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The Solana (SOL) blockchain has emerged as a major platform for the emergence of new memecoins, signaling the onset of a bullish market trend. This trend was accompanied by a surge in SOL’s price as well, nearing $100.
A standout in this memecoin surge is Slerf (SLERF), which despite its creator accidentally destroying over $10 million in Solana before its debut, quickly soared to a market capitalization of $500 million within just a few hours and then fell again.

Guys I fucked up. I burned the LP and the tokens that were set aside for the airdrop.
Mint authority is already revoked so I can not mint them.
There is nothing I can do to fix this.
I am so fucking sorry.
— Slerf (@Slerfsol) March 18, 2024

As of press time CoinMarketCap data shows that Slerf is trading at $0.51. The 24-hour trading volume also reached nearly $681.6 million, up 3,450% from the $19.21 million reported 24 hours ago.
Before this crash the cryptocurrency rallied from its initial CoinMarketCap price of just under $0,68 to nearly $1.06 before crashing to its current price. The market cap reported by Coingecko also very quickly rose to over $622 million down to $184 million before settling at over $205 million as of press time. All of this activity took place on Mar. 18 as intraday volatility.
Screenshot of CoinMarketCap showing Slerf coin
The team behind Slerf managed to gather 535,000 SOL for the coin’s launch but inadvertently destroyed $10.4 million in Solana in an attempt to clean their wallet. This surge in memecoin activity has drawn parallels to the Ethereum (ETH) initial coin offering craze of 2017, a period marked by numerous crypto ventures raising significant funds, though most ultimately fell short of their promises.
What are memecoins?
Memecoins, characterized by their origins in internet memes or possessing humorous qualities, in most cases lack practical applications beyond serving as pop culture artifacts. These digital currencies spawned after the introduction of Dogecoin (DOGE) back in 2013 are speculative by nature and are buoyed by dedicated online communities.
Dogecoin gained fame and support from Elon Musk during the 2021 bull market. In 2024, several new memecoins have quickly reached market capitalizations in the billions, creating a wave of crypto millionaires.
The memecoin boom has rekindled memories of the 2017 ICO frenzy, with influencers successfully raising millions for new memecoin ventures. A user on X remarked that the current memecoin craze represents a more transparent iteration of the 2017 ICO and 2021 NFT bubbles, with projects no longer pretending to fulfill unrealistic promises and investors acknowledging their speculative motives.

This meme coin mania is merely a more honest version of the 2017 ICO craze and the 2021 NFT/crypto-art bubble…
Projects no longer have to pretend to deliver on a fake white-paper and investors no longer have to pretend to be in it for the art
Too cynical?
— WhiteRabbit1111 (@WRabbit1111) March 16, 2024

The memecoin phenomenon, while creating overnight millionaires, often results in significant losses for many who invest without fully understanding the lack of inherent value of those assets.
While Solana’s memecoins continue to gain ground, major meme token Shiba Inu (SHIB) has seen many left wondering if it has any life left in it. In our recent market review, we share the predictions of this token’s future by three market analysts.
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Hackers have targeted the esports final of online shooter game Apex Legends, causing significant disruption to the closing stages of the North American tournament.
The competition was thrown into disarray after unwanted cheats were deployed in-game with clips shared by pro players, showing their consternation toward the outside interference.
Apex Legends is a free-to-play, team-based battle royale shooter developed by EA-owned Respawn Entertainment, the studio synonymous with Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.
As the action was unfolding, Apex pro player Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose announced his game was being hacked with cheats used on his profile. A video clip from the player’s Twitch livestream showed a cheat program’s settings menu appear, resulting in a frantic Genburten outburst, “I’m getting hacked, I’m getting hacked!”
The malicious actors were witnessed repeatedly typing into the chat box from his account, “by Destroyer2009 & R4ndom” and “Apex hacking global series.”
Another high-profile player, ImperialHal, shared a similar response to the experience of the cyber attack.
Official reaction to the hack on Apex Legends
A comment was made on the X account of Apex Legends, late on Sunday night.
“Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time. We will share more information soon.”
At present, the origin of the hack is unknown, whether Apex Legends’ servers or game may have been exploited, or if the incident has stemmed from its Easy Anti-Cheat software, with online suspicion of a possible remote code execution (RSE) attack.

