meme coin sector is showing signs of exhaustion, with market mindshare collapsing to 2.5% in October 2025 from roughly 20% in late 2024, according to data from KAITO shared on social media. This near-90% decline has sparked debates over whether the meme coin craze has peaked, as investor attention shifts toward utility-driven crypto projects and institutional-grade assets.

Google Trends data underscores the waning interest: global searches for "meme coins" plummeted from a peak score of 100 in early 2025 to just 7 by October. On-chain activity reflects a similar trend. Galaxy Research noted that Solana's decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume attributed to meme coins dropped from 60% in early 2025 to 30% by October. Meanwhile, leading tokens like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have yet to reclaim their all-time highs, despite broader crypto market rallies, according to Yahoo Finance.

The sector's decline is not merely speculative. Market value has become increasingly concentrated, with just 12 tokens accounting for over 55% of Pump.fun's $4.8 billion fully diluted market cap in early October. Token creation has also slowed, with 56% fewer new meme coins launched in September 2025 compared to January.

Analysts attribute the shift to growing institutional interest in staking and regulated crypto products. The Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), launched in October 2025, drew $55.4 million in trading volume on its first day, the highest for any crypto ETF debut that year, according to Coinotag. Regulatory clarity from the SEC on proof-of-stake activities has further fueled confidence in yield-generating assets, diverting capital from speculative tokens to projects offering tangible utility, Coinotag reported.

Bitcoin's institutional adoption also plays a role. Analysts from Bull Theory predict the asset could reach $160,000 in 2025 if just 0.2% of global assets shift into crypto, a scenario that amplifies Bitcoin's appeal as a store of value compared to meme coins. Meanwhile, subcategories like AI agents and perpetual DEXs have captured market narratives, outperforming meme tokens in growth and investor traction, as Yahoo Finance also reported.

The meme coin community remains divided. Some view the drop in mindshare as a "generational bottom," suggesting renewed interest could follow. Ethan, a crypto analyst, noted that extreme lows in engagement often precede rebounds. However, skeptics argue the sector's decline reflects a fundamental shift in investor priorities.

Pump.fun, a major meme coin platform, has seen recent volatility, with its native token PUMP surging 10% in a 24-hour period amid whale accumulation and buyback initiatives, a Yahoo Finance story said. Despite this, the platform's dominance in Solana's token-graduation scene has been challenged by competitors like Four.meme, indicating a fragmented market.

As the crypto landscape matures, meme coins face an uphill battle to reclaim relevance. Institutional capital and regulatory developments are increasingly favoring projects with clear utility and staking mechanisms, leaving speculative tokens to compete in a shrinking niche. Whether this marks the end of an era or a cyclical downturn remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the days of meme coins dominating mainstream crypto discourse appear to be fading.

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