Due to the frequent volatility in the meme coin market of Solana, survival is rare. However, The White Whale (WHITEWHALE), a token born from the Pump.fun launchpad in late 2025, has managed to overcome and conquer those obstacles.
WHITEWHALE has faced severe sell-offs, encountered accusations of rug pulls, and is under continuous scrutiny from both traders and analysts without respite.
Price volatility of WHITEWHALE and the beginning of the memecoin story.
As of this writing, WHITEWHALE is trading at USD 0.089, with data from CoinGecko indicating a market cap of USD 89.6 million.
Even though the overall crypto market is in a downtrend, the White Whale token has seen a growth rate of up to 180% in the past two weeks, reflecting extreme price volatility.
The WHITEWHALE memecoin launched in October 2025, inspired by X (Twitter) user @TheWhiteWhaleV2, a well-known perpetual trader, recognized for liquidating up to 80 million USD.
This token has no development plan, no promises of utility, and no clear founders, only a meme content and a predetermined supply of nearly 1 billion tokens, as the community previously discussed in early posts on Medium.
Due to concerns that scams using his reputation could affect the image, @TheWhiteWhaleV2 became involved. In December, he purchased tokens, added liquidity, and helped coordinate a community takeover (CTO).
Fees from Pump.fun were returned to token holders, and treasury operations were made public, which is considered unusual in Solana's memecoin industry.
But ultimately, who controls the WHITEWHALE treasury currently?
I am managing it myself; that is the key issue. This token carries my name, so I must take ultimate responsibility. DAOs and other structures often make this space seem democratic, even though it is hardly the case. Everyone trusts Jeff to manage HyperLiquid well. Everyone trusts The White Whale to uphold its reputation appropriately, The White Whale told BeInCrypto.
Early participants received handsome returns, with reports citing cases where traders turned a few hundred USD into over 1 million USD.
However, the same trader named Remus on X lost almost everything after withdrawing only 220,000 USD within a week.
This trader lost 1 million USD with WHITEWHALE last week. Remus had previously profited up to 1.5 million USD with WHITEWHALE, but he could only withdraw 220,000 USD before the price plummeted 80%. Now he is left with only 464,000 USD in profit. Will Remus be able to profit again, or should he move on to other coins? Arkham reports.
Retail revenge drives WHITEWHALE to surge.
Buying pressure surged dramatically in early January 2026 from a low of 0.0082 USD in December, with WHITEWHALE's price skyrocketing nearly 930% to briefly test the 0.20 USD level, according to CoinGecko.
Its market cap exceeded 200 million USD, making it one of the most successful memecoins launched on Pump.fun in recent months, according to Messari.
Listing on multiple exchanges, including Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin, and LBank, has increased trading volume to 48 million USD within 24 hours.
On X, traders define WHITEWHALE as retail investors' revenge against bots and market makers pulling the strings of memecoins from behind the scenes.
Next came the period when the price crashed.
Rug pull or liquidity event? A deep dive into the WHITEWHALE crisis on January 20.
On January 20, 2026, a major investor sold coins worth approximately 1.3 million USD, causing the price to drop rapidly by 60%.
Market valuation has dropped from around 200 million USD to only 20–40 million USD, triggering social media waves accusing rug pulls.
Although many media outlets reported this event as a rug pull, on-chain analysts using Bubblemaps traced the source of the sell-off to a single large wallet, separate from Remus.
The team has countered, stating it is a 'liquidity event' rather than an exit scam, but confidence has already been shaken.
...our largest private holder has already sold off the majority of their position... we did not participate in the sale, even though we did buy back some... What has changed is the distribution. Now there is no single major investor dominating the market. Supply has been distributed to a wider group of holders. This event was not caused by the treasury, and it is not a deviation from the principles we uphold. It is a real liquidity event, The White Whale stated.
BeInCrypto asked The White Whale why there is still a concentration of holding at this level, despite the project focusing on anti-whale principles. He responded that the project adheres to the core principles of crypto, which is unrestricted finance. He emphasized that traders should be able to do what they want.
It should be emphasized that I am not the one launching this token. If that were the case, I would not use a launchpad because I do not believe any launchpad has the supply/liquidity structure that truly protects investors from events like this. As a group, we try to communicate with all remaining major holders, offering OTC deals to mitigate market impact, etc. But everyone has the right to do what they want.
Most importantly, The White Whale has denied allegations that sales from a single wallet were the main cause of the price collapse, explaining that it led to a panic sell-off instead.
The recovery driven by locking has been overshadowed by control.
Contrary to expectations, the price of WHITEWHALE rebounded strongly. Within a few days, the price surged over 70% daily and returned to a market cap of 80–90 million USD again.
The token treasury has locked 40 million tokens for a year, reducing supply in the market and signaling long-term intentions, as confirmed by key figures in the community through X.
This clearly reduces the circulating supply, cutting selling pressure from the treasury and demonstrating long-term commitment. No short-term dumping. A trustworthy project would do this to establish true trust. This is discipline that quickly stimulates good feelings, as one user stated.
According to on-chain data referenced by Rootsdata, the token treasury and associated wallets hold over 50% of the supply.
This concentration has a double-edged effect, as supporters view it as a protection against dumping by malicious actors, while critics warn it may make the token vulnerable to sudden collapse again.
No one can deny the risks, as the WHITEWHALE token has no utility function other than the narrative. Moreover, its price often fluctuates over 60%. Most traders expect prices to drop because most memecoins in the Solana network fail in the end. However, White Whale itself still hopes that this project's block will help set a good standard for new tokens in the future.
I believe the importance of a meme is that it does not try to pretend to be something it is not. Many projects fail because they try to pretend to be bigger than they are, but we draw strength from what we have and take pride in who we are. Thus, the core principle of the WhiteWhale movement is to prove that anything can succeed alongside integrity, with my personal goal being to set such a high standard that every investor in meme coins starts demanding transparency, management, dedication, and integrity from all developers.
However, survival is crucial because, in a world where most tokens disappear overnight, the ability of WHITEWHALE to recover, along with the transparency of its treasury, stands out from other tokens.
But at the same time, it also carries a very high risk because it is driven by whales, narratives, and ripples instead of strong fundamental factors.
Risk factors detail the concentration of whale holdings at 54% in one address - susceptible to massive sell-offs, price volatility swinging over 60%+ weekly - retail investors often suffer, history of rug events, liquidity events moderate on January 20 - even with FUD, survival persists, no utility function relies solely on the narrative high - relies only on the hype cycle, community strength locked coins - new transparent distribution mitigates - engenders loyalty.
Risk analysis of WHITEWHALE Meme Coin
Thus, the WHITEWHALE coin may not be a scam, with opinions aligning on this approach, as it is traded on major exchanges. It also has genuine trading volumes and maintains a vibrant and committed community, as stated in the exchange's supporting documents.
In the end, BeInCrypto asked The White Whale what would happen to this coin if he decided to withdraw.
Just a little humor, but if I were to have an accident, the price might soar significantly. This project bears my name, and it would be nearly impossible to think about withdrawing from this project.