Grayscale Launches First US-Listed Spot Crypto ETFs Allowing Staking for ETH and SOL

Meme coins refuse to fade away. Every few months, someone declares them dead, yet market data keeps proving otherwise. Big traders are still moving capital through this sector, keeping both liquidity and momentum alive. Love them or hate them, meme coins remain one of the most watched and traded segments in crypto.

Solana has clearly taken the lead as the main chain for meme coin launches and trading. The ecosystem continues to generate strong on-chain revenue, with platforms like Pump.Fun now ranking among crypto’s top earners, alongside Tether and Circle.

This report tracks smart money flows across Solana’s meme coin market between Aug. 29 and Sept. 29, 2025, a period that included a sharp market-wide selloff on Sept. 22. While retail sentiment briefly turned cautious, institutional and whale traders seemed to treat the dip as a buying opportunity.

Which Meme Coins Are Attracting Whales on Solana?

Looking at the top 5 Solana meme coins by buy volume, one thing stands out immediately. TRUMP dominates the chart with over $529 million in 30-day inflows, leaving the rest of the market far behind. FATCOIN ($248 million) and TROLL ($148 million) complete the top three, but the gap between TRUMP and everyone else is striking.

In fourth place is USELESS with $131 million in buy volume. It is one of the newer meme coins, yet it has already become a central figure in the Solana ecosystem. USELESS recently took on the role of the unofficial ambassador for LetsBonk.Fun, a launchpad that positions itself as a direct competitor to Pump.Fun.

A fun detail here is that TROLL and USELESS are essentially rivals, representing the two opposing ecosystems, Pump.Fun and LetsBonk.Fun, that are now competing for dominance in Solana’s meme coin market.

Just below, in fifth place, is BONK, one of Solana’s earliest and best-known meme coins. Its return to the top ranks shows that older names can still attract attention when the right narratives reappear. The renewed interest in BONK could also be partly driven by USELESS, as LetsBonk.Fun is clearly tied to BONK, both in name and in community identity.

Whale Appetite Swings From Micro Caps to Old Meme Coins

On the sixth line is POPCAT, another veteran of Solana’s meme scene. Seeing it back among the leaders is unexpected, as the token is still trading nearly 90% below its all-time high (ATH) and lacks clear catalysts for growth. Whether this is quiet accumulation by larger holders or simply rotation into legacy names remains to be seen.

In either case, Popcat’s appearance in the top ten adds another layer to the current market picture, where both new and old meme coins are finding their own momentum.

It is also worth mentioning PENGU, ranked 11th with over $35 million in buy volume. In many ways, this token has become a symbol of the comeback of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with its price making several multiples over the summer. The project managed to bridge NFT culture with the meme coin trend, which keeps traders interested even after the initial rally.

Beyond the top performers, the list also includes many smaller, niche tokens that trade exclusively on decentralized exchanges. These low-cap projects still attract consistent flow, showing that market participants are actively exploring higher-risk corners of Solana’s meme economy. Cope (COPE), for example, ranks 14th by buy volume. Launched on Pump.Fun, it is a small community token with a market cap hovering around $2 million after a September correction.

Another name that stands out is SPX6900 (SPX), which appears right after COPE. Known as the token of influencer Murad, it continues to attract steady attention. SPX has been around for quite some time and still maintains a loyal following. Its consistent presence on the list shows that even older meme coins can find new life when sentiment shifts and familiar names start circulating again.

The TRUMP Paradox: Volume Without Buyers

If we look at the ranking by unique buyers, the picture changes noticeably. While TRUMP dominates in buy volume, it falls far outside the top tier when measured by the unique buyers. This contrast raises questions about how organic the trading activity around the token really is.

Such patterns are often seen in manually managed assets, where a small group of large holders can move the market. The discrepancy is even more striking considering that COPE with a market capitalization of less than two million dollars, shows a higher number of unique buyers than TRUMP.

FARTCOIN, BONK, and PENGU take the top three positions, suggesting that traders and investors are more drawn to slightly more established meme coins that are listed on centralized exchanges (CEXs). This is logical, as CEXs offer simpler access and lower friction compared to decentralized venues.

However, both TROLL and USELESS maintain their positions near the top, showing that activity around the Pump.Fun and LetsBonk.Fun ecosystems remains strong. POPCAT sits between them, continuing to attract attention from traders who seem to rotate between familiar meme names rather than chasing new launches.

Top 3 Whales: What Were They Buying?

The whale data adds another layer to the picture. We selected the top three whale wallets by total purchase volume and analyzed their largest token positions. Among them, TRUMP appears in two of the three portfolios, showing that despite its questionable trading activity, it continues to attract large holders.

The first whale was by far the most active, with more than $1.2 million spent on PEPEAI, followed by smaller positions in PENGU, FWOG, AOL, and 67. The PEPEAI position stands out as unusually large and could indicate insider trading or early access, as the purchase came before the token’s sharp price movements. This wallet overall seems to favor tokens tied to strong community narratives and recognizable brands, suggesting a preference for liquidity and established meme identities rather than short-term speculation.

The second whale built a more evenly distributed portfolio, splitting purchases between TRUMP, SPX, POPCAT, GOAT, and FWOG. This pattern looks like opportunistic trading, with exposure spread across trending meme coins instead of concentrated bets.

The third whale focused primarily on TRUMP, with a single purchase of nearly $900,000 and no other major trades during September. The scale and isolation of this move stand out, hinting at possible coordinated activity rather than organic accumulation.

Together, these patterns show a clear divide in whale behavior. Some wallets appear to accumulate well-known community tokens, while others take concentrated positions in volatile names. The large TRUMP trade remains an outlier and reinforces earlier doubts about the authenticity of its trading volume.

Conclusion

The September data shows that Solana’s meme coin market remains active, but increasingly polarized. On one side are tokens like Bonk, PENGU, and Fartcoin, which continue to attract a broad base of retail traders. On the other side are coins such as TRUMP, where trading appears concentrated among a few large holders.

Whales are also divided. Some are building positions in recognizable community tokens, while others are making isolated, high-value trades that raise questions about coordination and insider activity. Despite this, liquidity remains steady, and both old and new meme coins continue to share space on Solana. The market may be cooling after summer highs, but the flow of smart money shows that attention to meme coins is far from over.

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