Solana Co-Founder Drops Bombshell: ’NFTs and Meme Coins Are Worthless’—Crypto Community Fires Back
Solana's co-founder just threw gasoline on the crypto culture war—declaring NFTs and meme coins 'valueless' in a blistering takedown. The backlash was instant, brutal, and dripping with irony.
Here's why this nuclear take matters:
• The Solana ecosystem owes much of its 2024 resurgence to degenerate meme coin trading and NFT speculation
• Community points out the hypocrisy—blockchain that rode retail mania now biting the hand that feeds
• Meme coin traders counter with charts showing 1000x gains—'no value' indeed
The real question? Whether this is principled stand or calculated positioning before the next institutional crypto push. Because nothing says 'serious financial instrument' like fighting over cartoon apes and dog tokens—just ask the SEC.
Solana might be known for its fast tech and memecoin mania but its own co-founder isn’t impressed.
In a controversial post on X, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, slammed the two biggest drivers of activity on his blockchain, memecoins and NFTs, calling them “digital slop with no intrinsic value.”
He compared them to loot boxes in mobile games, where people spend real money on flashy items with little real use.
“I’ve said this for years. Memecoins and NFTs are digital slop. Like a mobile game loot box. People spend $150B a year on mobile gaming,” Yakovenko wrote.
Apparently, just because people pay for something doesn’t mean it’s worth anything.
Crypto Twitter Reacts
The post didn’t go unnoticed, especially because memecoins and NFTs are exactly what brought users and volume to Solana.
Another influencer fired back saying without that so-called “slop”, solana would be as forgotten as Tezos, an old “Ethereum killer” that barely sees any action today.
Even Adam Hollander, CMO at OpenSea, wasn’t holding back:
Disappointing take. And just flat out wrong. The concept of provable transparent digital ownership isn’t going anywhere. And absolutely has intrinsic value.
Other users pointed out that entertainment itself holds value, even if it’s subjective. “Entertainment and media is a multi trillion dollar industry,” one user replied, adding that while not all NFTs offer utility, many still hold cultural or emotional value.
Is Yakovenko Being Harsh or Just Honest?
Despite the backlash, Yakovenko didn’t back down. In a follow-up tweet, he shifted the focus to market fairness and transparency:
“What’s important to me is that the shitheads that obfuscate or mislead about market conditions or market structure are nuked from orbit.”
This isn’t the first time Yakovenko has taken a strong position. He has consistently pushed for better market tools, clearer regulations, and cleaner trading practices.
His background as a systems engineer and Solana’s focus on performance suggest that his frustration may lie more with manipulation and HYPE than with the assets themselves.
The Bigger Picture
While Yakovenko’s comment may have upset parts of the community, it also reflects a broader conversation in crypto: What gives an asset value – utility, speculation, or ownership?
Solana, now valued at over $104 billion, has built its user base through fast transactions, meme coin culture, and a thriving NFT scene. What will power the growth forward? Let’s wait and watch.
