Lucky Timing? 'Roaring Kitty' Solana Meme Coin Skyrockets After GameStop Trader's Return

A Solana meme coin named after meme stock trader and influencer Roaring Kitty lay dormant for weeks, flatlining near worthlessness. Then, its namesake suddenly reappeared online Sunday after years of silence, sending the token price soaring over 13,000% in hours to a market capitalization in the tens of millions of dollars. 

The token, KITTY—created by a self-titled, anonymous “Crypto Twitter Cabal” in late March— popped briefly to a price of about $0.02 immediately following its creation. Soon thereafter, it nosedived to near-zero. For weeks, however, KITTY’s social media accounts promised that the fledgling token would soon become the “biggest comeback story of 2024,” with some unnamed event set to turn its fortune around.

“We’re going to see massive buys coming in soon,” the token’s Twitter account posted on May 6. 

Meme coin promoters routinely make such lofty promises. But less than a week later, the unthinkable happened: KITTY’s prophecy actually came true.

Who Is Roaring Kitty, and What Does His Return Mean for Crypto?

Financial analyst turned stock and meme influencer Roaring Kitty has roared back onto social media. His surprise return to Twitter in May didn’t even directly mention GameStop—the stock whose rollercoaster ride sparked global headlines and a documentary film—but nonetheless prompted the price of GME to double briefly and preceded a 1,900% surge in a Solana-based tribute coin also named GME. What’s the connection between Roaring Kitty—whose real name is Keith Gill—the failed video game retailer,...

On Sunday, a Twitter account belonging to Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty—the architect of 2021’s famed, Reddit-fueled GameStop stock short squeeze—posted for the first time in three years, sending all stocks associated with the meme boom soaring.

GameStop stock (GME) briefly tripled in value; GME, also the ticker of a Solana-based tribute coin, surged some 1,900%; and KITTY, within moments, rebounded from near-worthlessness to a market capitalization of roughly $40 million.

The benefits of Roaring Kitty’s apparent surprise return to Twitter—after three years of radio silence across all social media channels—were immediate and immense, in the case of KITTY.

GameStop Tribute Meme Coin on Solana Surges to All-Time High Price

The meme stock buzz only grew overnight, with GameStop (GME) shares opening the day at more than double Monday’s closing price, following the apparent return of prominent GME trader Roaring Kitty on Sunday. And the GameStop-themed tribute coin on Solana is similarly still reaping the rewards of the growing hype. The unofficial GME, which was launched on Solana back in January, spiked to an all-time high price of $0.01915 early Tuesday, beating the previous record of $0.0135 set back in February....

Within a 24 hour period across Solana decentralized exchanges (DEXs) Raydium and Orca, KITTY saw over $60 million in trading volume, according to DexScreener. Since reaching those highs early Tuesday, however, KITTY has dropped to a market cap of $19.3 million at writing. 

Though Roaring Kitty’s sudden return on Sunday caught most by surprise—and had obvious, particular importance for the team behind KITTY—the token’s social media accounts did not appear particularly surprised by the development. They merely posted the news, and began enthusiastically tweeting the token’s address at a much faster frequency. 

Decrypt reached out to the Roaring Kitty coin team regarding their affiliation with Keith Gill, and any prior knowledge they may have had regarding Roaring Kitty’s reappearance online, but did not immediately receive a response. 

KITTY is one of a flurry of meme coins affiliated with public figures, pop culture, and internet memes that have gained steam in recent months. Such tokens can quickly accumulate millions of dollars in value in the wake of related news stories, but tend to (eventually) meet the same fate: crashing to zero.

Edited by Andrew Hayward