Ethereum Becomes Safe Haven After Traders Get ‘Stung’ by Solana Memecoins

Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), has recently gained some of its lost ground against Solana (SOL).

As of Feb. 18, the widely traded SOL/ETH pair was trading for as low as 0.061 ETH. That is down 35.60% from the pair’s record high of 0.093 ETH established last month, including a circa 14% loss in the past 48 hours alone.

Ether’s growing strength versus its top layer-one asset rival Solana has occurred primarily due to a cooling memecoin market.

In 2025, the memecoin craze, helped by the launch of high-profile memecoins like Official Trump (TRUMP) and Official Melania Meme (MELANIA), helped prices rally by up to 57.25% at one point in time.

However, that craze is coming to a point of exhaustion.

Solana’s Memecoin Boom Ends in Scandals

Solana’s recent decline follows a surge in memecoin activity that has now started to unwind.

The most notable example is the $LIBRA memecoin, which launched on Feb. 14 and briefly reached a market capitalization of $4.56 billion. However, the token collapsed by 94%, wiping out $4 billion in market value after insiders withdrew $107 million in liquidity.

The $LIBRA incident—widely criticized as a “rug pull”—has drawn regulatory scrutiny, with reports suggesting that around 40,000 investors were affected. Argentina’s financial authorities have launched an investigation into alleged fraud linked to the project, which gained traction after being promoted by President Javier Milei.

Other recent scandals associated with Solana-based memecoins include:

• $MELANIA Memecoin (February 2025)

  • • Allegedly linked to the same team behind $LIBRA.

    • On-chain analysis suggests coordinated wallet activity between the two projects.

    • Traders suspect insider manipulation.

$BONK Volatility (January 2025)

• No outright scam, but faced accusations of team-controlled sell-offs.

• Major early holders dumped millions of dollars worth of tokens.

$DONALD Token Exit Scam (December 2024)

• Token price crashed 98% after developers drained liquidity.

• It was promoted as a “pro-Trump” coin but had no legitimate ties to Trump.

$SAMO Developer Dump (Late 2024)

• Developers sold a large percentage of the supply, causing a 40% price drop.

• The community accused the team of misleading holders about long-term plans.

As a result of these memecoin “rugpulls,” Solana’s reputation has suffered, with some analysts noting that speculative trading activity could be shifting away from its ecosystem.

“Looks like the tides are shifting, and Solana’s narrative as the go-to retail chain is changing. Despite superior UX, it is now being labeled as the chain for scams and will take time to heal,” noted data analyst Elite Crypto, adding:

“Ethereum, on the other hand, is slowly cementing itself as the most decentralized and enterprise-ready L1.”

On-chain data shows that stablecoin inflows to Ethereum have increased by $1.1 billion over the past week, while Solana has seen $772 million in outflows.

SOL/ETH Technical Analysis — Hold Key Support Or…

The SOL/ETH pair is testing the lower trendline of its ascending channel, a critical level for potential support. This trendline aligns with the 50-day EMA (0.06184) and the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement level (0.06346), making it a key area for a possible rebound.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped toward the 30 threshold, approaching oversold conditions. Historically, such RSI levels have preceded short-term recoveries, suggesting a potential relief bounce if buying interest emerges.

Some analysts agree with a SOL rebound setup, with RND Crypto noting on X that “ETH is still way way way overvalued than SOL, around 6x.”

However, sustained selling pressure on Solana—driven by declining market sentiment and concerns over recent memecoin losses—could invalidate the SOL/ETH rebound outlook.

If the pair breaks below the current support, it may extend losses toward the 0.5 Fib level (0.05851), with the 0.618 Fib level (0.05357) as the next downside target.