Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) Meme Coin’s Market Cap Rises to $130 Million After Musk’s Post

PNUT, a meme coin based on Solana, has witnessed an astronomical increase in trading activity, with its market capitalization soaring to over $120 million less than three days after its launch.

The meme coin was inspired by Peanut the Squirrel, a social media-famous squirrel that was recently impounded and euthanized by the New York State Department of Environmental Protection for rabies testing.

Peanut the Squirrel became an Internet sensation after his caretaker, Mark Longo, posted heartwarming pictures and videos of the pet doing tricks and wearing tiny hats on social media.

However, on October 30, Longo revealed that authorities had taken the squirrel away. A meme coin called PNUT was quickly created in his memory.

Public outrage causes the rise of the PNUT

News of Peanut the Squirrel’s euthanasia went viral and sparked public outrage. The incident caught the attention of several public figures, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Congressman Nick Langworthy. Musk made several posts on X (formerly Twitter), condemning the actions of the authorities. In one post, he stated:

The government should not have the right to come into your home and kill your pet! This is a mess. Even if it is illegal to keep a squirrel as a pet, why kill the peanut instead of releasing it into the wild?

Elon Musk’s social media posts and extensive media coverage of the news spurred PNUT buying, with several crypto whales entering the market. According to data from Lookonchain, one whale spent 5,100 SOLs to buy approximately 8.99 million PNUTs, worth more than $831,000.

PNUT’s market capitalization quickly rose to an all-time high of nearly $130 million, and trading volume rose to over $300 million when its price peaked at $0.12. However, profit-taking has since increased the market capitalization to $58.6 million, with the token trading at $0.058 at press time.

Meme Coin Hunters Profit

PNUT’s aggressive rise had benefited a few meme coin traders. Lookonchain noted that one trader made a staggering profit of $1.7 million trading PNUT.

Some other traders were not so successful. A trader lost an opportunity to make $1.6 million after selling 19.1 million PNUT at a loss of $1,099.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored) Binance Free $600 (Exclusive to CryptoPotato): Use this link to register a new account and receive an exclusive welcome offer of $600 to Binance (full details).

2024 LIMITED OFFER on BYDFi Exchange – Up to $2888 Welcome Reward, Use this link to register and open a 100 USDT-M position for free!