Key Takeaways:
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has listed the viral meme coin Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) for spot trading on its platform on November 11. PNUT token’s value has skyrocketed over the past week, surging by 827%.
Binance Lists Solana Memecoins PNUT and ACT, Resulting In ATH For Both Tokens
The listing of PNUT on Binance acted as a major catalyst in its value surging as the memecoin paying respects to social media celebrity ‘Peanut the Squirrel’ experienced a notable price jump from $0.09 to an all-time high of $0.53 in a single day.
Alongside PNUT, Binance also listed Act I The AI Prophecy (ACT) token, which went on to change hands at an all-time high of $0.69, with its value soaring by 1,069% in one day. Both these Solana-based crypto tokens have contributed to a 21.5% increase in the market capitalization of memecoins on the blockchain.
According to data from CoinGecko, PNUT and ACT have officially cemented their place among the top 15 Solana meme coins by market cap. PNUT is ranked 9th at $453 million, and ACT is 11th at $386.2 million.
In its official announcement, Binance noted that both tokens will not have a listing fee, but will add seed tags, which are identifiers warning users that they are new coins and, hence, will be more prone to market risk and volatility. The seed tag requires traders to complete a quiz acknowledging the risk of PNUT and ACT before participating in trading activities.
What Is Behind PNUT’s Epic Rise?
PNUT was released following the death of Pnut the Squirrel, a pet squirrel and social media sensation from New York with nearly a million followers on Instagram and TikTok. The squirrel was seized by New York state’s environment protection agency the week before the U.S. presidential elections, citing that as a wild animal, it could spread rabies and put the public’s health at risk. Pnut was then euthanized, much to the disappointment of its owners and followers.
Following its death, a hoard of Peanut-themed memecoins began to hit the market, of which, the PNUT coin was the most popular. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump this campaign, was the driving force behind PNUT’s astronomical rise after he made an X post offering his condolences to Peanut.
Musk criticized authorities for the way they handled the situation, suggesting that they could simply let Peanut into the wild instead of putting it down. During his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on the eve of the election, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX asked listeners to vote keeping Pnut in mind.
Mixed Reactions to PNUT and ACT Listing on Binance
Despite its widespread popularity, several prominent crypto influencers questioned Binance’s decision to offer spot trading for PNUT. One influencer, who goes by “LeoidasNFT” on X, claimed that the exchange has turned into a “pump and dump engine” that is “knowingly harming” retail investors and creating an unhealthy memecoin market “for its own benefit”.
He alleged that both PNUT and ACT were low-cap tokens with poor distributions that have seen their values increase tremendously despite being “dead” following their listing on Binance. Leonidas also alleged that Binance was specifically focusing on “dead” memecoins because those assets can pay the largest percentage of the supply as the listing fee, which is then dumped by the exchange to generate revenue.
Despite criticisms from one group, other crypto influencers have been able to profit from PNUT’s volatility. X user “Mr. Prada” claimed to have turned his $5,000 investment in the memecoin into $250,000 following the Binance listing.
Venture Capitalist Su Zhu defended the token’s listing, referring to PNUT as the “squirrel who saved the election”, a nod to the widespread interest in the cryptocurrency and the appeal of Peanut’s tragic story.
At the time of writing, PNUT is trading at $0.4336 – up 28.11% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, ACT is changing hands at $0.5623 – up 74.59% from its previous day’s price.
Read More: Market Signals Suggest FLOKI And PEPE Could Lead This Week’s Memecoin Rally
