Binance finally decided to list the Solana-based memecoin Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) on its platform on November 11, and boy, did they piss several people off—right when things went crazy.

PNUT's price went off the roofs, surging over 280% in just 24 hours. To put into perspective, we're talking about a jump from around $0.40 to over $1.60. That's the kind of growth that makes investors' eyes pop out of their heads. 

But it didn't stop there. Over the course of a week, PNUT saw gains of nearly 1,300% as per data from Lookonchain.

This massive price surge sent PNUT's market cap through the roof. Before the Binance listing, it was sitting at a modest $128 million. But within 48 hours of hitting Binance, it blasted past the $1 billion mark, eventually reaching a whopping $1.3 billion. That's billion with a B, folks.

So what's the deal with PNUT anyway? Well, it's got a pretty interesting backstory. The token was created after a tragic real-world event involving a pet squirrel named Peanut went viral on social media. 

Peanut was sadly euthanized by New York City's Department of Environmental Conservation, which sparked outrage among animal lovers and even caught the attention of big names like Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

The emotional connection to Peanut's story and the viral nature of the event helped fuel PNUT's popularity. It's a classic case of a memecoin capitalizing on current events and internet culture. And trust it to pay off for some early traders.

But PNUT wasn’t the only Solana-based memecoin listed by Binance. They also listed another token called The AI Prophecy (ACT) which saw similar explosive growth. ACT's market cap shot up from $20 million to over $650 million after hitting Binance. That's some serious gains right there.

Now, you might be thinking, "This all sounds too good to be true." And you wouldn't be wrong to be skeptical. While some traders are laughing all the way to the bank, others are raising eyebrows at Binance's recent string of memecoin listings.

Critics are accusing Binance of enabling pump-and-dump schemes that benefit a select few traders at the expense of regular retail investors. They're pointing out that Binance has listed a whopping 15 memecoin projects this year alone, with about 80% of them seeing significant market value growth after listing.

The rapid price increases and the fact that many of these tokens had relatively low market caps before listing have sparked some serious debate in the crypto community. Some are calling for more transparency from Binance about their listing criteria and fees.

Leonidas, co-founder of a popular Bitcoin Ordinals explorer, even started a petition demanding stricter criteria for memecoin listings on Binance. He argues that the current approach is amplifying market volatility and disproportionately impacting retail investors who might not fully understand the risks involved.

Binance, for its part, is trying to address some of these concerns. They've slapped a "Seed Tag" on tokens like PNUT and ACT, indicating that they're high-risk, innovative projects. 

They're also making traders complete a risk awareness quiz every 90 days if they want to trade these tokens. It's like a "Are you sure you know what you're getting into?" pop quiz.

Elon-Backed Memecoin PNUT Reached $150 Million Cap on Tragic Story | HODL FM
From a tragic tale to a $150M market cap—how Elon Musk’s post turned PNUT, the Squirrel meme coin, into a crypto sensation.
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