The memecoin Moo Deng, which had almost faded into obscurity, suddenly re-emerged out of nowhere. Its price skyrocketed within minutes, only to crash almost as hard. What caused this bizarre movement?
Moo Deng Surges 173 Percent and Then Crashes #
Yesterday, Moo Deng surged by as much as 173 percent in just a few minutes. The rally began yesterday evening, just before ten o’clock. However, after nine minutes, the price started to fall, with the cryptocurrency giving back most of its gains. At the time of writing, Moo Deng is valued at $0.1022, still more than 40 percent higher than yesterday.
Moo Deng is a so-called memecoin. These are cryptocurrencies without inherent value, typically based on an internet sensation or a well-known personality. In this case, the coin is based on the famous Thai baby hippo, whose videos went viral about a year ago.
The massive surge has also caught the attention of Dutch traders. With a trading volume of over €9.2 million today, Moo Deng ranks second on the Dutch cryptocurrency exchange Bitvavo.
Price Manipulation Behind the Massive Surge? #
The crypto community is reacting massively to Moo Deng’s unusual price movements. Not only had the coin been in a downtrend for months, but the fact that the price crashed immediately after the sudden spike raises questions. Crypto expert Sweep shares on X that it’s a clever manipulation tactic and that it’s not the first time this has happened. According to Sweep, the cryptocurrencies Popcat and Jelly-my-Jelly have also recently surged and then crashed. The expert states that there was a fake increase in open interest (OI) on decentralized crypto exchanges. OI is the total value of outstanding positions through which traders speculate on price movements. Rising OI is a signal of market interest and suggests that demand is high. However, according to Sweep, this was artificially increased, causing other traders to jump in en masse. The users behind the manipulation then immediately sold their holdings when the price rose.