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Peanut The Squirrel: What is PNUT Token And Should You Buy It?

PNUT crypto is the latest Solana meme coin to go viral and gain over 800% in a week. The token was launched on 4 November, after the heartbreaking story of Peanut the Squirrel – a pet squirrel owned by influencer Mark Longo. Peanut the Squirrel has over a million followers on TikTok and Instagram, and it was one of the most beloved pets on social media.

However, the Longo’s pet squirrel was seized and euthanized in a controversial raid by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation earlier this month. This controversy led to a social media outrage, and the PNUT token was created out of this story.

Since its launch, the PNUT token’s market cap has surged to over $420million, and it became the largest gainer on Monday, 11 November, as per CoinGecko. Most importantly, PNUT has received major listing approvals from tier-1 centralized exchanges.

So, with all this hype, is it still a good time to buy PNUT? Or has the token already reached its peak? Let’s explore.

Key takeaways

  • PNUT is a Solana meme coin inspired by the tragic story of Peanut, the squirrel with over a million social media followers.
  • PNUT’s price surged after Elon Musk’s tweet and listings from Binance and OKX.
  • PNUT is currently overbought according to its RSI but still shows a bullish momentum.

The tragic story of Peanut the Squirrel 

Most meme coins are created based on internet humour or online trolls – just to spark intrigue among the community members and potentially create hype. However, the inspiration behind the PNUT meme coin is nothing short of tragic.

Nearly seven years ago, Mark Longo rescued Peanut the Squirrel after a car accident killed its mother. Longo struggled to find an animal shelter for Peanut and ended up keeping him as a pet. Longo created social media accounts documenting Peanut’s everyday life, and he quickly became the most adored pet in the digital world.

Mark Longo and Peanut the Squirrel
Mark Longo and Peanut the Squirrel

Peanut’s popularity also helped Longo to establish P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit shelter for neglected and homeless animals. However, Longo and Peanut’s fairytale story came to a tragic end earlier this month when the state of New York used a seize warrant against the squirrel.

The Department of Environmental Conservation mentioned several public complaints about the potential health risks of keeping wildlife as pets. However, Longo has denied any claims of public complaints, as he had housed Peanut for seven years without any objection from the neighbors.

Following the seizure, Peanut was euthanized to test for rabies. This led to a social media outage, as users claimed the state had used valuable resources to kill an animal, which could’ve been directed to other significant development operations.

PNUT meme coin to the moon

Shortly after the news of Peanut’s passing, anonymous developers created the PNUT meme coin on Solana. On 1 November, the token had an initial market cap of $3m.

However, the token’s popularity skyrocketed when Elon Must posted a tweet the next day with an AI-generated image of a squirrel – using the same name ‘PNUT.’ This led to soaring enthusiasm from the traders, and PNUT’s market cap reached $140m in less than 24 hours.

PNUT’s price took off again earlier today, on 11 November, when Binance and OKX announced the listing of the meme coin. The announcement saw PNUT’s price surge by more than 300%, with its current market cap sitting just above $300m.

This rapid surge has also pushed PNUT among the top 200 cryptocurrencies on the market right now, and it’s the highest-gaining Solana meme coin so far this month.

Peanut the Squirrel weekly chart
Peanut the Squirrel weekly chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Should you buy the PNUT meme coin?

Most meme coins that experience a rapid price surge in a short period often end up being pump-and-dump tokens. However, PNUT’s case is likely to be different because of the strong community support and public sentiment behind its origin.

Being tied to an emotional, real-life story means that users will naturally continue to support this meme coin. At the same time, being listed by tier-1 exchanges like Binance and OKX means that PNUT will be easily accessible to the wider crypto community. Most new meme coins are generally only accessible through decentralized exchanges, which makes them less attractive assets for general non-experienced crypto traders.

It’s also important to consider that Peanut the Squirrel’s story is still developing. Public outrage is still persistent, and the state of New York is also conducting an internal investigation. As this story continues to unfold, speculative interest in the token might grow, and further listings might push its demand higher in the bull market.

On the other hand, PNUT token’s current Relative Strenght Index (RSI) stands at 88.06. RSI is a momentum oscillator used in technical analysis to measure the speed and magnitude of price movements. It ranges from 0 to 100 and helps traders identify overbought or oversold market conditions.

An RSI above 80 indicates extreme overbought conditions. This suggests that PNUT’s price may be due for a correction or pullback. However, it doesn’t guarantee an immediate reversal, especially in strong bullish trends, where the RSI can stay elevated for extended periods.

To sum up, PNUT still remains an attractive option for short-term trading in the meme coin market. But traders must consider high volatility. Despite the increasingly positive public sentiment, it’s still a speculative token, and the project’s details are still anonymous.

Traders must assess their risk tolerance and conduct due diligence before investing in such tokens.

Mohammad Shahid @ CryptoManiaks
Mohammad Shahid

Mohammad is an experienced crypto writer with a specialisation in cybersecurity. He covers a wide variety of topics spanning everything from blockchain and Web3 to the retail crypto space. He has also worked for several start-ups and ICOs, gaining insight into the mindset and motivation of the founders behind the projects.