Author: Ezra Reguerra, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance
Riding the momentum of the sudden popularity of "Peanut the Squirrel", memecoins have entered the Solana decentralized finance (DeFi) market, with some tokens even having a market value of more than $120 million.
Mark Longo, the owner of the Peanut social media account with more than 600,000 users, wrote that on October 30, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation confiscated the popular squirrel and a raccoon named "Fred" and euthanized them. Longo wrote on Instagram:
"Okay, Internet, you win. Because of your selfishness, you took one of the most amazing animals away from me. For those who called the DEC, there is a place in hell for you."
Longo said he first rescued the squirrel about seven years ago when he saw Peanut's mother was hit by a car. Due to his injuries, Longo believes Peanut would not be able to survive in the wild. So Peanut nurses him back to health and becomes his caretaker.
Source: Elon Musk
The incident sparked public outrage, with figures such as billionaire Elon Musk criticizing the government, calling it "blind" and "heartless."
Peanut’s sudden popularity has prompted the memecoin creator to launch a meme token based on the popular squirrel.
Peanut the Squirrel memecoin on Solana. Source: Dexscreener
DeFi data tracker Dexscreener shows that several Peanut-based memecoins have been launched on the Solana network. In addition, two Peanut-themed memecoins have entered the top 10 tokens on Dexscreener’s 24-hour chart.
A token called Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT), which was launched two days ago, has seen nearly $300 million in trading volume, recording more than 200,000 transactions. The token currently has a market cap of $100 million and peaked at $120 million before experiencing a pullback.
A similar memecoin has also landed on the BNB Smart Chain, with a market cap of $80 million and trading volume of more than $110 million.
Meanwhile, a Fred-themed memecoin based on the raccoon euthanized by Peanut also hit the Solana memecoin market. A token called First Convicted Raccoon (FRED) recorded nearly 150,000 transactions with a trading volume of $83 million. Despite this, the project has a market cap of only $8.2 million.
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