Are Memecoins Making a Comeback? - $PENGUIN Memecoin Hits $160M All-time High Market Cap After White House X Post

The crypto market often reacts to unexpected cultural moments, but few events illustrate this dynamic as clearly as the recent surge of the Solana-based memecoin $PENGUIN. A pair of meme-style posts from the official White House X account triggered a rapid market response, pushing a previously obscure token to a nine-figure valuation within days. The episode has reignited debate about whether onchain speculative trading has returned after a prolonged period of caution.

From Obscurity to Viral Attention

$PENGUIN launched barely 10 days ago on the Solana token launchpad pump.fun. Before the White House posts, the token traded quietly with a market capitalization of roughly $400,000 and minimal visibility outside niche trading circles.

That changed when the official White House X account shared an AI-generated image of President Donald Trump walking alongside a penguin across icy terrain. The post carried the caption, “Embrace the penguin.” A follow-up post added, “The penguin does not concern himself with the opinions of those who cannot comprehend.”

Together, the posts accumulated around 67 million views and more than 40,000 replies, injecting a surge of attention into the broader internet conversation.

Traders quickly connected the imagery to $PENGUIN. Within hours, trading activity intensified. Trading volume soared, and the token’s price increased by roughly 600% in 24 hours. The market capitalization peaked above $160 million before retracing to around $86 million, still far above its pre-viral level.

The Cultural Roots of the Penguin Narrative

The sudden enthusiasm did not emerge in isolation. The penguin imagery draws from a long-running internet meme that originated in Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World. In one scene, a lone penguin leaves its colony and walks toward distant mountains, an act Herzog described as solitary and irrational.

In recent months, the clip resurfaced across social media. Users repurposed it as a metaphor for independence, resignation, or defiance. The White House post leaned into this symbolism while also referencing renewed geopolitical attention toward Greenland, a territory Trump has previously expressed interest in acquiring. The blend of political context and internet culture created a narrative that traders could immediately monetize.

Is Memecoin Trading Back In Style?

Wallet data showed aggressive accumulation shortly after the White House posts. Onchain Lens reported that one whale purchased 20.78 million $PENGUIN tokens for 20,575 $SOL, worth about $2.6 million, and transferred them to another wallet.

Arkham data identified another wallet that acquired about $54,000 worth of $PENGUIN tokens and later went on to have over $1.5 million in unrealized gains, without taking profit or moving the tokens.

Analytics platform Lookonchain highlighted cookerflips, a famous memecoin KOL, who spent 6 $SOL to buy 16.5 million $PENGUIN tokens and sold them for a 0.12 $SOL profit, missing out on over $1.2 million at current prices. An outcome viewed by many as ironic, as a figure who claims to be a legendary trader closed a potential life-changing trade for only a 0.12 $SOL profit, missing out on huge gains.

alon, co-founder of pump.fun commented on the surge, stating that “the early success of $PENGUIN is proof that onchain trading was never dead.”

Market intelligence platform Santiment recorded an increase in memecoin-related mentions in January 2026.

Controversy Surrounding Fees and Binance Involvement

The rally also surfaced unresolved issues around platform incentives and token control. Several posts criticised pump.fun giving creator fees for $PENGUIN to Bastille, the memecoin developer who launched the token and abandoned it when it didn't get initial traction, despite attempts at a community takeover. Community members say an independent group reached out to pump.fun to request a formal community takeover before the token’s surge. This request was never approved. In this context, a community takeover refers to a rescue effort in which a new team promotes the project and receives creator fees for marketing and maintenance. Critics argue the request should have been approved, as Bastille was not known for sustaining a single long-term project.

According to these claims, fee allocations shifted entirely to Bastille, depriving the revival team of expected rewards and raising concerns about fairness and transparency.

Additional speculation linked a top-holding wallet to Binance, claiming the exchange was accumulating tokens. An act which often precedes token listings on major exchanges.

Binance Poland posted the penguin meme with the Binance logo in ice, further fuelling speculations. In reality, Binance has not yet listed $PENGUIN on its main exchange. The token was only featured on Binance Alpha, a platform that showcases early-stage projects and integrates a DEX directly into the Binance exchange. As a result, the $PENGUIN balances held by individual Binance users were mistakenly interpreted on social media as Binance’s own exchange holdings.

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