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Solana meme token Moodeng (MOODENG) nearly doubled its price, rallying close to $0.60. MOODENG expanded following a faster-than-expected listing on Coinbase.
Moodeng turned into the new rollover token for the meme space, after going through a vertical rally. The chief reason was the quick listing from Coinbase, soon after adding the token to their roadmap. The listing suggests the meme super cycle is far from over, and the exchange has deemed this token promising enough. Coinbase has bypassed other cult assets like DogWifHat (WIF) and Popcat (POPCAT) in favor of a mass-appeal meme.
Assets added to the roadmap today: Moo Deng (MOODENG)https://t.co/rRB9d3hSr2
— Coinbase Assets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseAssets) December 2, 2024
As an immediate effect, MOODENG daily volumes reached an all-time high above $890M. The token was on track to repeat its previous price record above $0.64, with sustainably high activity. Open interest for MOODENG increased above $232M but with a shift toward short positions. In the past day, short positions expanded from 29% to 49%, as the rally is expected to stall after the initial enthusiasm.
The Coinbase listing highlights the lack of a Binance spot pair. MOODENG is only listed on the futures market. Spot pairs also mean parts of the MOODENG supply shift to exchanges, with fewer decentralized whale wallets.
While previous tokens took a while to be listed, MOODENG went on the fast track. As a result, the token broke out of its stagnation around $0.30, returning to the $0.60 range in a near-vertical rally. MOODENG was one of the few meme tokens in the green in the past 24 hours, as attention shifted to XRP and altcoins.
The Coinbase listing of Pepe (PEPE) had a similar effect, granting additional legitimacy to the token. Coinbase has onboarded a small selection of memes, including SHIB and BONK.
MOODENG struggles for $1B valuation
Despite the expansion, the market cap of MOODENG is still suck under $600M, with no easy path to growing above $1B. The meme token market is going through a series of rollovers into new tokens, as sentiment and exposure shifts. The direction of the meme market is still dependent on dog-themed tokens.
MOODENG is seen as potentially becoming a blue-chip meme, after adding Coinbase as its first major exchange. The meme has universal appeal and has been selected as part of meme portfolios. MOODENG is an expansion of the animal meme theme, which has a wider adoption potential, instead of being a cult.
The lack of a cult community also means MOODENG may go through boom and drawdown cycles, with no general drive to hold for the long term.
Wintermute increased MOODENG supply
Wintermute, emerging as a leading market-maker in 2024, increased its MOODENG supply in the past four weeks.
MOODENG is now the second-biggest holding for Wintermute, after accumulating more tokens. The market maker started with 552K tokens in October, expanding to a peak of 80M tokens. After some selling, Wintermute is still the third-largest holder of MOODENG, with 61M tokens.
The Wintermute accumulation happened ahead of the Coinbase announcements, leading to speculations of upcoming listings. Wintermute’s selection of tokens is seen as an indicator of a potential addition to exchanges.
MOODENG already spread to 54,547 holders, with more than 30% of the supply stored on exchanges. This meme token is at the bottom of the list when it comes to decentralization. According to crypto influencer Murad Mahmudov, MOODENG is the least decentralized among top memes.
The top 100 addresses hold more than 56% of the MOODENG supply. Despite the mass hype and the popularity of the meme, MOODENG shows some signs of sniping and accumulation in whale wallets. The Ethereum version of MOODENG also shows a prevalence of connected wallets, revealing a controlled supply.
The addition of Coinbase may distribute MOODENG to more retail wallets, but may not make a dent in the largest and most influential holdings.
The token relies more on centralized markets, with the potential to realize fast profits. The recent listing will further change the MOODENG trading profile, potentially increasing its activity to rival Popcat (POPCAT) or older assets.