Author: Deng Tong, Golden Finance
At around 9:00 Beijing time on November 14, the market showed that PNUT (Peanut the Squirrel) briefly broke through $2.5 to $2.4158, setting a new record high and a 24-hour increase of 422.3%.
This is not the first time that PNUT has attracted attention with its rising trend. At around 20:00 on November 13, PNUT briefly broke through $1.5 and closed at $1.515, a 24-hour increase of 247.41%; on November 11, affected by the listing of Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) on Binance, PNUT briefly reached $0.28, a 141.15% increase in 1 hour.
But the story of the squirrel goes far beyond this. In addition to the rise and fall of Meme coin, this squirrel is associated with too many labels - the US election, Trump, Musk, euthanasia... More stories have to start from before the US election.
Previous life: Internet celebrity squirrel caused a political episode during the 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 get hit by a car. Due to his injuries, Longo believed that Peanut would not be able to survive in the wild. So, Peanut nursed him back to health and became his caretaker.
The owner Longo often shares his daily life on Instagram. Mark not only uses these videos to attract fans, but also founded an animal rescue organization in the name of Peanut 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, and the whole raid was like a drug raid. My house was turned upside down, my wife was even asked about her immigration status, and when I went to the bathroom, the police accompanied me to check if there were any hidden items behind the toilet."
Mark launched a petition calling for the release of the squirrel that had lived with him for seven years, which attracted a lot of supporters.
Then, on November 2, the news of Peanut's euthanasia broke, sparking strong anger on the Internet. Longo said on social media: "This is a terrible nightmare for me." Community members condemned the DEC's violent law enforcement and compared the incident to the "Black Lives Matter" movement in 2020, proposing the slogan "Rat Lives Matter". The DEC director was ridiculed as "Karen" for his tough attitude, and the Democratic government became the focus of public opinion, accused by countless voters of "the government has the resources to kill a squirrel, but can't repair the bridge on the street?"
Musk also joined the memorial and posted several tweets in support of Peanut.
At that time, the US election was already in its white-hot stage. On November 4, Musk pinned a tweet on the X social platform, saying, "For PNut! For freedom, vote." Data shows that Peanut's current market value is 53.97 million US dollars.
Because the New York Environmental Protection Agency is controlled by the Democratic Party, many people condemned the abuse of power by the authorities. The Trump campaign team also took this opportunity to speak out several times:
Trump said: If the squirrel came from Mexico, the government would have arranged 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, Trump Jr., said: Peanut's death should catalyze real change and kick out the current government with votes. 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" made people 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 have pets."
The Democratic Party’s outrageous actions and Trump’s statement have obviously aroused people’s election sentiment. Some people even called on social media to vote for Trump to avenge Peanut.
At this point, 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 - PNUT creates sky-high wealth
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 enthusiastic 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 heartbreaking and has resonated on social media. In addition, with the continued support from Musk, Trump and other big names, crypto whales were the first to smell 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, and now shows a loss of US$553,400 (-48%). On November 6, according to ai_9684xtpa monitoring, with PNut violently rebounding 127% in the past 24 hours, the mysterious whale who once spent 11,600 SOLs to heavily position Pnut, FRED, and OPK, has narrowed his floating loss from US$1.48 million to US$183,000, close to recovering his investment. On the same day, a trader created a new wallet and spent 15,132 SOL (US$2.8 million) to buy Pnut and FRED in the past 2 hours. Spent 11,582 SOL (2.14 million USD) to buy 17.35 million Pnuts at a price of 0.12 USD. On November 10, according to Solscan data, the address starting with js5Lja has accumulated about 28.83 million Pnuts (worth over 2.4 million USD) in the past 6 days, becoming the largest holder.
On November 11, there were still reports of whale purchases. Subsequently, exchanges such as Binance and OKX launched PNUT. The market trend of Meme coin PNUT gradually became crazy, and a three-digit daily increase was not surprising.
Calculated from the price of $0.128 before the market took off on November 11, the highest point reached around 9:00 this morning was $2.27. In just 4 days, PNUT has skyrocketed by 1673%.
So, why has PUNT surged recently?
First, with Trump's victory, the overall crypto market is rising. 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 "Government Efficiency Department" during Trump's administration. The abbreviation of "Government Efficiency Department" is the same as the abbreviation of Dogecoin DOGE. Dogecoin, the top meme coin, has ushered in a new market cycle. It is reasonable that PUNT, which was supported by Musk, has skyrocketed.
On November 13, Musk directly called for PUNT: "A squirrel and a Meme coin saved America!" Driven by Musk, the big brother on the Trump list, PUNT soared.
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 as a whole rose by 11.90%. 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 6 billion US dollars. In terms of overall market trading volume, the Meme project continues to attract a lot of liquidity. Among the top 10 currencies 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.
Memecoin’s impact goes far beyond simply 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 the fundamental values of community and entertainment, and express the demands of ordinary people in a free atmosphere.
Summarize
From a happily-living internet celebrity squirrel to a political figure supported by influential figures such as Musk and Trump, and then to the creator of billions of dollars of Meme coins, the fate of this little squirrel was perhaps destined to be different from the moment it was rescued seven years ago.
Peanut may be a victim of the US election, but it has 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 and exist forever in the crypto world. I hope that people will occasionally cherish the memory of this tree elf that once stayed in the world while enjoying the joy of gaining wealth.
