A sudden downturn today caused a number of memecoins to flash crash in a very short time, igniting fears among investors of mass liquidation. The incident has everyone wondering if a whale—or a group of high-stakes traders—was involved in some large-scale dump or margin call event.
The tokens that have taken a hit include $LUCE, $MANEKI, $JELLYJELLY, and $AIDOGE—each seeing a staggering decline in price of anywhere from 20% to almost 70%.
The memecoin market, always teetering on the brink of chaos, was thrown into disarray as trading communities across X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, and Discord panicked and started selling.
Shocking has especially been the extent of the damage.
$LUCE has dropped by 68%, and its market capitalization now is 9.5 million dollars.
$MANEKI slipped by 44%, which brought its market cap down to 18.3 million dollars.
$JELLYJELLY experienced a more modest yet still worrying 20% drop, arriving at a current valuation of 10 million dollars.
$AIDOGE fell sharply 63% down to a market cap of $24.5 million.
These unexpected downturns have caused both analysts and retail traders to wonder whether a liquidation cascade could be behind them. Forced selling from over-leveraged investors makes price moves even more dangerous. And in volatile markets like meme coins, with low liquidity and erratic trading volume, what seems like a smallish price move can quickly go big and hurt a lot of people.
Whale Activity Raises Eyebrows Amid the Chaos
Adding an air of mystery to the situation, blockchain analysis platforms saw a not very common sight between big holders of tokens: the sight of a big holder, aka whale, making big moves. On November 29, during the flash crash and as Bitcoin’s price fell to $16,000, $FWOG’s market cap was around $15.92 million when a known big holder of $FWOG made a move that was the complete opposite of panic-selling—he bought, of all things, $MANEKI, to the tune of $7,980. That was the opposite of a flash crash.
Although the purchase amount might appear tiny from the perspective of whale watching, it is the timing of the transaction that really suggests a greedy-guts buying—a possible attempt to snipe at the bottom amid some price carnage. This whale has a mixed trading history, which we can see more clearly with the 30-day metrics.
Percentage of victories: 47.59
Number of trades: 435
Negative: Profit and Loss
The mean trade amount was $3,840.
Total volume: 1.67 million dollars
Largest documented victory: From the token $Ghibli
This trader, with a profit-and-loss ratio that is negative, and a win rate that is under 50 percent, does not inspire confidence over a long period of time. Yet clearly this trader remains active in the volatile markets, possibly hinting at a high-risk, high-reward strategy.
🔥Several Memecoins Experience Flash Crashes, Suspected Whale or Group Liquidation
Multiple meme coins experienced flash crashes today, including $LUCE, $MANEKI, $JELLYJELLY, $AIDOGE, and others, with their prices dropping sharply in a short period.
The community speculates… pic.twitter.com/U8dd4cupMW
— Followin (@followin_io) April 19, 2025
The recent move into $MANEKI might be an attempt to take advantage of the flash crash, but considering the trader’s track record, it’s questionable whether this will emerge as a successful swing trade or just another entry on the trader’s increasingly dubious PnL chart.
Market Sentiment and Next Steps
The memecoin community is left all a-twitter, to judge by its many forums and tweets. As no statements have yet come from any of the apparent token teams, presence is being felt amid the project teams of the crashed tokens. Speculation of all kinds is thus going on, with some saying this could be an orchestrated exit by a collective or failing fund, while most seem to agree that, whatever the cause, the aftermath means the affected tokens are inarguably dead.
A $FWOG whale just bought $7.98K of $MANEKI at $15.92M MC 🐳
30 Day Insights on this specific whale powered by $MOBY @mobyagent:
🔹 Win Rate: 47.59%
🔹 Total Trades: 435
🔹 PnL: Negative
🔹 Average Trade: $3.84K
🔹 Total Volume: $1.67M
🔹 Biggest Win: $Ghibli— Whale Watch by Moby (@whalewatchalert) April 19, 2025
Talk within the community also suggests something akin to contagion—that the collapse of a single leveraged position in a token with low liquidity is cascading into other positions because of shared holdings in wallets and cross-margining.
Market participants are being told to exercise caution until clearer details manifest. With memecoins, what shoots up can plunge even more rapidly—and in this instance, it looks like several did, all at the same time.
At the moment, the focus is on whaling wallets, forthcoming announcements from developers, and up-to-the-minute charts as the crypto market holds its collective breath. Was this just a one-off event, or are we seeing the first signs of broader instability in the memecoin ecosystem?
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
No Comments