On March 16th, Binance, the world-renowned cryptocurrency exchange, made headlines with its announcement of listing the meme coin BOME, which had entered the market just two days prior. The decision was attributed to the asset's impressive market capitalization and trading volume. However, the announcement quickly sparked insider trading accusations within the community, as many pre-sale participants recorded significant profits immediately after the listing. In a swift response to these allegations, Binance vehemently denied any insider trading activities associated with the surprise listing of the meme coin BOOK OF MEME (BOME) and announced a reward of up to $5 million for evidence proving otherwise.
"Our preliminary investigation results indicate that individuals mentioned in community member publications have no connection to Binance," the company stated, highlighting its commitment to transparency and fair trading practices. Furthermore, Binance has put forth a reward ranging from $100,000 to $5 million for information on this or other incidents of insider trading or legal violations, showcasing its dedication to maintaining a clean trading environment.
The unexpected listing of BOME, a new meme coin based on the Solana blockchain, on March 14, 2024, stirred significant discussions in the cryptocurrency community. Prominent entrepreneur and crypto expert Ben Todar directly sought clarification from the platform's support team, which cited the project's current metrics, including a market capitalization that soared to $1 billion on March 16, 2024, just before the listing.
The news of the listing propelled BOME's price by over 3000% - from $0.0008 to $0.028 at its peak, allowing early investors to reap substantial profits. For instance, one pre-sale participant sold tokens for 34,647 SOL (almost $7 million) on the day of BOME's listing on Binance, having invested just 102 SOL ($20,600 at the time of writing). The largest pre-sale BOME holder, known as sundayfunday.sol, invested 420 SOL ($84,840), with journalist Colin Wu reporting his unrealized profit reaching 183,860 SOL ($37.13 million) on the listing day. By the night of March 17, 2024, sundayfunday.sol had sold a portion of his holdings, securing profits while still holding 1.24 billion BOME.
Interestingly, the asset gained significant support on X (formerly Twitter), with some experts predicting a new wave of meme coins. As of the time of writing, BOME is trading at around $0.015, experiencing a more than 20% drop in the last 24 hours. As of March 18, 2024, its market capitalization has decreased to $870.5 million, according to CoinMarketCap, with trading volume down 60% from March 17, with 39.7% of the trades occurring on Binance.
This coverage follows our previous report on the Dogwifhat (WIF) meme coin, which surged 30% following a post by Elon Musk, highlighting the volatile and intriguing nature of meme coins in the cryptocurrency market.
