What is the past and present of Squirrel PUNT, which soared 1673% in four days?

Written by: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

At 9:15 Beijing time on November 14, Binance market showed that PNUT (squirrel) briefly broke through $2.5 and reported $2.4158, setting a new record high, with a 24-hour increase of 422.3%. This is not the first time that PNUT has attracted attention with its rising trend. At 20:26 on November 13, PNUT briefly broke through $1.5 and reported $1.515, with a 24-hour increase of 247.41%; on November 11, perhaps affected by the listing of Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) on Binance, PNUT briefly touched $0.28, with an increase of 141.15% within 1 hour.

But the story of the squirrel is far more than that. In addition to the rise and fall of Meme coins, this squirrel is associated with too many labels - the US election, Trump, Musk, euthanasia... More stories have to start before the US election.

Previous life - Internet celebrity squirrel causes political episode during election

The story of this little squirrel dates back to 7 years ago, when Mark Longo rescued the squirrel after he saw Peanut's mother was hit by a car. Due to his injuries, Longo thought Peanut would not survive in the wild. So Peanut nursed him back to health and became his caretaker.

Owner Longo often shared his daily life on Instagram. Not only did Mark use these videos to attract fans, he also founded an animal rescue organization in Peanut's name to raise funds for animals in need.

But on October 30, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) took Peanut away and detained him after receiving an anonymous tip. Longo told the media: "They treated me like a terrorist. The whole raid was like a drug raid. My house was turned upside down. My wife was even questioned about her immigration status. When I went to the bathroom, I was accompanied by the police to check if there were any hidden items behind the toilet."

Mark launched a petition calling for the release of the squirrel that he had lived with for 7 years, which attracted the attention of a large number of supporters.

Then, on November 2, the news that Peanut was euthanized was reported, which triggered strong anger on the Internet. Longo said on social media: "This is a terrible nightmare for me. Community members condemned the violent law enforcement of the DEC and compared the incident to the "Black Lives Matter" movement in 2020, and put forward the slogan "Rat Lives Matter". The DEC director was ridiculed as "Karen" for her tough attitude, and the Democratic government became the focus of public opinion.

Musk also joined the memorial and posted several tweets in support of Peanut.

Because the New York Environmental Protection Agency is under the control of the Democratic Party, many people condemned the abuse of power by the authorities. The Trump campaign team also took this opportunity to speak out many times:

• Trump said: If the squirrel came from Mexico, the government would arrange a hotel and shopping cards for it. The Democratic government's approach to the little squirrel is a waste of resources.

• Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said: Peanut's death should catalyze real change and use votes to kick out the current government.

• On November 3, Vance said at a rally in North Carolina that Trump was "furious" about the death of the squirrel, and said that the death of "Peanut" called into question the government's priorities. "It's crazy that the government doesn't care about the thousands of illegal immigrant criminals entering our country and doesn't want us to keep pets."

The Democratic Party's operations and Trump's statements have obviously aroused people's election sentiment. Some people even called on social media to vote for Trump to avenge Peanut.

(The content in the picture roughly means: Kamala's party executed a cute pet squirrel named Peanut this week because they are crazy. Vote Trump to avenge Peanut! Serious note: If Trump adds Peanut to his speech and puts a RIP graphic behind him, then the game is officially over. We want justice for Peanut!)

So far, Peanut represents a spirit of resistance for freedom and democracy. The fate of this little squirrel has been tied to the US election and has become another dimension for Trump's team to criticize Harris' team.

This life - creating sky-high wealthPNUT

The US election has ended, but the story of this little squirrel continues. In the crypto world, this little squirrel has become the Meme coin PNUT, which is sought after by people and has set off the most fanatical Meme coin trend. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, PNUT has skyrocketed in recent days. According to Coingecko data, PNUT reached a recent peak of $2.27 at around 9:00 today, with a 24-hour trading volume of $5.501 billion.

PUNT is a Meme coin launched on the Solana blockchain. The story behind it is regrettable and has resonated on social media. In addition, with the continuous support of Musk, Trump and other top players, crypto whales first smelled the profit opportunity of PUNT: On November 5, according to Lookonchain monitoring, in the past three days, a whale spent 13,642 SOL (US$2.22 million) to buy Pnut, FRED and OPK, and currently has a floating loss of US$1.44 million. Among them, 7,142 SOL (US$1.16 million) was spent to buy 14.46 million Pnuts, which now shows a loss of US$553,400 (-48%).

On November 6, according to ai_9684xtpa monitoring, as PNut rebounded violently by 127% in the past 24 hours, the mysterious whale who had spent 11,600 SOL to heavily invest in Pnut, FRED, and OPK, has narrowed his floating loss from 1.48 million US dollars to 183,000 US dollars, close to recovering his investment.

On the same day, a trader created a new wallet and spent 15,132 SOL (2.8 million US dollars) to buy Pnut and FRED in the past 2 hours. Spent 11,582 SOL (US$2.14 million) to buy 17.35 million Pnuts at a price of US$0.12.

On November 10, according to Solscan data, the address starting with js5Lja has hoarded about 28.83 million Pnuts (worth over US$2.4 million) in the past 6 days, becoming the largest holder.

On November 11, there was still news of whales buying. Subsequently, exchanges such as Binance and OKX listed PUNT, and the market trend of Meme coin PUNT gradually became crazy, and it was not surprising to see a three-digit daily increase.

Based on the price of $0.128 before the market took off on November 11, PUNT has soared 1673% to its highest point of $2.27 at around 9:00 this morning.

So why has PUNT soared recently?

First, against the backdrop of Trump's victory, the overall crypto market has risen, and the former president, who is about to return to the White House, is excited about his friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies. Musk, who has been calling for Dogecoin, will take office as the "Ministry of Government Efficiency" during Trump's administration. The abbreviation of "Ministry of Government Efficiency" is the same as the abbreviation of Dogecoin DOGE. Dogecoin, the leader of Meme coins, has ushered in a new market cycle, and the surge in PUNT, which has been supported by Musk, is also reasonable.

Secondly, the recent surge in PUNT is related to the overall Meme market. In this round of crypto bull market cycle, the most eye-catching performances are Bitcoin and Meme sectors. According to SoSoValue data, the Meme sector rose by 11.90% overall. In addition, the Trump theme concept sector performed well, with an increase of 189.05%. Among them, Peanut the Trump (PNUT) performed well, with a 24-hour increase of 324.49% and a trading volume of more than US$6 billion. In terms of overall market trading volume, Meme projects continue to attract a lot of liquidity. Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies in terms of trading volume in the crypto market (excluding stablecoins) in the past 24 hours, there are as many as 6 Meme coins, namely DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, WIF, BONK and PNUT.

The impact of Memecoins goes far beyond just attracting crypto enthusiasts - they have become the most powerful gateway to introduce crypto to newcomers. PUNT's repeated record highs once again demonstrate the unique charm of Meme coins - they deliberately break away from traditional cryptocurrency narrative games, embrace community and basic values ​​with entertainment nature, and express the demands of ordinary people in a free atmosphere.

Summary

From a happy Internet celebrity squirrel to a political role supported by Musk, Trump and other influential figures, and then to the creation of billions of dollars in Meme coins, the fate of this little squirrel may have been destined to be different from the moment it was rescued 7 years ago.

Peanut may be a victim of the US election, but it once inspired people's spirit of resistance and expressed ordinary people's yearning for freedom and fraternity. In the future, PUNT may continue to replace Peanut in the crypto world. I hope that people will occasionally cherish the memory of this tree elf who once stayed in the world while enjoying the joy of gaining wealth.