Why are risky tokens rallying: LUNA, JELLYJELLY, memes defy market downturn

Risky tokens from meme and AI projects are making a comeback despite the market downturn, reviving old tickers like LUNA, JELLYJELLY, and other former meme sensations. The sudden rallies are causing concerns about market manipulation. 

Meme tokens as a whole are slowing down, but tokens like LUNA, JELLYJELLY, PIPPIN and others are more active than ever. Several forgotten assets gained attention from whales and sparked speculations about deliberate market manipulation. 

Tokens that rallied in the past week included: 

• LUNA
• LUNC
• JELLYJELLY
• PIPPIN
• FARTCOIN

The tokens rose on a mix of whale attention and accumulation. The meme market still sees whales switching between tokens, choosing the current runners from a small selection. The trending tokens rely on a mix of DEX activity and derivative trading. 

Risky tokens expand their open interest

The common thread for risky tokens is their rising open interest, especially on Binance futures trading. The ability to bet on a strong directional move is boosting liquidity in an otherwise slow altcoin market. 

JELLYJELLY carried $13M in open interest on Binance, and a total open interest of $31M. LUNA open interest is at its highest in the past two years, following the relaunch of Terra 2.0 network. 

Even FARTCOIN open interest moved to a one-month high, though mostly centered on Hyperliquid instead of Binance. Newer meme tokens like MOODENG also attempted vertical rallies in early December, though the price expansion was short-lived. 

Previously, POPCAT went through a similar pattern of a sudden price spike, but reverted to all-time lows in the past three months. Hot meme tokens may attract traders attempting to recover their losses, but the recent batch of rallying tokens may also crash quickly, erasing the previous gains. 

On-chain evidence also shows that some of the derivative market pumps may be deliberate. One whale accumulated JELLYJELLY just before the recent rally, currently holding 3.6M tokens. 

Soon after the whale accumulated, the token broke out, rising by up to 92% in the past day to trade at $0.08. This is the second hike for JELLYJELLY to that level in the past month, signaling a regular turnover of interest.

The token has been previously known for becoming one of the most volatile tokens on Hyperliquid. It was removed from the futures market due to volatile prices and mass liquidations. 

Old meme token rallies mostly tied to potential exit pumps

Unlike JELLYJELLY, the recent token rallies do not specifically aim to cause liquidations on Hyperliquid, and many tokens are active on other futures markets. The token’s volumes expanded from a low baseline to nearly $50M in the past 24 hours, recalling the previous spike in trading activity in early December. 

The newly active risky tokens also come with added promotions from influencers, claiming the rally may be sustainable and the asset can run as high as $1. However, most traders remain skeptical, dismissing the vertical price moves as an attempt to boost price so whales can exit. 

Recent rallies have faded within days. PIPPIN returned to $0.31 after setting a new peak at $0.35. The risky meme tokens also return to lower trading activity soon after reaching local peaks. 

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