The PENGUIN (The Nietzschean Penguin) memecoin, launched on the Solana blockchain, experienced a dramatic price surge of approximately 564% following a viral social media post from the United States White House. The post, published on Friday, featured an image of US President Donald Trump and a penguin holding hands walking through snow.
Market data reveals the explosive impact: Prior to the post, PENGUIN's market capitalization was around $387,000. In the 24 hours following the post, trading volume skyrocketed to $244 million, according to SolanaFloor. At the time of reporting, the token's market cap had ballooned to approximately $136 million, with a trading price near $0.13 (DEXScreener).
Alon Cohen, co-founder of the memecoin launchpad Pump.fun (where PENGUIN launched), commented on the event: "The early success of PENGUIN is proof that onchain trading was never dead, just a sleeping giant waiting for the right moment."
This surge occurred against a backdrop of a broader memecoin market downturn. After being a top-performing crypto sector in 2024, the memecoin market crashed following significant declines (80% or more from peaks) in several high-profile celebrity tokens. The total memecoin market capitalization briefly surged by 23% in January 2026, rising from about $38 billion in December 2025 to over $47 billion (CoinMarketCap), before falling back to around $39 billion.
Analysts noted a correlation with shifting market sentiment. Vincent Liu, Chief Investment Officer at Kronos Research, stated: "Memecoins typically lead when risk appetite returns. The rebound in the Fear and Greed Index from extreme fear toward neutral reinforces this shift." The surge was also accompanied by a spike in social media mentions of memecoins, as tracked by Santiment.
Separately, the article references financial projections for 2026 comparing two other Ethereum-based memecoins: PEPE and PENGU. PEPE, with a market cap of $2.76 billion, is characterized by high volatility and speculative trading. PENGU ($839M market cap) aims to leverage its affiliation with the Pudgy Penguins NFT ecosystem for utility. The competition between them highlights differing strategies—PENGU's NFT ties versus PEPE's pure speculation—in navigating future market challenges.
