Binance Lists Viral Memecoins Simon’s Cat (CAT) and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)

Global exchange giant, Binance, has announced the listing of two viral memecoins, Simon's Cat (CAT), and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU).

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the listing of two popular memecoins: Simon’s Cat (CAT) and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU).

The announcement is likely to be met with enthusiasm by memecoin enthusiasts, as listings on major exchanges such as Binance often lead to a surge in price due to the exposure to a large global audience.

The listings of CAT and PENGU will take place on the same day, December 17. According to an official blog post by Binance, CAT will be available to trade at 09:00 UTC, while PENGU will be listed at 14:00 UTC.

The listings come at a time when the entire cryptocurrency market is experiencing a significant rally.

In addition to the potential price impact that Binance’s publicity brings, the memecoins are also likely to benefit from the positive sentiment surrounding the market.

In fact, CAT has already enjoyed a price boost following Binance’s announcement. Its price moved up by 60% to reach a new all-time high of $0.00006811, with a live market cap of $439 million.

At the time of its market debut on Binance, PENGU’s initial circulating supply will be 62,415,951,646 (around 70.2% of its total supply of 88,888,888,888), which includes the HODLer airdrop token rewards.

Earlier this month, Pudgy Penguins announced the introduction of its native token, PENGU, without specifying a launch date. The announcement was made to gather attention from investors, building anticipation for its eventual release.

As per Binance’s announcement, CAT and PENGU will be tradable against USDT, BNB, FDUSD, and TRY with the seed tag applied.

For context, a seed tag is a disclaimer put by Binance on new tokens that are not yet established. It is simply a warning of high volatility and risks associated with the token compared to other fully established ones.

CAT has a maximum supply of 9 trillion tokens and a circulating supply of 7.89 trillion.

Meanwhile, members of the crypto community have raised concerns about Binance’s alleged price manipulation tactic associated with token listings.

Recently, the exchange introduced the Magic Eden (ME) token, which gained significant traction only to be met with a massive sell-off after launch. At debut, the ME token traded at $17 but crashed by over 70% afterward.

A prominent member of the crypto community, Tracer, alleged that Binance is pumping the already-established CAT token with its listing because it is “profitable for the exchange. Moreover, he suggests that the trend signifies a growing interest in the “top-1 exchange” in listing memecoins.

Another community member, Leonidas, questioned the rationale behind Binance memecoin listings. He outlined an alleged strategy by the exchange which includes buying low cap memecoins like NEIRO and ACT, listing them so that the price would pump over 50%, and then dumping them on the market, sending its price crashing hard.

He highlighted the frustration experienced by global Binance users who rush into a project because of its presence on the app, only to lose significantly because of the steep decline that follows.

Is this @binance’s new business strategy in the post-CZ era?

1. Buy up low cap memecoins like $NEIRO ($15M) and $ACT ($20M)

2. List them so they 50x

3. Dump on their own users

People deserve to know what is going on inside the largest crypto institution @_RichardTeng

In a previous post on X, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao criticized memecoins, calling them “weird” while calling for support of “real blockchain applications.”

His comment attracted critics referring to him and his exchange as hypocrites since they apparently do not practice what they preach.

Notably, about 80% of the memecoins listed by Binance in 2024 have seen similar price movements, rising and dropping significantly after listing. Community members have likened the situation to a typical pump-and-dump scheme.