Peanut grabbed the attention of those campaigning in the U.S. election and inspired the memecoin with the highest 24-hour volume on Solana exchange Raydium at $106.4 million.
Peanut the Squirrel, often pictured with a hat, was an internet sensation and has now become a memecoin and a political talking point.
(DALL·E 3)
Posted November 4, 2024 at 1:02 pm EST.
Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) — a cryptocurrency based on a domesticated squirrel euthanized in the state of New York — has become the latest memecoin to attract mindshare from those in the crypto space.
Created through Solana-based memecoin incubator Pump.Fun four days ago, PNUT’s market cap climbed to a high of $135.5 million early Sunday, before dropping nearly 70% to $44.1 million at presstime, according to trading platform Dex Tools, which shows PNUT swapping hands at over 4 cents.
A number of “smart money” wallets that scooped up the token on the first day of launch have since decreased their exposure to the squirrel-based memecoin, according to blockchain analytics firm Nansen, which identifies smart money wallets as having substantial onchain profitability records.
In the last 24 hours, these addresses have had a netflow (inflows minus outflows) of nearly -$339,000 worth of PNUT— a sign of traders taking profits as some have used exchange aggregator Jupiter to swap the token for wrapped SOL (WSOL), such as MICHI memecoin whale (FkZwr) having a netflow of -$203,109 in the time period.
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Evidenced by the substantial trading activity of PNUT which has a 24-hour volume of $106.4 million on Solana exchange Raydium, the most among all liquidity pools, the squirrel has become an internet sensation, attracting the attention of many even those running for the 2024 U.S. presidency.
On Oct. 30, the New York’s Department of Environment Conservation seized Peanut, a squirrel who was often pictured wearing a hat and who became a social media sensation after it was injured and then rescued and cared for as a pet. On Sunday, Donald Trump’s vice-president pick, JD Vance, said in a rally in Sanford, North Carolina that Republican nominee Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is “fired up about Peanut the Squirrel.”
TRUMP STORMING CAPITOL WITH PEANUT AS PLAN B pic.twitter.com/fg5ffWsZkK
— beeple (@beeple) November 4, 2024
Billionaire memecoin and rocket enthusiast Elon Musk, who has backed Trump in the 2024 presidential election, also used the squirrel as a rallying cry. On Sunday evening, Musk tweeted, “Vote For PNut! For Liberty! For Freedom!”
