A memecoin inspired by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson's pet Nike pig has captured the community's attention. Within just 12 hours of Hoskinson's post on X, NIKE's market capitalization had risen to nearly $1 million, underscoring the volatile and often unpredictable dynamics of the cryptocurrency market.
Cardano founder launches new Memecoin
The genesis of the NIKE symbol was a simple, informal tweet by Hoskinson, featuring his pet pig, Nike. The tweet quickly captured the imagination of the Cardano community, leading to the creation of a new memecoin called NIKE.
Fun fact: I have a pig named Nike pic.twitter.com/53KeeYD1Sf
– Charles Hoskinson (IOHK_Charles) June 17, 2024
Within hours of its launch, Nike showed an amazing surge in its valuation. According to TapTools data, the price of the token has risen rapidly. Trading metrics painted a picture of frenetic activity: the price of the token rose by an unprecedented 60,200% when it reached $0.00089.
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The market reception for NIKE has been vibrant, with the coin quickly climbing the rankings to become one of the most traded coins within the Cardano ecosystem. According to the latest Metrics By Taptools.io NIKE's 24-hour trading volume reached $616,000, featuring 2,304 buys and 1,432 sells. Buying volume reached $316,955 while selling volume was slightly lower at $284,505, indicating strong but balanced trading interest.
Liquidity figures were equally convincing, with the token maintaining a pool of $47,900. The largest NIKE token holder holds a significant 19.37% of the total supply, a factor that adds a layer of risk regarding potential price manipulation or future sell-offs. This trader is followed by token holders with 5.58%, 3.35% and 2.93% respectively of the total 1 billion tokens. There are currently 668 Nike holders.
Nike's meteoric rise has sparked a range of reactions from the cryptocurrency community. While some enthusiasts are optimistic about the fun sharing and profit potential, others express concern about the speculative nature of such developments.
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One user commented on the phenomenon, stating, “This is everything that's wrong with cryptocurrencies and why many people will never feel comfortable investing in them.” Another user jokingly asked: “What other animals do you have?”, which would likely have started another Memoku coin if farm owner Hoskinson responded.
Hoskinson expressed his shock, writing via
I'm confused because a picture of my pig generated a meme coin worth nearly a million dollars in less than 12 hours. pic.twitter.com/HZhe0qjkI0
– Charles Hoskinson (IOHK_Charles) June 18, 2024
As NIKE continues to attract attention and trading volume, it will likely pose a challenge to SNEK, the previously dominant memecoin in the Cardano ecosystem that has a market cap of $74 million. While SNEK is still far ahead in terms of overall valuation, NIKE's sudden rise highlights the dynamic and ever-changing landscape of memcoins within the cryptocurrency market.
At press time, ADA was trading at $0.373.
Featured image by X @IOHK_Charles, chart from TradingView.com