The MOODENG meme coin, inspired by the viral pygmy hippo Moo Deng, has seen a 6.5% rise over the past day following news of a man fined $300 for illegally entering the animal’s enclosure.
A local Thai court found the intruder guilty in March after he was captured on video breaching security at Khao Kheow Open Zoo when staff were absent from Moo Deng’s area. The footage showed him leaping over a fence while holding what seemed to be an iPad, approaching Moo Deng for filming purposes.
This incident prompted increased zoo security measures, as stated by Director Narongwit Chodchoy in comments to AFP. “We’ve learned from this lesson and will ensure it doesn’t happen again—not just to Moo Deng but all our animals,” he remarked. Although the hippo was unharmed, it was reportedly slightly startled.
The pygmy hippo became a social media sensation in early 2024 due to its playful nature. Around that time, a meme coin celebrating Moo Deng was launched via Pump.fun and quickly gained attention. In November of that year, MOODENG reached an all-time high price near $0.68, with a market cap around $680 million. Despite this peak being fleeting, it secured listings on major exchanges like Coinbase by December, boosting its value by 80%.
However, the token has since entered a downward trend, trading recently at about $0.048 and a market cap near $48 million—a drop of nearly 93% from its peak. Media exposure often revives interest in meme coins, which lack intrinsic utility but are based on cultural phenomena. For instance, MOODENG’s price increased by approximately 33% when the zoo announced Moo Deng’s birthday celebration plans last July.
The latest surge coincides with improved macroeconomic conditions, following a conditional ceasefire announcement in Iran that avoided potential U.S.-hinted military actions. This development spurred growth across crypto assets, with Bitcoin and Ethereum rising 4.2% and 6.3%, respectively, over the past day. Despite this, meme coins have underperformed major cryptocurrencies, seeing just a 3.6% increase in the last 24 hours according to CoinGecko.