Today, something big happened in the crypto world! After Binance announced the listing of the Meme coins ACT and PNUT, the market exploded instantly—ACT's price skyrocketed 16 times within half an hour, and its initial market value surged from $20 million to $350 million. Before anyone could catch their breath, PNUT also showed no weakness, tripling in just one hour, with its market value soaring to $400 million. Retail investors rushed in, fearing they might miss out on the 'wealth creation myth', but the question is: Is the surge of ACT and PNUT a market miracle, or a new round of harvesting? This article takes you to explore the 'truth' behind it.
ACT—The idealism of AI dreams and decentralization: a double cannon of a booming bull market and community infighting.
The project background and token mission of ACT: an emotionally charged AI research experiment.
ACT, short for 'The AI Prophecy', has a futuristic name and is a decentralized AI experimental project running on the Solana blockchain, claiming to 'make AI knowledge accessible to everyone.' In simple terms, it aims to be a decentralized AI knowledge platform that provides 'AI popular science' to ordinary people, breaking the 'dimensional wall' between ordinary individuals and AI technology. Compared to the humorous positioning of most Meme coins, ACT can be said to be filled with emotional appeal, claiming to be not just a token, but a 'knowledge evangelist of the new era.'
ACT claims to 'make AI knowledge accessible to everyone' right from the start. This intention sounds very grand, directly targeting the 'knowledge evangelism of the new era', instantly filling the emotional appeal. However, like the vast majority of Meme coins, ACT also cannot escape the stark contrast between 'ideals and reality.'
The turmoil in ACT's community and the drastic fluctuations in its token: the founder's exit and the community's self-rescue.
The founding team is very strong; the founder DEV is a member of the GOAT token team AmplifiedAmp (referred to as Amp), who obtained 6% of the token supply as startup capital after creating ACT.
After ACT's listing, the community did not welcome the 'dream taking off'; instead, it was unexpectedly bloodletted by founder Amp.
DEV Amp holds a large number of ACT tokens and frequently sells them, which directly rubs the token price in the dirt, angering the community: everyone accuses him of 'blatantly harvesting retail investors.'
Under public pressure, Amp couldn't hold on any longer and ultimately announced his exit, destroying the remaining 1,745,004 ACT tokens in his possession—don't underestimate this amount; when it was destroyed, it was only worth $41,000, but today it's skyrocketed to $3.87 million, essentially burning future profits.
When leaving, Amp did not forget to coldly state: the ACT brand has never received his permission, and he even tweeted that he does not wish for it to be listed on Binance. The final blow before the end can be considered a piece of exit art.
However, Amp's exit did not cause the community to fall apart; rather, it led ACT to spontaneously move towards decentralized governance. Without a founder's control, the community instead united to establish an autonomous organization focused on AI knowledge dissemination and community education, attempting to turn this 'non-dominant' coin into a decentralized 'grassroots AI promotion plan.' With Binance's traffic support, ACT made a dramatic comeback.
Binance also mentioned in the coin listing announcement that the listing fee for ACT is 0 BNB, which was later confirmed by ACT community member @0xWizard. This is particularly different from the previously exposed exorbitant listing fee market.
After Binance announced the listing of ACT, its price surged tenfold in just 10 minutes, with the initial market value skyrocketing from $20 million to $350 million. Such an astonishing increase largely stems from Binance's traffic effect as a leading global exchange, as well as the emotional push from the Meme coin market.
However, this rapid surge also exposed hidden risks in the market. For the ACT project, the key to its long-term development lies in whether it can truly establish a high-value AI knowledge-sharing community. While short-term price fluctuations attract a large number of speculators, whether ACT's community governance model and consensus are strong enough to support the long-term stability of its price remains unknown.
PNUT—From Internet Celebrity Squirrel to Successful Meme Coin
The birth of PNUT and event marketing: the tragic squirrel igniting the market.
The rise of the PNUT token is backed by a highly compelling social event: the tragic experience of the American Internet celebrity squirrel 'Peanut'. Peanut's owner, Mark Longo, is a mechanical engineer who has shared amusing videos of this little squirrel on social media for many years, accumulating a large following. However, in a dispute over 'illegal raising', Peanut was seized by the relevant authorities and euthanized, which quickly sparked outrage across the internet. Many netizens expressed their sympathy for Peanut's unfortunate fate, including public figures like Elon Musk, who also voiced support and pointed out the government's excessive actions in this incident. This led to widespread discussions and emotional fermentation on social media, gradually turning this event into a criticism of government agencies and even the Democratic Party's governance policies.
At this juncture, the U.S. election is in full swing, and the Peanut incident has transformed into a 'weapon of public opinion' for the Democratic government, being hyped by various media as a 'symbol of protest'. At this time, the PNUT Meme coin emerged, quickly attracting a large amount of attention and successfully heating up the public opinion market.
Election team alignment, PNUT doubled in value by leveraging the trend.
Interestingly, with the announcement of the results of the U.S. election where Trump was re-elected, the PNUT token surged again, with its market value skyrocketing from $27 million on the eve of the election to $160 million. Once Binance announced the listing, PNUT's market value further surged to nearly $400 million. This super surge, boosted by a social hot topic + political event, can be said to have maximized the characteristic of Meme coins 'earning quick money through hot topics.'
However, despite PNUT's rise due to the squirrel incident, it still carries risks, just like other Meme coins. The short-term surge hides significant price volatility, and for retail investors, the gains may be quick cash, but the losses could be next month's rent.
