Due to the volatility often seen in the Solana meme coin market, surviving is already particularly rare. However, The White Whale (WHITEWHALE), a token launched in late 2025 via the Pump.fun launchpad, has surpassed all expectations.
WHITEWHALE has endured a severe sell-off, accusations of a rug pull, and ongoing scrutiny from traders and analysts.
WHITEWHALE’s wild price fluctuations and the origin of the meme narrative
At this moment, WHITEWHALE is trading around $0.089. Data from CoinGecko shows a market capitalization of $89.6 million.
While the broader crypto market is declining, the White Whale token has risen 180% over the past two weeks. This shows how extreme the price fluctuations are.
The WHITEWHALE meme coin was launched in October 2025, inspired by the X (Twitter) person @TheWhiteWhaleV2, a well-known perpetuals trader who is mainly remembered for a notorious liquidation of $80 million.
The token had no roadmap, no promised utility, and no known founder: only a meme story and a fixed supply of nearly 1 billion tokens, as described in early community updates on Medium.
Because he was concerned that scammers could misuse his name and likeness, @TheWhiteWhaleV2 intervened. In December, he bought tokens, added liquidity, and helped organize a community takeover (CTO).
Pump.fun costs were returned to holders and treasury activities were made public, which is unusual in the meme-driven Solana world.
But who ultimately manages the WHITEWHALE treasury?
“I do that. That’s exactly the whole point. The token bears my name and I take ultimate responsibility. DAOs and other structures often give the illusion of democracy, but in this world it rarely exists. You trust that Jeff handles HyperLiquid well. You trust that The White Whale manages its own token well,” declared The White Whale to BeInCrypto.
Early participants were richly rewarded, with reports of traders making over $1 million from a few hundred dollars.
But that same trader, Remus on X, lost almost all that profit a week later and only managed to withdraw $220,000.
“This trader is down $1 million due to WHITEWHALE this week. Remus was up $1.5 million with WHITEWHALE. Unfortunately, he only withdrew $220K when the price dropped -80%. Now he's still up $464,000. Will Remus make up his loss? Or is it time for the next coin?” reported Arkham.
How retail revenge sent WHITEWHALE vertically
In early January 2026, momentum exploded. From a low of $0.0082 in December, the WHITEWHALE price surged nearly 930% to a brief peak of $0.20, according to CoinGecko.
Market capitalization rose above $200 million, making this one of the most successful Pump.fun launches in months, according to Messari.
Listings on exchanges such as Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin, and LBank generated volumes of up to $48 million in 24 hours.
On X, traders saw WHITEWHALE as “retail revenge,” or a response from ordinary investors against bots, snipers, and insider-driven meme launches.
Then came the collapse.
Rug or liquidity event: the inside story of WHITEWHALE’s crash on January 20
On January 20, 2026, a top holder sold about $1.3 million worth of tokens, causing the price to plummet by 60%.
Market capitalization fell from about $200 million to $20–40 million, and social media erupted with uproar and rug pull accusations.
Although headlines called the incident a rug pull, on-chain analysts with Bubblemaps discovered that the sell-off could be traced back to one large wallet, separate from Remus.
The team responded and called it a “liquidity event” rather than an exit scam, but trust had already been damaged.
“…our largest private holder sold most of their position…we did not sell but did some buybacks… What is different now is the distribution. A single large private position no longer hangs over the market. The tokens are now more spread out among multiple holders. This was not an event from the treasury. This was not a deviation from our principles. It was a liquidity event,” wrote The White Whale.
BeInCrypto asked The White Whale why this level of concentration remained, despite the project's anti-whale narrative. He replied that the project follows the core idea of crypto: permissionless finance. He emphasized that traders should be able to do what they want.
“It should be clear that I did not launch this token. If I had, I would not have used any launchpad. I don't believe that existing launchpads provide the right distribution of token supply/liquidity to protect investors against these kinds of situations. Of course, we try to talk to our larger holders, offer OTC deals to reduce market impact, etc., but people can do what they want.”
The main point: The White Whale denied that a single wallet sale caused the overall crash. According to him, this led to a panic sell-off.
Recovery driven by locks, overshadowed by control
Against expectations, the WHITEWHALE price recovered. Within a few days, the price rose daily by more than 70% and market capitalization reached $80–90 million.
The treasury locked 40 million tokens for a year. This lowers the circulating supply and shows that the team is committed to the long term. This action was publicly confirmed by community members on X.
“This significantly reduces the circulating supply, eliminates sell pressure from the treasury, and shows that there is a focus on the long term – no short-term dumps here. Serious projects do this to really build trust. It’s the kind of discipline that quickly creates a positive sentiment,” noted a user.
On-chain data via Rootsdata shows that the treasury and connected wallets own a significant portion of the supply, even above 50%.
That concentration works both ways. Supporters see it as protection against predatory dumps, while critics warn that it makes the token extra vulnerable to a new sudden crash.
The risks are clear. The WHITEWHALE token has no utility other than the story itself, and price movements of 60% or more are normal. Most traders still expect a decline, as most Solana meme coins ultimately fail. Still, The White Whale remains optimistic that the project can set good standards for future tokens.
“I think the whole idea of a meme is that it doesn’t pretend to be something else. Many projects fail precisely because they present themselves as better than they are. We are upfront about who we are and are proud of it. The main goal of the $WhiteWhale movement for me is to prove that you can make something successful with integrity. My personal goal is to set the bar so high that meme coin investors in the future will demand more transparency, good management, dedication, and integrity from all developers.”
Still, survival is important. In an ecosystem where many tokens disappear from one day to the next, WHITEWHALE distinguishes itself through recovery and a transparent approach to the treasury.
But it remains very risky: the price is predominantly driven by whales, the narrative, and momentum – not by fundamentals.
Risk Factor Details Impact Level Whale Concentration 54% in one address High – Chance of large dumps Volatility Weekly fluctuations of 60%+ Extreme – Retail loss is common Rug History January 20 “liquidity event” Medium – FUD remains, but token survived No Utility Only narrative High – Dependent on hype waves Strength of the Community Public lock-ups, redistribution Mitigating – Builds loyalty
WHITEWHALE Meme Coin Risk Analysis
Therefore, it is unlikely that the WHITEWHALE token is a scam, partly because it is traded on large exchanges. There is also real volume and an active, dedicated community. This is also reflected in the exchange documentation.
As a closing remark, BeInCrypto asked The White Whale what could happen to the token if he decides to stop.
“Ironically, if I were to be hit by a bus, it would probably be very bullish for the price action. The project bears my name and it's impossible to even think of stopping.”