$SOL Solana drops 8% amid memecoin crisis triggered by Milei and possible dump of billions of SOL on the market

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is close to unlocking 11.2 million SOL tokens, valued at approximately US$2.06 billion, as part of its corporate restructuring plan. (Image: Unsplash/GuerrillaBuzz Blockchain PR Agency)

Solana (SOL) is experiencing a day of bleeding this Tuesday (18), accumulating a 15% drop in the last seven days. At around 10:12 am, the token was trading down 8.34%, quoted at US$170.72. Part of this devaluation occurred after Javier Milei, president of Argentina, triggered a “crisis” in memecoins, the cryptocurrencies that were born from internet jokes — and which were the main sector that boosted the SOL network.

Over the weekend, Milei promoted the cryptocurrency Libra (LIBRA), a project to “strengthen the Argentine economy,” which caused the token to skyrocket.

However, a few hours later, the currency returned the gains, leaving thousands of investors with substantial losses — and several calls for the impeachment of the Argentine president.

It is estimated that more than 40,000 people were affected in this period, resulting in losses of more than US$4 billion.

As a result, the total volume traded within the Solana network fell from US$2 billion in November last year to US$26 million last Monday.