Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko recently described memecoins and NFTs as “digital slop” in an X post, despite their significant contribution to Solana’s revenue.
Yakovenko stated on Sunday that memecoins and NFTs possess “no intrinsic value,” likening them to loot boxes in free-to-play mobile games. This comment initiated a debate with Base creator Jesse Pollak concerning the fundamental value of these digital assets.
I’ve said this for years. Memecoins and NFTs are digital slop and have no intrinsic value. Like a mobile game loot box. People spend $150b a year on mobile gaming.
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) July 27, 2025
The Solana Labs CEO argued for market-driven price discovery as their value source.
Fundamental value is external and independent of buys or sells. The buys and sells are price discovery to figure out fundamental value. If these coins have any fundamental value then creators dumping them would be good for retail because presumably retail would be able to buy… https://t.co/0MEh6c5DIF
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) July 27, 2025
Pollak countered, asserting intrinsic value in the content itself, comparing it to the inherent value of a painting.
the content itself is valuable. ads are a way to monetize that value. but the content itself is valuable. just like a painting is fundamentally valuable, regardless of whether you charge people at the museum to see it.
— jesse.base.eth (@jessepollak) July 27, 2025
Yakovenko acknowledged memecoins’ role in Solana’s current standing, drawing a parallel to Apple’s revenues and loot boxes.
Absolutely. Without lootboxes ios would have negligible revenues for Apple.
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) July 27, 2025
Loot boxes are in-app virtual rewards in free-to-play games on the Apple App Store, criticized for encouraging spending without guaranteed outcomes and facing regulatory scrutiny in countries like Australia and Germany due to transparency issues.
Yakovenko’s previous X posts indicate he has held this view since at least January 2024. His recent comments drew criticism from the crypto community. Flaunch contributor “Caps”
criticized Yakovenko for mocking his user base. Crypto commentator Karbon stated, “I find Toly’s approach much more distasteful, actively promoting them constantly while believing they’re worthless.”
According to Solana-focused infrastructure firm Syndica, memecoins generated 62% of the Solana network’s decentralized app revenue in June, a record high. Memecoin activity contributed to the majority of Solana’s $1.6 billion revenue in the first half of 2025.
Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun and its decentralized exchange aggregator PumpSwap accounted for a large share of this revenue. Rival platform LetBonk has recently surpassed Pump.fun in 24-hour revenue as Solana’s leading memecoin launchpad.
