What Is MOODENG? The Baby Hippo Memecoin on Solana

What Is MOODENG?

MOODENG is a memecoin on Solana that pays tribute to a baby pygmy hippo living in a zoo in Thailand. MOODENG was launched on Pump.fun on 11 September 2024 and has a market cap of $190 million at time of writing. 

Key Takeaways

• Moo Deng is a baby pygmy hippopotamus living in Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Chonburi province, Thailand, who has gone viral on the internet. The name means ‘bouncy pig’ and reflects the baby hippo’s antics.

• With every rising meme, a memecoin follows, and traders are buying into the new trendy animal-themed meme, where MOODENG now records a market cap of over $190 million.

Images, videos, and memes of a baby pygmy hippo named Moo Deng are taking over the internet and even major news outlets over the last two weeks of September 2024. 

unbothered. moisturized. happy. in my lane. focused. flourishing#moodeng pic.twitter.com/W6IegMFO5A

— kristina🦒 (@kristinakovv) September 16, 2024

Note that for the purposes of this article, the token referenced is the MOODENG token on Solana unless otherwise stated.

Who Is Moo Deng?

Moo Deng is a Thai baby pygmy hippopotamus born in July 2024 and living in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Chonburi province, Thailand. Pygmy hippopotamus are an endangered species native to west Africa with only around 2,000 remaining in the wild. 

Moo Deng’s adorable nature, dramatic expressions, chaotic personality and relatability are resonating with a global audience, and the internet can’t get enough of her. Even major corporations like DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures, and even Windows have incorporated images of Moo Deng into some of their iconic pictures.

ctrl + alt + Moo Deng pic.twitter.com/GpB4J7Th3u

— Windows (@Windows) September 21, 2024

Even top German football team Bayern Munich posted memes with Moo Deng reactions in reference to their impressive run of wins, including an 11-goal thriller in the UEFA Champions League. 

Moo Deng’s popularity has trickled down to the zoo itself. According to reports, the number of people visiting the zoo has doubled since she went viral, and their social media following is on the rise, with their X (formerly Twitter) page now boasts over 100,000 followers at the time of writing.

With such widespread appeal, it’s hardly surprising that a MOODENG token has taken the crypto space by storm. 

What Is MOODENG and Why Is It Popular?

The MOODENG memecoin is riding the Moo Deng wave, which has been covered in media including BBC and the Today show, and the memecoin was even mentioned in The New York Times article on the baby pygmy hippopotamus. 

Gmoodeng!

This week, we’ve witnessed remarkable growth in both the token and our community here on X. A huge thank you to everyone for the fantastic memes and to @skultdao for the wonderful art. We have officially crossed:

- 40k followers on twitter
- Featured on @nytimes and… pic.twitter.com/VZZrrtR5Qf

— Moo Deng | Fan Page (@MooDengSOL) September 25, 2024

The MOODENG Solana memecoin was released through Pump.fun on September 11 2024. At time of writing it has over 18.76K holders, a market cap of over $190 million, and over $85 million in 24-hour trading volume. Thanks to its meteoric rise, traders have reportedly made crazy gains on their initial investment in the MOODENG token, with one trader turning $800 worth of MOODENG into $3.5 million (and he hasn’t sold anything yet).

TRADER TURNS $800 INTO $3.5M

The trader who purchased $800 of MOO DENG 4 hours after launch has doubled again. He is now worth $3.5M, as the Thai baby hippo continues to go viral on X.

He still hasn't sold anything yet.

Will he ever sell? https://t.co/CzTdVqmANA pic.twitter.com/zxlsXPjRId

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) September 26, 2024

There is a supply of 989.97 million MOODENG tokens, with 0 buy and sell tax. The team has also committed to donating 100% of fees generated by trading MOODENG on the Moonshot app to the Khao Kheow Open Zoo. 

However, with any popular memecoin, multiple versions tend to pop up, leaving potential investors confused about which version they should buy.

Which MOODENG Token Should I Choose?

At time of writing, there are a couple of MOODENG token options available: one on Solana and another on ETH, along with an assortment of other MOODENG tokens on other networks like Base. Both tokens reference the same animal, and while this article doesn’t specifically endorse either project, it is important for potential investors to consider certain parameters that will help them to decide which MOODENG token they wish to invest in.

Community

First, take a look at the token’s community. Generally the investor crowd gravitates towards the community with a larger presence. In the case of Moo Deng, the winner is MOODENG on Solana, where the memecoin’s X page is positioned as a fan page of the baby hippopotamus, focusing on images, videos, and memes. At time of writing, it has 47.5K followers. 

Market Cap

MOODENG on Solana is also the biggest MOODENG memecoin at time of writing, with a market cap of over $190 million. MOODENG on Ethereum has a significantly smaller market cap at $7.5 million. There are also other smaller tokens, like MOODENG on Base, and other MOODENG tokens on Solana.

With so many MOODENG tokens available, we recommend you to copy and paste the token address for your chosen asset from CoinGecko or GeckoTerminal instead of just relying on the token name. 

Final Thoughts

Memes and memecoins are a big part of the crypto space, with some notable names being DOGE and PEPE. While it’s not obvious whether MOODENG will join these ranks, the current popularity of the baby pygmy hippopotamus is definitely raising awareness for the endangered species. The zoo has started patenting and trademakring "Moo Deng the hippo" to avoid commercialization of Moo Deng by anyone else, and it remains to be seen if this will impact the memecoin. 

However, note that it is only for educational purposes and does not endorse any of the mentioned projects. Also, always do your own research on the different memecoin projects that adopt the Moo Deng branding to ensure that you are interacting with the correct asset. More than other crypto investments, memecoin trading is risky as they are prone to irregular fluctuations, so risk-management precautions are recommended and never invest more than you can afford to lose.