How to capitalize on memecoins 💰️

5 savvy trades to ride the memecoin wave 🏄️

November 09, 2024

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Memecoins. 

The buzzword of the moment! (Again)

Everyone’s talking about them. Why? They’re seen by many as the fast track to getting rich – quick.

[

Source: CoinGecko

You can't look away from those numbers! 

But buyer beware: it’s not as easy as it seems.

There are about 40k-50k memecoins created EVERY. DAMN. DAY. 

Here’s a chart showing the daily creation of memecoins on pump.fun – the platform of choice for folks looking to create their own memecoins in just a few clicks.

[

Source: Hashed_official/Dune

Every day, between 20,000 and 30,000 new memecoins are created on pump.fun alone. Since its launch in March, over 3 million memecoins have hit the blockchain!

If you want to strike it rich, you’ve got to find the right coin, at the perfect time, at just the right price—and then sell at the ideal moment. 

(Yikes!)

The odds of becoming the next Forbes success story? It’s pretty slim.

But let’s be real—memecoins aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

People have been gambling for centuries, and memecoins are just the latest way to scratch that itch. People love the thrill, and they’re going to keep chasing it.

So we asked ourselves: if there’s a trend here, can we capitalize on it? 

We’re not interested in buying memecoins and diving into that rabbit hole—no, thanks. 

Instead, we want to find the projects that act as the “picks and shovels” for the memecoin craze.

Rather than try and find a needle in the haystack of the memecoin mania, let's instead buy the protocols that fuel the memecoin mania! 

This way, we don’t need to play any guessing games – we just need the memecoin trend to continue.

In which case, the picks and shovels will continue to find more users and generate more revenue - likely seeing an increase in their token price along the way!

And that’s exactly what this report will explore:

• Which projects are positioned to profit the most from this trend?

• How are they converting the memecoin hype into real revenue?

• Are we buying any of these tokens ourselves?

Does this sound interesting? Good! Let’s jump right in!

First, we need to figure out which blockchain is attracting the bulk of this activity. We have a few ideas, but gathering some data to back it up is always a smart move.

[

Source: @StarkDegenz

No surprise here—Solana is leading the pack with an $11 billion market cap and $2.5 billion in daily volume for memecoins. 

This is 10x bigger than any other blockchain today!

While we expect other blockchains to see growth in the coming year in terms of memecoin activity, we think Solana’s lead is just too far ahead of the rest right now. 

Of course, we’ll always be watching to see if Base or SUI for example begins to catch up, but for now, let’s focus on finding the Memecoin picks and shovels buried within the Solana ecosystem.

Ok, let’s uncover 5 tokens that are cashing in big on the memecoin trading frenzy! And yes, the first token is none other than $SOL itself.

SOLANA ($SOL)

We don’t need to introduce Solana—you all know it well! 

It’s a favorite among our community and the second-largest holding in our Milk Road PRO Portfolio.😍

This year has been nothing short of phenomenal for Solana, and with the recent surge in memecoin activity, it feels like the momentum is only getting started.

Daily trading volumes on Solana DEXs hover around $2.5 billion, the highest among all Layer 1 blockchains. 

But here’s the key chart that reveals just how much of that volume is actually fueled by memecoins.

[

Source: BlockworksResearch

A whopping 77% of all trading volume on Solana comes from memecoins. 

That’s…a lot!

And it only gets more interesting. 

When you’re trading memecoins, which are super volatile by nature, you want your trade to go through ASAP to avoid the price swinging against you. 

So what do you do? You pay higher priority fees to push your transaction to the front of the queue. 

The higher your priority fee, the faster your trade gets executed. Simple. 

This has led to some seriously crazy fees that Solana has been generating lately.

[

Source: BlockworksResearch

Solana raked in $150 million in fees in October alone—an all-time high!

That’s definitely something every investor loves to see, and likely a big reason why $SOL continues to do so well.

We think these numbers will only continue to rise throughout the cycle too - which is why we put $SOL first on the list.

One thing to mention before we continue here is that while these numbers are likely going to grow, we do think at the end of the cycle, these numbers will get crushed, similar to how NFT trading volumes did in the last bear market.

With this in mind, it makes holding $SOL a little dicey post-cycle.

The good news? 

Solana’s appeal goes way beyond just memecoins, there’s a growing DeFi, DePIN and AI ecosystem over there as well. 

We liked Solana before the memecoin craze, and we still like it now—we simply see the memecoin activity as a steroid boost (if you will) for Solana’s growth! 

And if you buy-in to the idea that we’re at the start of a big memecoin cycle, then $SOL could be a smart way to ride the wave. 

In our view, $SOL is a strong play as one of the top smart contract platforms—and it’s now positioned to profit big from the rising trend of memecoins. 

