PENGU overtakes BONK and becomes the top coin on Solana with a valuation of $2.6 billion

New cryptocurrency Pudgy Penguins Pengu (PENGU) toppled Bonk (BONK) to take the crown as the largest meme coin in the Solana ecosystem, with a market cap of $2.65 billion.

The move is the culmination of a rally that began on Christmas Eve when the token gained more than 30% in 24 hours.

PINGOU gets up

Data from cryptocurrency price tracking website CoinGecko shows that the broader Solana coin market has seen explosive growth, with the total valuation reaching $18.2 billion, an increase of 10.3 % compared to the last day.

The anchor of this performance was PENGU, which recorded an 11.2% jump in the last 24 hours and a remarkable 22.3% rise in the last seven days.

The meme coin, airdropped to members of the globally successful Pudgy Penguins NFT community on December 17, was not without controversy. Shortly after the token’s launch, NFT collection floor prices plunged by more than 50%, erasing all gains made since early November.

Analysts say this was largely because the value of the collection was partly tied to exclusive access to the brand, with the introduction of PENGU making investing in NFTs more accessible, thereby diluting their value.

Upon launch, the coin reached an all-time high of $0.0684 before falling to an all-time high of $0.0114. It then oscillated over the following days, oscillating between $0.038 on December 18 and $0.0231 on December 20. However, since December 23, it has made steady gains, reaching as high as $0.0417 on Boxing Day, a move that sent its price soaring. market capitalization at $2.62 billion.

BONK Falls

Conversely, former meme coin king Solana, BONK, has shown more modest improvements in its price over the past seven days, increasing 6.9% during this period. Additionally, in two weeks it lost 17% of its value, with CoinGecko data showing another 23% drop over 30 days, putting its market cap at just over $2.5 billion and allowing PENGU to surpass it.

The competition doesn’t stop there. Other meme tokens like dogwifhat (WIF) and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) are vying for investor attention. On Christmas Eve, the former hit an all-time high of $1.02, pushing its overall value past $1 billion.

However, although Fartcoin was among the biggest seven-day gainers with a 13.1% price increase, it has fallen 15% since December 25. With the unit currently changing hands at around $0.986, its market cap of $1.072 billion is still far behind. WIF costs $1.9 billion.