PNUT (Peanut the Squirrel) is a Solana meme coin launched in late October 2024, inspired by the story of Peanut — a pet squirrel in New York that had been raised from infancy by his owner Mark Longo after being found as an orphaned baby. Peanut had developed an online following through social media posts and YouTube videos. In October 2024, New York state wildlife authorities seized Peanut and euthanized him, citing public health concerns.
The viral moment
Peanut's death generated enormous online outrage. The story spread rapidly on X/Twitter, with millions expressing anger at the perceived heavy-handedness of the authorities' action. The emotional intensity of the story — a beloved pet with an established online following, euthanized by government officials — was precisely the kind of real-world emotional event that translates into meme coin demand.
Token performance
PNUT launched within days of the story going viral and captured the narrative energy immediately. The coin reached a market cap of over $1 billion within its first month, one of the fastest ascents in pump.fun token history. It was subsequently listed on Binance, bringing it to a broader audience and further amplifying returns for early holders.
Significance
PNUT became a landmark example of the "viral animal" meme coin category — tokens whose price is driven by a real-world animal story that generates online outrage or affection. The success of PNUT demonstrated that the meme coin market had matured to the point of responding to mainstream news events with remarkable speed and scale.