👉 We’re pretty thrilled to already have it in our portfolio and watch firsthand as the chain benefits from this trend!

Alright, so that covers the blockchain side of things. 

Now, let’s stay on Solana and dive into some unique projects that are getting a ton of traction in the memecoin space.

JITO ($JTO)

This isn’t a full deep dive into Jito. 

If you’re interested in learning more, check out our dedicated PRO report on Solana liquid staking here.

Jito has created a supercharged version of the Solana client that lets users bundle their transactions and keep them hidden from MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) searchers. 

Basically, these transactions stay invisible until the entire bundle is settled, only becoming visible at the last moment. Sneaky!

If you’re not quite following what we’re talking about, we’d recommend going back and rereading our previous report, where we cover and explain Jito in more detail.

Here’s the cool part: since the Jito-Solana client powers about 70-80% of all transactions on Solana, Jito has a huge opportunity to cash in on the memecoin craze. 

How does it work? Think of it like priority fees, but here they’re called “tips.” 

Traders who want their transactions included in the current block—and confirmed faster—pay higher tips to secure their spot. 

It’s a pay-to-play setup that’s perfect for those racing to stay ahead in the volatile world of memecoins.

Here’s a chart showing the rise of Jito “tips” in action:

[

Source: Ilemi/Dune

Some days, Jito rakes in over 1,000 $SOL in tips alone. This really highlights how popular and widely used their client is—and just how much value Jito brings to the market.

And just a quick reminder—Jito captures a massive share of the total fees on Solana.

[

Source: BlockworksResearch

Jito accounts for roughly 53% of all fees generated on Solana (see: orange columns)!

In short, this is the extra amount people are willing to pay on top of the base transaction fee to get their transactions confirmed as quickly as possible.

But getting back to those Jito tips...

There’s a proposal up for discussion on the Jito forum suggesting that JitoDAO should start capturing 3% of these MEV tips – and if approved, it could add around $23 million per year to the DAO’s treasury.

Milk Road Take: It’s clear that Jito is riding the memecoin frenzy, with Jito tips going through the roof. 

Similar to Solana, Jito was already an interesting play even before memecoins took off—but now it’s even more compelling, as it’s able to capture significant value from this surge in activity.

👉 $JTO is also part of our MR portfolio, and we’re excited to see them finding ways to benefit from this trend as well!

Let’s shift gears and dig into where all these memecoins are actually being traded. And we’re not talking about the blockchain itself—we mean the exchanges.

RAYDIUM ($RAY)

Yep, we’re still on the Solana blockchain, but now it’s time to focus on the DEX scene—specifically, Raydium. 

Why? Because this chart shows Raydium steadily increasing its market share in trading volumes on Solana.

[

Source: Ilemi/Dune

Raydium now handles a whopping 70% of the total trading volume on Solana (see the purple area).

So, what’s going on here?

Yep, a ton of memecoin trading is happening on Raydium. And while this market share growth is impressive, there’s something even more eye-catching coming up…

[

Source: @SolanaFloor

You read that right—Raydium has surged ahead, pulling in nearly $3 million in daily fees this past Monday!

And 12% of those fees are allocated to buy back $RAY.

Can you imagine the suits at big banks, checking the latest crypto trends and seeing Raydium pop up alongside giants like Ethereum and Solana? 😆 

We’d pay good money to see their faces!

But to be fair, memecoins aren’t the only assets traded on Raydium…

Just take a look at the table below, sorted by 7-day volume – paying close attention to the different fee tiers for each liquidity pool (they’re worth noting!).

[

Source: Raydium

Typically, fee tiers on Raydium are around 0.01%-0.05%, but for memecoins, fees jump significantly to anywhere between 0.2% and 2%. 

That’s why Raydium has become the top fee-generating app lately!

Here’s a little secret that some people might not know: 

Raydium gets a big boost from direct liquidity deposits as soon as a memecoin created on pump.fun hits a $69k market cap. 

Plus, this liquidity—worth $12k—is "locked" permanently on Rayidium. 

This helps stabilize prices and ensures there’s always some liquidity in the market, which is a huge value proposition for traders.

That said, there are some rumors swirling that pump.fun might be building its own DEX. If true, this could have a big impact on Raydium. 

However, we don’t have confirmation yet or any details on a potential launch timeline, so take this with a grain of salt.

Still, there’s no doubt that Raydium is one of the biggest winners in this memecoin trading boom. 

Is it a good buy? Stick around—we’ll share our thoughts at the end!😉

And while we have you – let’s talk about pump.fun for a second.

This platform is making waves by letting anyone create their own memecoins, and it’s become a powerhouse in the space. 

Imagine the excitement of launching the next big meme token with just a few clicks! 

