A dramatic twist in one of Solana’s most talked-about meme tokens, $LaunchCoin, saw prominent crypto influencer and trader @traderpow dump 7.6 million tokens for a hefty 9,040 SOL — equivalent to roughly $1.54 million — within a single hour.
Revealed by the blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, this move has caused quite a stir across crypto circles, especially since the $LaunchCoin just plunged by 39% over the last 24 hours, cutting its market cap nearly in half from $360 million to just $190 million.
The sell-off has certainly been a shock. This is especially true given the influence @traderpow carries in the trading community, and the fact that when he was selling, he still had a large portion of his net worth tied up in the project.
A $1.54M Exit — But Holdings Remain
Per Lookonchain, @traderpow carried out the trade at a mean token price of $0.203. These tokens presumably came from an earlier acquisition (insider trading?) during LaunchCoin’s meteoric price rise of over 5,500% in the preceding weeks. At no time in LaunchCoin’s history has so many of its tokens been traded in such a large single trade.
Crypto KOL @traderpow sells 7.6M $LaunchCoin for $1.54M in $SOL 💰
According to @lookonchain , pow sold 7.6M $LaunchCoin at an average price of $0.203 in the past hour, receiving 9,040 $SOL (~$1.54M).
He still holds:
• 4.75M $LaunchCoin in wallet ($1M)
• 4.49M $LaunchCoin in… pic.twitter.com/RLnJ5iyFNC— Followin (@followin_io) May 16, 2025
Even with a large exit, @traderpow still holds a big chunk of $LaunchCoin. His wallet has 4.75 million of the tokens left in it, which are now worth about $1 million. He also has 4.49 million of the tokens locked in a liquidity pool, which are worth about $950,000. So, post-selloff, @traderpow is still exposed to about $2 million worth of $LaunchCoin.
Some observers believe that @traderpow, the seller of the token, may be cashing in on the sale for profits, while still being positioned in a way that allows them to profit from the token in the future, too. Perhaps this is also a sell-and-hold strategy, expecting the price to return to a form of ascendancy at some point.
pow(@traderpow) sold 7.6M $LAUNCHCOIN for 9,040 $SOL($1.54M) at $0.203 in the past hour.
pow currently holds 4.75M $LAUNCHCOIN($1M) in the wallet and 4.49M $LAUNCHCOIN($950K) in the liquidity pool.https://t.co/sbXs9tjLbOhttps://t.co/yflP4yxCEh pic.twitter.com/IsRM7hjvcw
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 16, 2025
The Rise (and Tumble) of $LaunchCoin
LaunchCoin, which is based on the Solana blockchain, has brought in investors. This is not surprising considering that it seems not too long ago that the token was making new all-time highs. Some would even say that its price action in recent weeks has been parabolical.
And it is not alone. Other tokens in the Solana ecosystem are also on the rise.
The token is popular partially because it is linked with a platform called Believe. Believe is a decentralized launchpad, and it serves a specific purpose that relates closely to the ecosystem that the token belongs to. The team behind the project is trying to achieve something in a very specific way, and because it’s a way that resonates with many retail investors and adopters of the ecosystem, they are the target audience to whom the project aims to deliver value.
The token has also gained from a series of trading contests, social media buzz, and the launch of perpetual contracts on KuCoin Futures—that is, contracts that allow for margin trading and, hence, massive speculation.
The recent sell-off by @traderpow and the market reaction that followed have some investors rethinking the token’s short-term prospects.
Community Reaction and Market Implications
Many holders are still reeling from the sudden drop in $LaunchCoin’s value, which fell 39% in just 24 hours. The token had previously shown such good upward momentum that its current position is hard to understand and even harder to accept. Accusations of market manipulation bounce back and forth between angry social media posts. In some respects, we find ourselves pondering the perennial question of whether markets are efficient. In what ways is this just the risk we accept when trading on the basis of influence?
Some think that when important people sell a lot of their tokens, it can make people not trust the community as much anymore since these important people probably know a lot about what’s going on. People also think that in a really speculative market, which this seems to be, it can make prices a lot less stable. On the other hand, I think this is a good profit-taking strategy. I mean, if someone has this much in tokens, and if with 1.5 million tokens you are already up 4X since January, then this move seems very reasonable.
Even though the fundamentals of $LaunchCoin are tied to the Believe platform’s disruptive goals, its near-term price may be swayed by sentiment and the actions of large holders, rather than by significant technical developments.
Capitalists are keeping an eye on things to see if the token will bounce back from this fluctuation or if this is the start of a larger realignment. In any case, what just happened around @traderpow and his $1.54 million exit serves as an ice-cold reminder of how life-and-death a meme token can be in today’s turbocharged crypto marketplace.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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