PUNCH, a new meme coin on the Solana blockchain, has experienced an astronomical rally of over 80,000% since its launch earlier in February 2026, briefly pushing its market capitalization above $30 million. The token, inspired by the viral story of a baby Japanese macaque named Punch and his plush toy, positions itself as a community-driven cryptocurrency built around emotion and companionship.
The project's website states it has a fixed total supply of 1 billion tokens, with 0% tax, locked and burned liquidity, and renounced ownership. Over the past week alone, PUNCH surged 22,290.8%, becoming CoinGecko's top daily gainer with a 260% increase and ranking third among the platform's top trending cryptocurrencies.
On-chain data reveals significant accumulation. Blockchain tracker Stalkchain highlighted one wallet that bought approximately $226,000 worth of PUNCH. Data from Nansen showed that public figure holdings in the token spiked 89.69% over the past seven days, even as holdings by smart money and whales declined.
However, multiple analysts have raised serious red flags. Crypto analyst StarPlatinum alleged that the creator wallet distributed roughly 100 billion PUNCH tokens (10% of the supply) shortly after launch. The analysis claims 48.2 billion tokens were sent to an intermediary wallet, which then funded several large holders. Three specific wallets—controlling a combined 7.75% of the total supply—are allegedly traceable back to this initial creator distribution. "This is how controlled memecoins are structured. Stay careful," StarPlatinum warned.
Another commentator, known as the White Whale, pointed to suspiciously "perfect" bubble maps and liquidity patterns that "simply cannot look like this" organically. He cautioned that the structure suggests a tightly managed memecoin, stating, "We never know when the cabal is going to pull the rug." The White Whale clarified he was not directly accusing the team but highlighted the same warning signs seen in previous projects.
The explosive rally of PUNCH underscores the extreme volatility and inherent risks within the Solana meme coin sector, where parabolic gains are often accompanied by concerns over supply concentration and potential rug-pulls.
