The P'Nut Story 🐿️
Ever wondered how a pet squirrel could shake up an election and create a billion-dollar crypto movement? Welcome to 2024, where memecoins are America's new form of social protest.
Hello, y'all. In this week’s explainer we talk about a squirrel turned America's political outrage into a billion-dollar movement ... happy Sunday 🍻
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"You wanna 'red pill' America? Raid their homes and murder their pets." — Greg Gutfeld
When Elon Musk recently named his efficiency taskforce "D.O.G.E," it wasn't just clever wordplay.
It was the latest example of how memecoins have evolved from fun-turned-coins into powerful tools for social and political expression.
And right there we knew memecoins weren't just memes and fast money anymore.
But if you want to understand just how deeply memecoins have become intertwined with American cultural consciousness, look no further than the strange saga of P'Nut the squirrel.
The Martyr and the Memecoin
It started innocuously enough.
A muscular OnlyFans model, his pet squirrel, and their 720,000 Instagram followers living their best life in upstate New York.
Mark Longo had rescued P'Nut seven years ago after witnessing the squirrel's mother get hit by a car. Their wholesome content — often featuring a shirtless Longo and his tiny companion — had become a social media sensation.
The little squirrel P'Nut was known for his tiny hats and charming videos.
Then came the government raid.
On October 30, 2024, New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officers stormed Longo's animal sanctuary, treating him "like a terrorist" during a five-hour search.
They seized his beloved P'Nut and a raccoon named Fred. Within 24 hours, both animals were euthanized – allegedly for rabies testing.
The charge? Being an illegal pet.
The sentence? Death.
The timing couldn't have been more explosive: just days before a presidential election, in a country already debating the limits of government power.
What happened next explains everything about America in 2024: The story went viral, became intensely political, and naturally, spawned a billion-dollar cryptocurrency.
The PNUT token, launched on Solana in the aftermath of the incident, wasn't just another memecoin.
It became a digital protest vote, surging to a $2 billion market cap. Each transaction, its creators claimed, would support animal rescue initiatives and wildlife protection.
But here's where it gets interesting. Unlike most memecoins that rely on hype and jokes, PNUT tapped into genuine outrage.
The token's smart contract included automatic donations to animal welfare organisations, turning every trade into a form of digital activism.
The Politics of Pets
How does a dead squirrel become a Republican rallying cry?
The same way DOGE became a symbol of anti-establishment sentiment – by tapping into something deeper than money.
JD Vance told a North Carolina crowd that Trump was "fired up" about the incident, asking, "Is it really the case that the Democrats murdered the Elon Musk of squirrels?"
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch referenced P'Nut in a speech about government overreach at the Federalist Society's annual dinner.
The story had legs — and a tail.
But this wasn't just about right-wing politics. The outrage crossed party lines, uniting animal lovers, libertarians, and crypto natives in a way that few issues can.
The PNUT token became their digital megaphone.
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DEC official statement
"On October 30, DEC seized a raccoon and squirrel sharing a residence with humans, creating the potential for human exposure to rabies. In addition, a person involved with the investigation was bitten by the squirrel. To test for rabies, both animals were euthanized."
How everyone reacted?
Mark Longo to NY Post
"They treated me like I was a terrorist. They treated this raid as if I was a drug dealer" … "To the group of people who called DEC, there's a special place in hell for you"
JD Vance
"Have you seen the videos of this squirrel? He's, like, a genius. Or he was"
Elon Musk? Created AI-generated memes of Peanut, including "a phalanx of Peanuts ready for war" and "Peanut as a Jedi chipmunk"
Right-wing media/personalities
Framed the story as government overreach
Used it as a political rallying point
Connected Peanut's death to potential Republican victory
Critics
Pointed out the irony of conservatives showing more empathy for a squirrel than for immigrant families or police brutality victims
Public response
Over $180,000 raised for Longo's animal sanctuary
Social media frenzy, particularly in right-wing spaces
Story gained "particular purchase in right-wing spaces"
The Anatomy of a Movement
Then came the results for rabies… And it was negative.
P’Nut died for nothing? not really.
It only fuelled the fire. Internal communications revealed that P'Nut's fate had been sealed from the start — the DEC had planned to euthanise him regardless of circumstances.