We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue within Easy Anti-Cheat. At this time – we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed
— Easy Anti-Cheat (@TeddyEAC) March 18, 2024

This attack appears to have come from an outside source, but players have previously broken protocol to insert cheat modes into the game. Due to concerns around this issue, Apex streamer Lindsey “LuluLuvely” has implored developers at Respawn to urgently fix an “out of control” cheating situation, suggesting the kernel-level anti-cheat system doesn’t go far enough.
This hacking controversy surfaced just days after EA disposed of around 23 staff working on Apex Legends, as part of a cut to the workforce also impacting an estimated 200 QA testers on the game.
Image Credit: Apex Legends/EA
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The Flight sim experts Aerosoft are going to be offering up something a little different in September this year. Today the German studio announced Highway Police Simulator – a new cop game it is working on alongside Z-Software.
Slated for a launch on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5 the game will see you as a lone Highway Patrol cop in America [performing a work shift that includes breakneck high-speed chases, shootouts, and routine traffic stops.
When it is released Highway Police Simulator will include:

Varied open-world environments, each with its own challenges and missions
A storyline with exciting cases, career progression, ranking system, and more
Unique vehicles, including different police cars, helicopters, and more
A wide array of missions with traffic stops, accidents, car chases, and more
A morality system that challenges players to make difficult decisions with real consequences for the story and the environment

“Highway Police Simulator encapsulates the investigative, often stressful role of law enforcement in a detailed and realistic world,” said Dirk Ohler, Head of Product at Aerosoft. “We’re thrilled to announce the title and our partnership with the talented team at Z-Software, and we look forward to all our new recruits joining the force in September 2024!”

The short launch trailer isn’t giving too much away although it is giving us some Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit vibes, but as well as the car chases it looks as though Highway Police Simulator is going to also feature a little legwork for your cop.
It’s set in the fictional American state of Caminora and can be played casually or with the simulation aspects ramped up. You can wishlist Highway Police Simulator on Steam right now and start polishing your boots in anticipation of its release in a few months time.
Aerosoft is more known for its work on games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, so it is interesting to see it diversifying into a different kind of sim.
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Playstack and LocalThunk have confirmed their highly popular roguelike deckbuilder Balatro has exceeded one million sales, less than a month after its release.
The poker-inspired title launched for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on 20 February, proving to be an instant smash hit after it grossed $1 million in just eight hours.
A press release from Playstack, via its parent company Tru Fin, confirmed Balatro has been its “fastest selling game to date” with Harvey Elliott, company CEO stating, “We’re incredibly grateful for the support and enthusiasm from players worldwide.”
“The game’s success is a testament to the quality and creativity that the indie sector can deliver, proving that even in uncertain times, innovative games can thrive. We extend our deepest thanks to every player who has joined us on this adventure.”
Developer LocalThunk posted on Steam to express gratitude for the landmark achievement.
“I’m so grateful to all the players and people that have made this happen. I still can’t grasp the response to this game, and I am overjoyed that so many people have been able to have fun with my silly creation. I’m so fortunate that I can continue working on my passion as a career. Thank you!”

This morning Balatro hit a momentous milestone…
ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD!
We still have some fun things planned for the future, but for now… pic.twitter.com/S7PEb0qjeG
— Balatro (@BalatroGame) March 18, 2024

What recognition had Balatro received?
Balatro has gained a sought-after “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on gaming marketplace Steam, achieved thanks to more than 17,000 positive reviews in addition to a commendable rating of 90 on Metacritic, the reputable critic aggregator.
The game also enjoys a rank of 10th in peak CCU (concurrent users) among all Steam games with the ‘roguelike’ tag, listed in between Warm Snow (44.7k CCU) and Hades (37.7k CCU).
On the ‘roguelike deckbuilder” tag, Balatro is second to the free-to-play roguelike battle royale title Gene Shift Auto, which is not necessarily considered to be a deck-building game, and listed above games such as Slay the Spire (33k CCU) and Backback Battles (36.5k CCU).
Image credit: Balatro/X
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Amidst a torrent of backlash from industry experts, India’s regulatory authorities have backtracked on their planned framework for the deployment of cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
An updated communication from the Ministry of Electronics and IT in recent days detailed that government approval would no longer be a prerequisite ahead of launching AI models to users in the domestic market.
It came after the government department expressed fears on interference in the democratic system in the South Asian state with the AI advisory issued to tech firms so their services and products “do not permit any bias or discrimination or threaten the integrity of the electoral process.”
India’s IT Deputy Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar commented “signalling that this is the future of regulation,” adding “We are doing it as an advisory today asking you to comply with it.”
This instruction no longer applies and instead, companies will be asked to take steps to identify potential sources of bias by labelling under-tested or untrustworthy AI chatbots so that users are fully aware.
What is being asked of AI model creators under the new guidance?
The move represents another development, and something of a 360 degree turn, on India’s approach to its safeguards on emerging technology. Previously, the government was reluctant to regulate or interfere significantly on AI, but the short-lived advisory marked a change of direction.
An official document seen by Tech Crunch has set out the new approach in what is a sign of inconsistency from the Delhi administration. The letter outlined the need to adhere to existing Indian law and the imperative for the generated content to be free of bias, discrimination and any threats to democracy.
On any areas of potential unreliable AI prompts, creators have been asked to utilize “consent popups” or similar mechanisms to directly inform users. The Ministry stressed the importance of being able to identify deepfakes and misinformation, urging the use of specific identifiers or metadata to assist with this important purpose.

Image credit: Ideogram
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