On-chain data tracking: the harvesting techniques of whales, the hidden winners of Meme coins.
The short-term surges of ACT and PNUT appear to be a celebration of social sentiment, but behind the scenes, a group of big players is secretly laying out strategies to skillfully harvest the 'emotional dividends'.
Taking ACT as an example, a trader spent $457,000 to position at the low point, then sold at a good price of $2.48 million immediately after Binance's listing, while the remaining position still made a profit. The entire operation is indeed 'precisely accurate.'
From October 25 to November 3, the trading data of ACT was particularly eye-catching. A trader spent 2,658 SOL (approximately $457,000) to purchase 17.16 million ACT tokens. After Binance announced the listing of ACT on November 3, this trader quickly sold off 9.33 million ACT, swapping them for 11,945 SOL (approximately $2.48 million), achieving significant gains. The remaining 7.83 million ACT are worth about $2.74 million, bringing the trader's total profit to $4.77 million—achieved in just 18 days.
Similarly, the on-chain data of PNUT also shows the large position operations of whales. After Binance announced the listing of PNUT, its price surged by 180% in a short time. A certain mysterious whale spent 15,140.85 SOL heavily holding PNUT, FRED, and OPK tokens, with an overall unrealized profit of up to $3.97 million, where the unrealized profit of the single token PNUT reached $4.06 million, making it one of the top 3 accounts in terms of PNUT holdings.
What’s even more noteworthy is that recently, a whale withdrew 14,770 SOL (approximately $3.03 million) from Binance to make large purchases of PNUT and ACT. This whale's account spent 12,000 SOL ($2.46 million) buying 9.24 million PNUT at a price of $0.266 and 2,000 SOL ($410,000) buying 2.04 million ACT at a price of $0.2. Such a large influx of funds directly drove up the prices of PNUT and ACT, triggering severe market fluctuations.
The controversy surrounding Binance's coin listing: a feast for retail investors, with BNB holders ‘crowdfunding complaints’.
Binance's listing of ACT and PNUT ignited the market, but not all responses were applause. The communities of ACT and PNUT naturally rejoiced, but Binance's users, especially BNB holders, began to express dissatisfaction. Under Binance's coin listing announcement, over 90% of the comments were directly criticizing: Why does Binance keep listing these 'air coins'? Why not learn from Launchpool and properly select coins? Some users even directly suspected that Binance was 'manipulating the market to harvest retail investors', doubting that Binance held a large number of tokens, using the listing to drive short-term market trends, essentially coming to harvest retail investors.
Especially for those users holding BNB, this time they were greatly disappointed. Not only was there no follow-up on the previously promised Megadrop, but they also had to watch the platform continuously list high-risk Meme coins, as if they were being sidelined from the 'capital feast'. For these BNB holders, Binance's coin listing strategy has not only shaken their trust in the platform but even made them feel abandoned. This accumulation of emotions undoubtedly poses a challenge to Binance's long-term brand.
Solution: Reforming the coin listing strategy and the self-redemption of exchanges.
The coin listing strategy of cryptocurrency exchanges is like a process of 'dancing with shackles'. Frequent listings can indeed boost trading volume, but when the 'hot money' dissipates, the risks will ultimately fall on the investors. For leading exchanges like Binance, if they want to balance profit and trust, they may need to make some changes in their strategy.
In the face of the chaotic coin listing phenomenon, if Binance wants to avoid becoming a 'retail investor harvesting machine', it might as well try the 'main site + community site' dual-track system: the main site conducts strict reviews, leaving quality coins; the community site is casual, allowing retail investors to invest as they wish, letting everyone enjoy the process.
Main site + community site: A dual-track system that achieves the best of both worlds for coin listings.
You can refer to the 'main site + community site' dual-track system, setting up a strictly vetted main site and an open community site.
Main site: tighten listing standards, strictly check technology, application, and profit models, gradually delist projects that do not meet requirements, making the main site a stage for quality projects.
Community site: emulate DEX, adopting a registration system, allowing project parties to list freely, and letting the market vote to decide the survival of the coin, allowing retail investors to choose independently. This not only reduces Binance's burden but also provides a space for Meme coins while avoiding doubts about 'whale manipulation.'
Complete transparency: Let on-chain data speak.
Transparent disclosure is a powerful weapon for exchanges to avoid controversy. Binance can use on-chain data tracking to regularly publish information on project fund flows, team holdings, etc., allowing investors to see the 'blood flow' of the project directly. This not only builds trust but also makes the exchange's credibility more precious in a market where 'harvesting' is rampant.
Investor Education: Upgrading Speculators to Investors
Binance can help users understand the risk characteristics of the Meme coin market through investor education, label project risk levels, and release simple courses to guide investors to enter the market rationally. In the face of the market's emotional frenzy, the concept of rational investment can ensure that users truly understand the risk characteristics of Meme coins, so as not to become the 'exit strategy' for whales and founding teams.
Conclusion: The game of market sentiment and coin listing strategies.
The rise of ACT and PNUT has reignited the Meme coin market, but the hidden risks behind it are equally evident. While Binance's coin listing strategy has indeed driven the market, frequently listing high-risk projects may also be exhausting users' trust. In the future, if Binance can find a balance in transparency and regulation, it can not only avoid the shadow of 'harvesting' but also lead the entire market towards a more mature direction. For investors, in the face of the huge volatility of Meme coins, rational investment and calm judgment are the only shields against the emotional market.
