Political protest coin ‘Peanut the Squirrel’ wins 1,500% in a week as popular conspiracy theory spreads

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Last Updated on 18 November 2024 by CryptoTips.eu

If we look at CoinMarketCap’s top 100, we can see that there were quite a few memecoins that gained more than 100% in one week (both Dogecoin and Bonk did that since the beginning of November) ever since Donald Trump’s victory, but the price gain of ‘Peanut the Squirrel’ really stands out.

That new memecoin gained no less than 1,500% in value in one week. This is mainly due to a conspiracy theory on the internet that states that for every victory of Donald Trump, an innocent and well-known social media animal is killed (aka ritually sacrificed).

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Justice for Harambe

The story starts with a gorilla named Harambe. It was living in a zoo in Cincinnati and was very popular with the local public. In 2016, just before Donald Trump’s first election victory, Harambe was shot when a three-year-old boy fell into the gorilla’s cage. A zoo employee feared for the child’s life and shot the gorilla.

The slain gorilla became a real internet meme in the United States. Online, mainly Republican voters called for ‘Justice for Harambe’ and decided to vote for Donald Trump as a result of the situation. At that time, Trump was still going up against other republicans for the nomination.

Justice for Peanut

Fast forward to 2024 and just days before Donald Trump’s second election victory something similar happens to a squirrel in New York.

Peanut the Squirrel had been found several years earlier by a couple who decided to take care of him after the animal was hit by a car. The squirrel gained half a million followers on Instagram and was one of the most famous animals on the internet in the United States. Allegedly, one of the couple’s neighbors complained that the animal might have contagious diseases and called the police. Peanut The Squirrel was killed during a raid on the apartment. Dozens of police officers were involved.

Once again, young people on the internet called for ‘Justice for Peanut’ and said they would vote for Donald Trump as a protest vote.

One person also created a Peanut The Squirrel memecoin that initially sold for a few cents. The internet jumped on it and the value of the memecoin quickly increased.

After Elon Musk tweeted about the story this week, the currency rose hundreds of percent age points.

The interview on TMZ with the couple who cared for the squirrel reached 75 million views. This weekend, Peanut was mentioned during a UFC fight and his ‘widow’ appeared on SNL as a joke.

The story made the front page of the New York Post and according to Newsweek, it is being discussed in the corridors of the Supreme Court.

In other words, don’t be surprised if this goes on for a while.

Jeroen Kok

Jeroen is one of the lead copywriters on Cryptotips.eu and discusses all recent events in the crypto market. This includes news updates, but also price analyzes and more. He developed his passion for cryptocurrency during the bull run in 2017. He has learned a lot since then. The combination of cryptocurrency and creative writing is perfect for Jeroen and an excellent way to share his knowledge with a wide audience. Find me on LinkedIn / jeroen@cryptotips.eu
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