Meme Coin Delivers 800% Gains
The "Punch the Monkey" meme coin rocketed from under $1 million to $40 million market cap, delivering 800%+ gains for early followers. The token's viral strength comes from its backstory about an abandoned baby monkey in a Japanese zoo that was rejected by peers and clings to a stuffed IKEA orangutan. Hosts compare its potential to Moodang, which peaked at $400-500 million market cap.
- The monkey, a Japanese macaque named Punch, was born on July 26, 2025, at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan. After being rejected by his mother, zookeepers began hand-raising him and introduced him to the IKEA orangutan stuffed toy for comfort. - The PUNCH token is a Solana-based meme coin with a fixed supply of 1 billion. The project claims to have a 0% transaction tax, with its liquidity locked and ownership renounced. - The zoo began posting about Punch online on February 5, 2026, which led to his viral fame and a significant increase in visitors. In response to the viral story, IKEA Japan donated more of the orangutan plushies to the zoo. - Tron founder Justin Sun pledged a $100,000 donation to the Ichikawa City Zoo to support Punch's care and habitat. Sun also named the monkey an official brand ambassador for the crypto exchange HTX. - While the token has seen significant gains, some on-chain analysts have raised concerns about the initial distribution of the PUNCH supply, suggesting that a large percentage is controlled by a small number of interconnected wallets. - The comparison to Moodang, a meme coin inspired by a baby pygmy hippopotamus in a Thai zoo, is based on its similar viral animal backstory. The Moodeng token reached a market capitalization of over $100 million.