Pump.fun is already raking in a jaw-dropping $150 million in revenue, which is absolutely wild for a platform that’s still flying under the radar.

But here’s the catch: there’s no token for pump.fun…yet. So as much as we’d love to dig deeper, we’ll have to skip it for now. 🥹

We know, it’s not exactly what you wanted to hear (but what’s the point if you can’t invest in it?). 

Good news is, we’ve got something else lined up that’s just as intriguing and is also riding the memecoin boom.

METAPLEX ($MPLX)

Never heard of it? 

We’re not surprised—it’s one of those behind-the-scenes projects building tools and standards for devs on Solana. 

Sounds dull. But there’s alpha to be found here!

Major players like pump.fun, Raydium, Jupiter, and a whole lineup of others are relying on Metaplex, which might just make this “boring” project a secret powerhouse!

Because, as memecoins gain traction, so does the demand for Metaplex's tools. 

For instance, every time someone creates a memecoin on pump.fun, they’re actually using Metaplex's backend tech to make it happen. 

Check out how many tokens were created through Metaplex just this past month!

[

Source: TopLedger

Over 900,000 tokens were minted using Metaplex, hitting an all-time high! 

The signal is clear: the more memecoins created, the higher the demand for Metaplex's products.🥳

And check this out—a headline saying that one of the biggest crypto funds in the space is snapping up $MPLX. 

Sure, they’re picking them up through an auction from the famously bankrupt FTX, but think about it—these big players wouldn’t be grabbing these tokens if they weren’t bullish on their potential.

[

Source: TheBlock

Just a heads-up—this headline is about 2 months old, but you get the idea…

Anyway, Metaplex is a fascinating project that’s building something truly meaningful and useful in the crypto space.

We don’t want to put you to sleep with all the technical details, so here’s the short version: 

Their tools are powering some of the biggest apps on Solana, and those apps pay them fees in $SOL. 

Simple as that. Now, check out the chart below to see just how much they’re bringing in each month. 

[

Source: TopLedger

In October alone, they generated 10,944 $SOL in revenue. 

That’s $1.7 million at today’s prices. Not too shabby!

50% of this revenue is used to buy back $MPLX, while the other 50% goes to the Metaplex DAO to fund operations.

And here’s the best part: They charge apps in $SOL for using their tools – so guess what happens to their revenue if the price of $SOL goes up? 

Yep—revenue follows! 

Usually, the behind-the-scenes stuff isn’t all that exciting. But think about Amazon AWS—everyone relies on it, even if most people don’t realize it. 

We see a similar story unfolding here with Metaplex. 

Plus, they just announced the “Aura Network,” which will bring new data availability layer and blockchain indexing features to their already powerful product lineup.

👉 Today, we wanted to put $MPLX on your radar, as it’s one of the big winners in the memecoin mania. 

(We might even do a deep dive with a dedicated report on Metaplex soon). 

Is $MPLX a smart buy? Stick around to the end of the report to find out!

Before we wrap things up, let us introduce you to one last project that’s thriving thanks to the memecoin craze… 

It’s flying well under the radar, so there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of it yet…

BANANA GUN ($BANANA)

$BANANA is a Telegram bot that lets users set up custom trading strategies and snipe the best opportunities on decentralized exchanges.

The more people trade, the more opportunities there are for these Telegram bots to work their magic. 

Just take a look at the sheer size of trading volume these bots have executed on Solana alone over the past few months!

[

Source: m0xt/Dune

A total volume of $3.3 billion in October—which isn’t even their all-time high! They actually handled even more volume back in March. 

We probably just need some more price rallies and a bit of “moon” mania to hit new ATHs!

We know we’ve only scratched the surface on Telegram bots, so let’s explain a bit more to make sure you’re up to speed.

Telegram bots are automated tools that allow traders to set up custom strategies, like “if-then” rules, to monitor the market and jump on opportunities as soon as they appear. 

For example, a trader might set a bot to buy a token if a certain thing happens. 

The bot continuously scans the blockchain for these conditions, and when they’re met, it executes the trade instantly—no waiting around, no manual clicks.

In return for this automation, traders pay a fee to the bot (in this case, Banana Gun) for handling all the heavy lifting.

These days, there are tons of Telegram bots, but only a few actually have tokens—meaning only a few give you a chance to invest and capitalize on their success. 

Some bots on Solana handle even more volume than Banana, but without a token, there’s no way to get a piece of the action. 

So, if you're looking to invest, it’s all about finding the bots with tokens so you can have a share in their growth and profits.

The Banana's Telegram bot isn’t just limited to Solana—it also operates on Ethereum and Base. 

But with the recent memecoin mania heating up (mainly on Solana), we’re seeing a noticeable spike in volume.