“It’s no real big shocker to me, considering I lived with Peanut for seven-and-a-half years and Fred for five months. I’m not foaming at the mouth,” Longo said. “I knew the test results were going to be negative.”
The crypto market responded with characteristic volatility.
PNUT's price chart tells the story
Initial surge to $2.27 on launch day
Over $5.7 billion in trading volume within the first week
Sustained support at $1.64 even after the initial hype died down
More than 19,000 unique holders in the first 48 hours
How’s it going now?
Market Cap: $1.64 billion
24h Volume: $1.73 billion
Total Supply: 999,858,912 tokens
Peak Price: $2.50
Trading Volume: Over $5.7 billion in a week
But these aren't just numbers. They're votes.
Most memecoins follow a pattern
Launch with hype
Pump on social media
Dump when whales exit
But $PNUT? It's different.
This isn't about dog pictures or frog memes.
It's about something Americans hold sacred: Freedom from government overreach.
When Trump said this, it was the ultimate meme meterial for a long time (right fully so):
"In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there.”
And then P’Nut happened…
Former State Department Official Mike Benz tweeted:
"Are we gonna win this election because of this f'ing squirrel?"
Turns out, maybe they did.
He was onto something. The story's viral spread followed a familiar pattern:
Initial outrage from animal lovers.
Conservative media amplification.
Musk comparing it to John Wick's puppy ("... then they kill his dog, that was a BAD idea")
Trump won, and PNUT deserves a little bit of credit too? We’d say yes.
Consider these parallel developments
Trump's campaign promising to "Americanize" Bitcoin
Musk's D.O.G.E department targeting bureaucratic bloat
PNUT's success inspiring a wave of "cause coins"
Traditional advocacy groups exploring token launches
We're witnessing the emergence of what some are calling "protest coins" — cryptocurrencies that combine social movements with financial speculation.
Jorgie the monkey, Cheyyene the horse and Ruby the Goat.
When Longo's supporters couldn't save P'Nut, they did the next best thing: they made him immortal on the blockchain.
Token Dispatch View
What makes these social expression coins particularly powerful is their ability to create instant communities.
Within hours of PNUT's launch, Telegram groups, Discord servers, and Twitter spaces were filled with thousands of people who'd never met but shared a common cause.
This isn't the first time crypto has channeled social discontent.
Remember how DOGE became the people's coin?
Read: Why Dogecoin Refuses To Die 🐕
Or how SHIB built an entire community around the idea of the underdog?
But PNUT represents something new: A memecoin born not from a joke, but from genuine anger at institutional overreach. Its price chart reads like a protest poll, each pump a vote against bureaucracy.
In 2024, memecoins have become America's new bumper stickers, a way to financially back your beliefs. When Truth Terminal, an AI bot, can make millions from promoting GOAT tokens, and a dead squirrel can inspire a billion-dollar market cap, we're clearly living in a new era of digital activism.
The Future of Protest Coins As Musk's D.O.G.E department suggests, the line between memecoins and mainstream acceptance is blurring.
These aren't just tokens anymore – they're becoming vehicles for social movements, political statements, and cultural commentary.
Read: The Goatse Singularity 🐐
P'Nut's story – from Instagram star to martyred mascot to crypto phenomenon – perfectly encapsulates this evolution.
In death, a squirrel became a symbol. In crypto, that symbol found its voice.
The question isn't whether more protest coins will emerge – they will.
The question is whether we're ready for a world where every social movement comes with its own token, where political dissent is measured in market caps, and where memes aren't just jokes – they're weapons of mass disruption.
After all, if a squirrel can spark a billion-dollar token, imagine what the next cultural flashpoint might do.
Week That Was 📆
Saturday: Why Dogecoin Refuses To Die 🐕
Friday: Gensler On His Way Out? 🚦
Thursday: Tax Planning? Dial Crypto 🤙🏽
Wednesday: The DOGE Rises 🐶
Monday: Alt Season Incoming? 🎭
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Their breakdown of Goatseus is God-tier analysis. Made me big figures following their DOVs (Depth of View) section. Not financial advice but... ykyk 😉
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