PENGU Overtakes BONK to Become Top Meme Coin on Solana with $2.6 Billion Valuation

Pudgy Penguins' recently launched cryptocurrency Pengu (PENGU) has surpassed Bonk (BONK) to claim the crown as the largest meme coin in the Solana ecosystem, with a market capitalization of $2.65 billion.

The change is the culmination of a rally that began on Christmas Eve when the token gained more than 30% in 24 hours.

The PINGÚ rises

Data from cryptocurrency price tracking website CoinGecko sample that the broader Solana meme coin market has seen explosive growth, with its total valuation rising to $18.2 billion, an increase of 10.3% from the last day.

Anchoring this performance was PENGU, which posted an 11.2% increase in the last 24 hours and a notable 22.3% increase in the last seven days.

The meme coin, airdropped to members of the successful nft community Pudgy Penguins on December 17, has not been without controversy. Shortly after the token's launch, the nft collection's bottom prices plummeted by more than 50%, wiping out any gains made since early November.

According to analysts, this was largely because the value of the collection was partly tied to exclusive access to the brand, and the introduction of PENGU made investing in nfts more accessible, thus diluting its value.

Upon launch, the coin soared to an all-time high of $0.0684 before falling to an all-time low of $0.0114. It then oscillated over the next few days, moving between $0.038 on December 18 and $0.0231 on December 20. However, since December 23, it has been making steady gains, reaching as high as $0.0417 on Boxing Day, a price that boosted its market capitalization to $2.62 billion.

BONK falls

In contrast, Solana's previous meme coin king, BONK, showed more modest improvements in its price over the past seven days, rising 6.9% in that period. Furthermore, in two weeks, it lost 17% of its value, and CoinGecko data shows another 23% drop in 30 days, putting its market capitalization at just over $2.5 billion and allowing PENGU to surpass it.

The competition doesn't end there. Other meme tokens like dogwifhat (WIF) and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) are competing for investors' attention. On Christmas Eve, the former hit an all-time high of $1.02, pushing its total value past the $1 billion mark.

However, even though Fartcoin was among the top gainers for seven days with a 13.1% price increase, it has plunged 15% since December 25. With one unit currently changing hands at around $0.986, its $1.072 billion market cap is still some way behind. The 1.9 billion dollars of the WIF.

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