Solana’s Jupiter (JUP) Sees 60% Price Plunge After Airdrop

Jupiter (JUP) raced out of the blocks yesterday, hosting one of the biggest airdrops the community has ever seen. The coin, tied to the Solana ecosystem, has already seen over USD $1 billion (AUD $1.52 billion) in trading volume within its first 24 hours in existence. Unfortunately for the coin, most of this volume came in the form of sales, as airdrop recipients looked to capitalise on their free tokens as the price fell 60%. That said, JUP still sits inside the top 100 tokens by market cap, which is no mean feat for such a young coin. So what exactly is Jupiter, and does it have any long-term value?

What is Jupiter (JUP)?

Jupiter is a decentralised exchange (DEX) on the Solana network that has become a core element of the blockchain’s ecosystem. The platform boasts the highest user activity of any dApp on Solana and is reportedly the most used trading platform in all of DeFi – coming in ahead of heavy-hitters like UniSwap and Pancakeswap.

The JUP token will “fuel” the Jupiter DEX, and primarily act as a governance token for holders to participate in voting and moulding the future direction of the platform. It’s possible that the JUP token will receive further utility as it evolves, although for now its use case is fairly limited.

The initial airdrop of JUP will come in four waves – with the first occurring yesterday. Each drop of 1 billion JUP will be distributed among ecosystem users who have interacted with the Jupiter Exchange and have an eligible wallet address. 

What Does This Mean for Solana?

Jupiter’s unsuccessful opening day has had a ripple effect on the price of Solana, with SOL tokens dropping 3.2% over the past 24 hours (although the broader market has fallen, too). That said, it’s important to remember that it’s still early days for Jupiter, and extra money injected into the Solana ecosystem is never a bad thing. Airdropped tokens often experience significant declines on their first days of trading, as investors look to capitalise on free profits – this is especially true given three more airdrops are on the way. However, in the long run, Jupiter is one of the most successful dApps in Web3, and can still be a decent longer-term play.