In short
- Two American men were arrested for their actions in breaking into the sanctuary of the virus monkey, Punch.
- One man allegedly walked up to the room wearing a Solana meme fundraiser, while the other allegedly filmed it.
- The meme’s revenue jumped 38% on the back of the stunt, which garnered millions of views on social media.
Two American men have been arrested for their part in disturbing the monkey macaque Punch by entering a zoo in Japan – all in order to raise money for the meme, according to a report by New York Times.
Video and photo evidence from the incident shows what is believed to be 24-year-old Reid Jahnai Daysun climbing atop a fence wearing a clothing that promotes Solana– fixed meme coin, Memecoin Bus (MEMECOIN). It is alleged that 27-year-old Neal Jabahri Duan filmed the encounter, although both men have denied the charges, according to reports.
“Last night, we reported the damage to the Ichikawa Police Station,” the Ichikawa Zoo wrote at X after the event. “From tomorrow onwards, the safety and health of animals is our top priority, and we will continue to fight against any violations of the law.”
The zoo, located on the outskirts of Japan’s capital Tokyo, said it was considering a ban on filming, and was in the process of adding anti-trespass nets and constant patrols in restricted areas.
No animals were harmed and none showed any abnormalities after the intervention, the Zoo said.
Although it has heavily promoted the event on its X page, the Just a Memecoin social media account he reminded his team to search for the bug “respect local laws and do not put yourself, others, or any animals in danger.”
“The power of the wild is part of culture, but protection always comes,” it added, while making a donation of 1 million Japanese yen (~$6,300) to the zoo.
The traditional viral videos, one of X which has it got over 5.7 million viewshave helped the token jump around 35% in the past seven days of trading, according to CoinGecko, currently trading at about $0.0118, or about $11.9 million market.
The success of the brand is limited by the rise of one based on Punch, the monkey who became famous for his association with a stuffed animal at Ikea while others were separated from his enclosure.
At the peak of its virality, the Solana meme coin (PUNCH) jumped to a market cap of over $43 million. The same token is almost flat in the last 24 hours, but the transaction is now hovering around the market cap of $2.35 million.
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