In September 2024, Siqi Chen, the Founder and CEO of Runway, shared the heartbreaking news of his 5-year-old daughter Mira’s diagnosis with a brain tumor. Mira has been diagnosed with craniopharyngioma, an incredibly rare yet non-malignant tumor that can have severe consequences and currently lacks a cure.
Over the recent months, Chen has collaborated with Dr. Todd Hankinson from the University of Colorado, whose research laboratory specializes in this rare form of tumor. A GoFundMe initiative was initiated just three days ago and has already raised $243k to support research efforts aimed at combating this tumor.
Contribution of MIRA Crypto to Research Funding
Furthermore, an online user created a memecoin on the Solana [SOL] blockchain known as MIRA, with half of the total token supply being sent to Chen’s Solana wallet. The memecoin remarkably reached a market capitalization of $80 million on December 26, leaving Chen astonished by the online response. To prevent any sudden market manipulation, Chen decided to continuously sell $1,000 worth of MIRA.
This incident exemplifies how the crypto space, often associated with fraudulent activities and schemes promising quick wealth, can also unite to support a noble cause. Another notable instance was when Vitalik Buterin generously donated $1.2 billion in Shiba Inu [SHIB] tokens to the India Covid Relief Fund in 2021.
Status of Memecoins on Solana
While MIRA achieved an $80 million market cap before declining to just under $8 million at present, the outcome generated a mix of positive sentiments and concerns due to early traders benefiting from the venture. This scenario, although causing unease among some individuals, is simply a reflection of the dynamics within the market. Several other memecoins faced similar challenges, and a comparative analysis of their price fluctuations shed light on the situation.
The top three Solana-based memecoins in terms of market capitalization, namely Bonk [BONK], dogwifhat [WIF], and Popcat [POPCAT], were evaluated alongside Dogecoin [DOGE] to gauge their performance since mid-August. This comparison illustrated the surge in meme popularity in mid-November followed by a rapid decline in subsequent weeks.
Among these coins, Dogecoin exhibited greater resilience. Despite experiencing less consistent gains compared to POPCAT, this leading memecoin managed to retain its profits relatively well, given its status as one of the most recognized memes in the market.
The trends in memecoin prices closely aligned with the monthly active addresses recorded on the Solana network. The upswing witnessed in September and the peak in November were directly linked to increased engagement driven by the memecoin frenzy. However, this trend has notably waned over the past six weeks.