Luigi Inu, a memecoin inspired by Luigi Mangione, has hit a new all-time high by market capitalization, reaching $60 million. This market movement is in conjunction with the Pennsylvania police taking Mangione in custody for the murder.
The Luigi Inu (LUIGI) token first started gaining traction following Mangione’s arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania and charged on Dec 9. The token’s market cap reached $29 million before it rocketed higher to $60 million, after the arrest was confirmed. Originally launched by anonymous crypto traders, the token is trending on Raydium, the automated market maker built on Solana.
Price chart of LUIGI/SOL showing recent trading activity, with fluctuations leading to a current price of 0.0003198
The connection between Mangione and the memecoin lies in the fact that his arrest and the subsequent media attention have significantly boosted the token’s popularity and value.
Who is Luigi Mangione?
According to police, Luigi Mangione, is connected to the “premeditated and pre-planned attack” killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in Manhattan. Surveillance footage also captured Luigi Mangione exiting the vicinity shortly after the gunfire erupted. Mangione also published a manifesto about disparaging things about corporate America, which added fuel to the virality of the memecoin.
The problem with hype-based memecoins
I am not against memes, but meme coins are getting “a little” weird now.
Let’s build real applications using blockchain.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) November 26, 2024
Tweet from CZ, Binance’s CEO
In the wake of recent market activity, numerous new-cycle memecoins have disappointed with their inability to break all-time highs, leaving many to question the “memecoin supercycle” a phrase championed by Murad Mahmudov at September’s Token2049 conference. As meme tokens inspired by hysteria potentially cross the line between tragedy and speculation, experts caution that there are dangers in playing with such whiff-of-miracle assets.
These tokens, like LUIGI, exploit the fear of missing out using viral narratives about wealth, which become appealing much like sports betting, believes Alex Beene. However, they lack the fundamental value and stability of traditional assets, making them highly volatile and risky investments.
i feel like there a better narrative here and eventually, people will start to rotate into $BRIAN and stop supporting a murderer. but then again maybe I have too much faith in CT.
— BaketheSnake 🪖 (@BaketheS77946) December 10, 2024
Screenshot of a crypto tracking platform showing data for the token ‘BRIAN’ with the tagline ‘Justice for Brian Thompson.’ The data highlights a market cap down by 25.23% at $68K, a 24-hour trading volume of $691K, and liquidity of $33K.
Many netizens are trading the LUIGI token, with some actively supporting the alleged idea of anti-establishment, which Mangione is said to envision. However, many within the crypto community also condemn the incident and seek justice for the victim. A new token called $BRIAN has also surfaced, which aims to bring justice to Brian Thompson.
