Jupiter, the leading decentralized perpetual exchange on the Solana blockchain, is positioning itself for further growth after acquiring a majority stake in Moonshot, a popular crypto platform that enables users to buy and sell meme coins on Android and iOS. The acquisition, confirmed on Sunday, was announced by Jupiter’s pseudonymous founder, “Meow,” via an X post. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Moonshot has seen a sharp rise in popularity this month, driven by the launch of meme coins tied to high-profile figures such as Donald and Melania Trump. Data from DeFi Llama reveals that Moonshot’s daily fees hit a record $6.3 million on January 20, a significant surge from just $50,000 on January 1. This increase underscores the growing appeal of meme coins within the cryptocurrency market, particularly on mobile platforms.
Jupiter Acquires Moonshot to Expand Solana Ecosystem
Jupiter’s acquisition of Moonshot signals a strategic move to capitalize on the expanding Solana ecosystem, which has recently gained traction in the crypto space. As of now, meme coins within the Solana ecosystem boast a collective market cap of over $20 billion. Among the most notable tokens are Official Trump, Bonk, Pudgy Penguins, and Dogwifhat.
With a total value locked (TVL) of $2.4 billion, Jupiter has emerged as a dominant player in decentralized finance DeFi. The exchange ranks second in market share within the rapidly growing perpetual futures market, following Hyperliquid. Jupiter has processed over $208 billion in volume since its launch, with its seven-day trading volume reaching $15 billion, bolstered by the recent momentum in the Solana ecosystem.
Following the news of the Moonshot acquisition, Jupiter’s JUP token experienced a notable surge of 15.7%, pushing its market cap to $2 billion and its fully diluted valuation to $9 billion. The token’s rally was also fueled by the ongoing Catstanbul event in Istanbul, Turkey, where developers gathered to showcase their latest applications and innovations in the DeFi space.
The acquisition news also comes on the heels of a proposed overhaul to Jupiter’s tokenomics. Last June, Meow outlined a plan to reduce the total supply of JUP tokens by 30%, a move aimed at improving the long-term value of the token, which had initially been set at 10 billion.
Jupiter’s acquisition of Moonshot aligns with its ambitions to continue expanding its influence as a major liquidity aggregator within the Solana blockchain ecosystem. With trading volumes now rivaling those of well-established platforms like Uniswap, Jupiter is poised for continued growth in the DeFi space.
