Fartcoin taps $1B market cap amid altcoin slump

Fartcoin (CRYPTO:FARTCOIN), a memecoin based on Solana (CRYPTO:SOL), briefly surpassed a market capitalization of $1 billion on December 18, despite a downturn in the broader altcoin market.

The cryptocurrency gained 113% over the past 30 days, standing out during a day when many altcoins experienced significant losses.

This rally occurred between 8:20 pm and 9:00 pm UTC on December 18, when Fartcoin’s price surged by approximately 21%, reaching $1.02 and pushing its market cap above $1 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

However, the rally was short-lived.

Within hours, Fartcoin’s price retraced by about 16%, dropping to $0.83, with a market cap of $838.4 million at the time of writing.

Some investors found humor in Fartcoin’s rise.

“The funniest possible outcome is usually the most likely,” said investor Brandon Beylo in a December 18 post on X.

He joked that investors were “fleeing to safety in Fartcoin.”

The recent market downturn followed the Federal Reserve’s announcement of a 25-basis-point rate cut, with signals that fewer rate cuts might occur in 2025 than initially expected.

Despite being a memecoin without any utility, Fartcoin has been volatile since its launch on October 24.

It reached a market cap of $423 million on November 22, only to drop to $160 million by December 5.

Some market observers took a more critical approach.

“Fartcoin briefly hits $1 billion in market cap as investors flee risk assets, seek safety,” stated Hedgeye, an investment research firm, noted the bizarre nature of Fartcoin’s brief rise.

“Hedge fund managers will raise billions and hire teams of Ivy League grads just to underperform degen 14-year-olds trading Fartcoin in their mom’s basements,” humorously noted Liquidity Capital’s founder, with others sharing similar sentiments on social media.

At the time of reporting, the price of Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) was $1.03.