Many industry commentators believe one of the tokens was abandoned by a developer or other insider.
Recent days have seen the rise of many altcoins, posting stunning gains. Many of them were part of the less popular cohort, but quickly gained attention following these rallies.
Two of them brought immense results to a few investors. Interestingly, they share the same name but different stories.
351x return in hours
One of them was reported by Lookonchain. The “success story” came from an entity that had spent only 11 SOL (worth approximately $960 at the time) to accumulate 158.51 million ASTEROID through three wallets. It is worth noting that this is an altcoin based on Solana, which has just come into existence.
Other on-chain data shows that the entity sold nearly 135 million ASTEROID tokens for $135,000 worth of SOL and still held 23.76 million coins at press time. In total, this resulted in a return of 351x in less than 120 minutes.
This guy turned $960 into $337,000 in less than 2 hours – a 351x return!😱
The trader only spent 11 $ SOL ($960) to buy 158.51 million $ASTEROID through 3 wallets.
He then sold 134.75M $ASTEROID for 1,539 $ SOL ($135,000) and still holds 23.76 million $ASTEROID ($202,000). pic.twitter.com/mwfNa5jZYP
– Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 17, 2026
Data from GeckoTerminal shows that the most likely seller who benefited from the price increase was a developer. Most of the comments under Lookonchain’s report support this narrative, with one stating that such returns are usually a “distribution event wearing a success story costume.” Another claimed it was likely the coin’s owner needed more money and lured retail investors with a “smart move when the market looked bullish.”
Earnings based on Ethereum
There is a bit of confusion in the cryptocurrency community, given the existence of tokens with the same name on different chains. However, Arkham noted that another trader made a fortune using the ASTEROID coin built on Ethereum.
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They purchased ASTEROID for 1 ETH after seeing Elon Musk’s tweet about it, and their position soared to almost $475,000 at its peak. Another bought $1,160 worth of the altcoin and sold it higher, generating $210,000 in profit. A third holder now has $370,000 after purchasing ASTEROID when it premiered in September 2024 for $21,400.
THIS GUY TRANSFORMED 1 ETH INTO HALF A MILLION IN 3 HOURS
The first person to buy ASTEROID today only made $1,300, after selling it for about 2x.
But trader 0x680 swapped 1 ETH for ASTEROID after seeing Elon’s tweet about it, and held on – he now makes $474,320 on the coin. pic.twitter.com/8Ubj0VS2vo
-Arkham (@arkham) April 17, 2026
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