Is LeBron James Pumping A New Solana (SOL) Memecoin?

Over the past year or so, Solana (SOL) has experienced strong returns following a rough end to 2022. The project was heralded by former FTX Trading Ltd. CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). Once FTX became insolvent, SOL started to fall in price, as FTX was a major holder of the token.

However, as the dust from the FTX scandal settles, SOL has performed extremely well, led by a slew of new projects on the platform. One of these projects is dogwifhat (WIF). The token is a memecoin featuring an internet meme of a dog wearing a pink knitted cap. 

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The meme goes back to late 2019 when several prominent video game streamers and e-sports players changed their X profile pictures to the meme. 

However, the token WIF was launched several years later in early 2024. The token received lots of interest, gaining over $100 million of investment on the first day, and has approached a market cap of nearly $500 million, nearing the top 100 cryptocurrencies. 

However, most of these gains came in February. Specifically, a gain of nearly 40% came on Feb. 12, as NBA legend LeBron James appeared in a press conference wearing a conspicuous pink knitted cap. 

Many people who saw James wearing the pink hat and attributed the fashion choice to his support for the WIF token. This caused the price of WIF to spike, going from around $0.35 to over $0.45 in a matter of hours. This price increase made the token one of the biggest gainers of the day across all cryptocurrencies. 

While James's hat caused the price of WIF to explode, the NBA star remained silent on whether the hat was an actual endorsement of WIF or other cryptocurrencies. While many can speculate, the hats bear some resemblance to each other. 

Another interesting point is James's previous engagement with crypto. He appeared in a 2022 Super Bowl commercial for Crypto.com and there's a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and Crypto.com. James, a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, plays his home games in Crypto.com arena. 

It's possible that James's choice of a pink beanie was a call out to WIF given his relationship with crypto. More likely is that it is a coincidence that the hat looks like the one from the popular memecoin. As more information is revealed, it will be interesting to see how the price of WIF reacts. 

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