PENGU, Dogecoin Lead Meme Coin Spike as Bitcoin Sets Another Record

Meme coins are charging higher as Bitcoin topped $113,000 for the first time Thursday, led by category leader Dogecoin (DOGE) and PENGU, the Solana-based token from the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem—which have climbed 7% and 29% respectively in the last 24 hours. 

The surge in PENGU to a price of $0.019 makes it the largest mover among the top 100 cryptocurrencies ranked by market cap, trailed closely by Solana meme coin Dogwifhat (WIF), which has jumped almost 14% in the last 24 hours to $1.01. Dogecoin itself, meanwhile, has climbed to a current price of $0.186.

The trio, which all sit inside the top 100 crypto tokens, have combined for more than $4.5 billion in trading volume in the last 24 hours according to data from CoinGecko. 

Lower volume is flowing to other notable meme coins, like Solana tokens Bonk (BONK) and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN), but their performance has helped pull up the meme category as a whole, which has gained 10% in the last 24 hours. Broadly, the category is outperforming the individual performance of leading coins Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

BONK is up nearly 13% to $0.0000228 in that timeframe, while FARTCOIN has jumped 12.5% to $1.21—and now BONK has gained around 39% on the week, building on momentum from its LetsBonk launchpad that recently flipped category leader Pump.fun in terms of daily tokens launched. 

Moo Deng (MOODENG) has jumped 13% in the last 24 hours to $0.209 as the namesake pygmy hippo celebrates its first birthday today. Last week, the token skyrocketed nearly 30% in a 24 hour span as the Khao Kheow Open Zoo shared plans for the birthday celebration.

Plus, other 2024 meme coin cycle darlings like NEIRO and FWOG are right there as well, jumping 12% and 18% respectively.

Plus, Solana tokens that previously held notable mindshare in the trenches like Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) and Popcat (POPCAT) are up 22% and 16% respectively, as well.

Further behind, SPX6900—the Ethereum-based meme coin created with aspirations of flipping the S&P 500 market cap (but is still nowhere close)—has jumped about 5% in the last 24 hours to $1.54. The token now sits around 11% off its all-time high of $1.73 from early June, but technical indicators point to a bullish outlook with potential whale accumulation helping push things higher during the last two weeks. 

Meme coins, or tokens that are typically based on current events, pop culture, or internet trends, are inherently more volatile and risky than other crypto tokens. While users can sometimes create major profits from small invested sums, most meme tokens launched trend towards zero over time. Few have any real staying power.