A fresh wave of ecosystem rivalry erupted on X today after a sharp exchange between Solana and Starknet reignited long-standing debates about performance, user activity, and valuation across competing networks.
Solana Sparks Controversy With Direct Jab at Starknet
Recently, Solana sparked a controversy in the crypto community after firing a direct shot at Starknet, posting the viral phrase on its official X account: “Send it straight to zero.”
Solana highlighted on-chain metrics suggesting Starknet has only 8 daily active addresses and 10 daily transactions, yet boasts a $1 billion market cap and an FDV of roughly $15 billion. Solana’s post implied that such valuations lack fundamental justification. Meanwhile, the comment quickly circulated across X, igniting significant reactions from traders, developers, and ecosystem loyalists.
While Solana users hailed the statement as humorous but factual commentary, Starknet supporters condemned it as misleading and inflammatory. Nevertheless, this sharp exchange reflects the intensifying competition among blockchains in the crypto industry.
Starknet Faces Scrutiny After January 5 Downtime
Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that the controversy was further amplified by Starknet’s recent challenges, including a mainnet downtime on January 5, 2026, which froze all transactions across dApps and wallets for more than two hours.
The outage disrupted user activity and sparked renewed concerns around the network’s reliability and operational resilience. Beyond the downtime, Starknet continues to navigate mixed sentiment surrounding throughput stability, congestion episodes, and the complexity of Cairo-based development.
Although the team has been actively rolling out upgrades to improve performance, the community remains divided over whether the Ethereum-based layer 2 network can meet expectations set by its ambitious roadmap.
Solana, on the other hand, has sustained strong momentum across DeFi, gaming, consumer apps, and meme coin activity. Consistently high TPS and extremely low fees have reinforced Solana’s position as a leading high-performance layer-1 chain, strengthening the narrative behind today’s jab.
These contrasting trends have reignited debates about inflated FDVs, real user activity, and the market’s willingness to overlook fundamental weaknesses.
Rivalry Heats Up as Starknet Drops a Meme-Fueled Hint
Meanwhile, the sharp jab at Starknet came shortly after Bitcoin reclaimed $97,000, fueling a broader market uptrend; both Solana and Starknet thus experienced modest surges in value. Additionally, Starknet’s market cap is currently $461 million, significantly lower than SOL’s $83.11 billion valuation.
Shortly after the direct shot, Starknet responded with a subtle gorilla meme GIF, widely interpreted as a quiet signal that a more pointed clapback may be on the way.
The meme quickly gained traction, adding a new layer of intrigue to the unfolding rivalry. Nevertheless, Solana supporters celebrated the moment as a confident display of dominance over the layer 2 network.
The CoinRemark Team
