Solana remained resilient during the distribution of the WEN meme coin, although the tumultuous launch resulted in some unpredictable price surges.
A new meme coin, WEN, is causing a stir on the Solana network, following the footsteps of popular Solana tokens like BONK and Dogwifhat (WIF). The spotlight is on WEN after a substantial airdrop to over a million wallets on Friday morning.
The decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator Jupiter facilitated the WEN airdrop as a comprehensive test for its new launchpad. This launchpad will be utilized again next week for Jupiter’s own token, JUP, with nearly a million wallets eligible for the eagerly anticipated drop.
WEN extended its reach to over a million eligible Solana wallets, encompassing active Jupiter users in the past six months, holders of various popular NFT projects on the platform, and even owners of the Solana Saga smartphone.
Each wallet is entitled to claim an airdrop of 643,652 WEN, valued at over $58 based on its current price of $0.00009095, according to CoinGecko. Since the Friday morning drop, WEN has experienced a price surge of approximately 483%.
Different data sources reported a short-lived price spike reaching as high as $2,915 (CoinMarketCap) or $4,836 (Birdeye). However, both sites indicate that WEN’s current price has dropped by roughly 100% from those peak values.
While these extreme price fluctuations may be outliers, Crypto Twitter did not miss the chance to highlight traders who may have suffered losses purchasing WEN for hundreds or thousands of dollars immediately after the airdrop, despite the price quickly stabilizing to a fraction of a penny.
It’s important to note that token prices can be highly volatile right after an airdrop, and meme coins are known for their unpredictability even outside of post-airdrop periods. Given the history of Solana meme coins, including those mentioned earlier, experiencing significant price increases, some WEN recipients may be holding onto their tokens in anticipation of a similar surge.
Despite the overwhelming demand, the Solana network demonstrated stability during the airdrop, even with nearly 118,000 wallets attempting to connect simultaneously, as per data from Solana Floor.
However, the experience was not without technical challenges. The Phantom wallet reported “performance issues” during the initial moments of the drop and assured users that efforts would be made to ensure a smooth process for next week’s JUP airdrop.
