Propose an edit: PONKE

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Title Category One sentence summary Infobox, one "key: value" per line Article body, markdown, use [[wiki links]] and end with a ## References section

PONKE is a monkey themed [[meme coin]] on [[Solana]], launched on December 23, 2023. Its mascot is a scowling yellow monkey characterized by the project as a degenerate gambler with anger issues, a deliberate self portrait of the average trench trader. Marketing that leaned into rage, losses, and compulsive trading made PONKE one of the most recognizable brands of the first Solana meme wave.

## Origin

PONKE launched in the final stretch of 2023, days after the first wave coins ([[bonk]], [[dogwifhat]], [[Silly Dragon]]) had established Solana as the meme chain of the cycle. Where most mascots of the period were cute or absurd, PONKE's creators built an anti hero: the monkey who aped everything, lost, and raged, described in exchange coverage as a self aware caricature of [[degen]] culture. The coin positioned itself as "the Pepe of Solana" and grew through aggressive community content, merchandising of the mascot's tantrums, and consistent presence across crypto Twitter through 2024.

## Market history

PONKE rose with the early 2024 meme run, and coverage from March 2024 recorded an all time high market value around 95 million dollars during that first surge. Unusually for its cohort, the coin's largest peak came later: crypto.news reported PONKE growing to more than 300 million dollars in market capitalization in the November 2024 post election melt up, when it ranked around tenth among all meme coins, aided by listings on major centralized exchanges. CoinGecko records the all time high price of about 0.84 dollars on November 18, 2024, which against the 555 million token supply implies a peak value as high as about 465 million dollars, depending on the circulating count used. The token then declined through 2025 with the broader meme complex. By June 2026 it traded near 0.03 dollars with a market capitalization around 18 million dollars, and CoinGecko showed about 8 million dollars by August 2026, down heavily from the peak but still among the larger survivors of its generation.

## Cultural impact

PONKE's contribution to trench culture is tonal. The angry monkey gave the ecosystem a mascot for losing, a character whose whole identity was tilted gambling, and holders adopted its rage imagery as a badge of honor in a way that prefigured later self deprecating coins such as [[useless coin]]. Its endurance also matters: launched before [[pump.fun]] existed, PONKE outlived hundreds of coins with larger peaks, and its late 2024 high, nearly a year after launch, is cited in [[the trenches]] as evidence that a strong brand can catch a second narrative wave rather than dying with its first. The coin remains a reference point in discussions of which first wave Solana memes built real communities versus which merely caught rotation.

## References

- https://crypto.news/how-solana-meme-coin-reached-a-300m-market-cap/
- https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/5602193099842
- https://bitcoinworld.co.in/ponke-breakout-star-on-solana-emerges-as-more-than-a-meme-coin/
- https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ponke
- https://changelly.com/blog/best-solana-memecoins-to-buy/

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