The Solana-based meme coin WHITEWHALE has become a focal point of controversy and speculation, surviving a violent sell-off and accusations of a rug pull to maintain a significant market presence. Launched in October 2025 on the Pump.fun platform, the token was inspired by the X (Twitter) persona @TheWhiteWhaleV2, a perpetuals trader known for an $80 million liquidation. The project began with no roadmap, utility, or known founder, relying solely on a meme narrative and a fixed supply of nearly 1 billion tokens.
Concerned about scams damaging his reputation, @TheWhiteWhaleV2 intervened in December 2025, buying tokens, adding liquidity, and coordinating a community takeover (CTO). Pump.fun fees were redirected to holders, and treasury activity was made public—an unusual move in the Solana meme coin ecosystem. "I do. That is entirely the point. The token that bears my name, I take ultimate responsibility for," The White Whale told BeInCrypto, asserting his control over the treasury to ensure stewardship.
The token experienced wild price swings, with early participants seeing monumental gains. One trader, Remus, turned $370 into $1.2 million but later lost almost all of it after cashing out only $220,000 before an 80% crash. Momentum exploded in early January 2026, with the price surging nearly 930% from a December low of $0.0082 to briefly test $0.20, pushing its market cap over $200 million. Listings on major exchanges like Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin, and LBank fueled volume spikes up to $48 million in 24 hours.
The rally collapsed on January 20, 2026, when a top holder sold roughly $1.3 million worth of tokens, triggering a 60% price drop and reducing the market cap from around $200 million to $20–40 million. While social media erupted with rug pull claims, on-chain analysis from Bubblemaps traced the sell-off to a single major wallet unconnected to The White Whale. The team labeled it a "liquidity event," arguing that supply was now more broadly distributed.
Against expectations, WHITEWHALE rebounded, posting daily gains over 70% and climbing back to an $80–90 million market cap. The treasury locked 40 million tokens for a year to reduce circulating supply and signal long-term commitment. However, on-chain data from Rootsdata and Solscan shows high concentration risk, with the top 10 holders controlling 64.5% of the supply, and the treasury and associated wallets potentially holding over 50%.
The White Whale remains optimistic, stating the project's goal is to "prove that something can be successful while maintaining integrity" and to set a high bar for transparency in the meme coin space. Despite the recovery, WHITEWHALE carries extreme risks, with no utility beyond narrative, weekly volatility exceeding 60%, and dependence on whale-driven momentum.