[

Source: m0xt/Dune

Banana bots are handling around $80 million in weekly trading volume on Solana alone!

And you can bet that as trading volume goes up, so do the fees—and that means more revenue.

[

Source: m0xt/Dune

$1.1 million in weekly fees? Not too shabby!

Alright, but what about buybacks or mechanisms that could drive up the price as the platform grows?

40% of Banana Gun’s revenue goes to $BANANA stakers as rewards. 

If you’re staking at least 50 $BANANA, you’re eligible to receive a share of this revenue in the form of rewards—and you can choose to get paid out in $BANANA, $ETH, or $SOL.

In other words, staking $BANANA gives you a slice of the platform’s revenue, with the flexibility to claim your rewards in the cryptocurrency you prefer. 

It’s a pretty sweet setup that lets you benefit directly from Banana Gun’s growth!

Alright, that was the last token we wanted to share with you. Let’s wrap things up with a few final thoughts!

MILK ROAD TAKEAWAYS

We highlighted five tokens that could benefit from this trend, but we’re not necessarily saying they’re all worth buying (except for the ones we already hold—$SOL and $JTO). 

As holders of these two tokens, we’re pleased to see them benefiting from the memecoin craze. 

That said, memecoins aren’t the primary reason we invested in them—it’s just a nice bonus.🤑

Regarding the other tokens ($RAY, $MPLX, $BANANA), we’d need to dig much deeper and really understand everything about them. 

If you’re interested in our research approach, check out this previous report where we shared our strategy for evaluating new tokens.

But here’s what we currently think about the other 3 tokens.

Raydium ($RAY)

First, we’d love to know exactly how much of Raydium’s revenue is coming from memecoins created on pump.fun. 

If pump.fun is a major driver of their profits, that could be a potential risk—especially if pump.fun decides to build its own DEX and cut out the middleman. 

Relying too heavily on one player could make Raydium vulnerable.

On the flip side, $RAY could be a solid narrative trade. Imagine more people catching on to just how much revenue Raydium is pulling in, even without diving deep into the details. 

That realization alone could spark some serious interest and push $RAY higher.

Then again, maybe Raydium isn’t as reliant on pump.fun as it might seem at first glance…

TL;DR: We’re not buying $RAY at this point—we’d need to dig deeper to fully understand the risks and revenue sources before making a move.

It’s also up 190% in the last 30 days, which makes it a tough position to enter 🤷

[

Source: Coingecko

Metaplex ($MPLX)

It’s an impressive project, and we’re even thinking about doing a dedicated report just on them. 

But there’s one small problem: their product is developer tooling, and, well…we’re not developers. 

We doubt we’d even know how to use it ourselves, which makes it hard for us to fully grasp its value, competitive edge, and long-term potential.  

As we said in our playbook report, we love investing in projects that we actually use.

There’s just something extra powerful about being able to experience firsthand what we’re betting on.

Not to mention, will developer tooling like this really catch a narrative or a bid from retail? 

Probably not, so it needs to be an extra special token to outperform.

TL;DR: while Metaplex looks solid on paper, it’s tricky for us to assess it from the sidelines. 

Sometimes it’s best to be honest with yourself and recognize where your expertise falls short. 

If you don’t have the skills to properly assess an investment, it’s wiser to step back. We’d much rather stick to that approach than jump in blindly just because something looks good right now.

Banana Gun($BANANA)

TL;DR: Even though we love the name, this isn’t really a sector we’re eager to dive into. 

For one, there are dozens of Telegram bot solutions out there, and it’s tough to tell which ones actually stand out—plus, some of the biggest players don’t even have tokens. 

Secondly, we believe the long-term trend in crypto is moving towards improving user experience and reducing opportunities for “malicious” traders who make things worse for regular users. 

So while it might be an interesting short-term trade, we don’t see it as a long-term investment worth our time, money, or energy.

And there you have it.

We hope you’re not too disappointed that we’re not buying any of them at the moment. 

But remember, making more trades and adding more tokens doesn’t necessarily mean your portfolio will go up! 

In fact, for most people, it often has the opposite effect.

Sometimes, the best move is simply to learn and build awareness of what’s happening in the market. 

Expanding your knowledge and perspective is one of the most valuable things you can do as an investor.

Oh and if you simply want to gamble in memecoins, while we don’t have the alpha here, someone in our community might! 

Check out the “degen-trading” channel in our Discord and explore the markets with other PROs!

All right, that's a wrap for today! Hopefully, you picked up something new and had a few “aha!” moments.

And remember, while memecoin degeneracy is fun—controlling your emotions and managing your risks is everything in investing. 

That’s what really matters! Stay disciplined and stay strong.

Good luck!

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