In a dramatic surge over the past week, the price of $SNEK, a meme coin rooted in the Cardano ($ADA) ecosystem, has escalated by more than 200% in a leap that took place predominantly over the weekend, a time generally characterized by reduced trading volume.

SNEK is, at the time of writing, trading at $0.00038 after experiencing a slight decline from a high near $0.0005. The cryptocurrency was earlier this week trading t around $0.00015, representing a significant rise in a few days.

With the surge in value, SNEK has become the fourth-largest token within the Cardano ecosystem, with a market capitalization of around 80 million ADA, equivalent to over $30 million. With a gap of merely $2 million separating it from the third position, SNEK is not far from another significant leap in the rankings.

Remarkably, the SNEK token is less than a month old. It emerged on April 30 in a crypto market awash with meme tokens, riding the wave ignited by the popularity of rival meme-inspired cryptocurrency Pepe Coin ($PEPE).

Self-proclaimed as “the chillest meme coin on Cardano,” SNEK’s primary aim is to foster community, stimulate the decentralized finance sector within Cardano, and reward its holders.

Despite the lack of a defined roadmap or headline-making announcements, the success of SNEK in its inaugural month suggests it has found fertile ground within the Cardano community.

As CryptoGlobe reported, Cardano has seen significant growth in its transaction volume so far this year, as the network keeps on growing amid what appears to be a resurgent wave of investor interest.

In a newly published analysis by data analytics firm IntoTheBlock, Cardano was recognized for its robust on-chain performance in recent months. According to the analysis firm, Cardano’s transaction volume has seen a 205% increase year-to-date, amid a steady wave of whale accumulation of ADA that’s been observed. The figure shows over 26 billion ADA are now transacted daily.

Notably, the total value locked on Cardano’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has reached a new milestone after surpassing the 400 million $ADA milestone for a brief period, to now stand at around 399 million ADA.

The TVL on Cardano has been steadily growing so far this year. As CryptoGlobe reported in February, at the time, the value locked on Cardano’s DeFi protocols had doubled from the beginning of the year, to reach the $100 million mark.

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