A crypto trader successfully increased their initial investment of 1Ethereum (ETH), valued at approximately $2,455, to nearly half a million dollars on Thursday. This was achieved through trading the rapidly rising ASTEROID meme coin on the Ethereum network.
In just 24 hours, ASTEROID’s market cap soared by over 71,000%, escalating from under $100,000 to close to $19 million at the time of reporting, according to DEXScreener data. The meme coin, featuring a Shiba Inu mascot named Asteroid, saw its value explode following a social media post by media figure Glenn Beck on Friday morning. The post, which was later responded to by Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, highlighted the story of Liv Perrotto, a teenage girl who had posed questions for Musk but passed away from cancer in January without receiving answers. Her last question involved whether Asteroid, her Shiba Inu creation intended as a zero-g indicator for SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission in 2024, could become associated with SpaceX.
Musk replied to Beck’s post around 11:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, saying he would address the questions shortly. His response has since amassed over 1.3 million views on X. Eight minutes later, an Ethereum wallet ending in “EF99af” purchased ASTEROID tokens using 1 ETH, first launched 19 months ago on Ethereum. This transaction secured more than 10 billion ASTEROID tokens for the buyer.
The renewed attention surrounding Perrotto and Asteroid, sparked by Musk’s reply, led to a significant increase in the meme coin’s value, boosting the trader’s portfolio to nearly $500,000.
Arkham reported on Twitter that while the first ASTEROID purchaser made only $1,300 from selling their tokens at roughly twice the purchase price, another trader identified as 0x680 exchanged 1 ETH for ASTEROID after Musk’s tweet and held onto them, resulting in gains of about $474,320.
At this time, “EF99af” is listed as the top trader on DEXScreener’s leaderboard, having secured over $242,000 in profits through sales while retaining approximately $180,000 worth of ASTEROID tokens. Two other traders, identified as “6E5Eae” and “9dE8db,” each acquired less than $10,000 worth of ASTEROID tokens but have similarly realized gains exceeding $150,000.
Over the past 24 hours, ASTEROID has seen trading volumes surpass $43 million, making it the second most actively traded meme coin across blockchains according to DEXScreener. An ASTEROID variant on Solana is close behind, with trading volumes reaching around $37 million in the same period.