A Solana-based memecoin has seen explosive growth after gaining support from Binance, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange.
The coin, Comedian (BAN), skyrocketed to a new all-time high of $0.378 following Binance’s announcement of futures contracts in the USDT trading pair. Although it has since pulled back to $0.292, BAN is still up over 1,600% from its early November price of $0.017. With a market cap of $287.4 million, it now ranks as the 275th largest crypto project.
The memecoin draws its inspiration from Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s 2019 artwork, Comedian, which famously featured a banana duct-taped to a wall and sold for $120,000 at Sotheby’s.
The creators of Comedian coin aim to blend humor, hype, and cultural critique into a digital asset, reflecting the absurdity and ingenuity that often characterize meme culture. Through this project, they challenge investors to think critically about the value of art, finance, and the memes that define modern digital culture.
In addition to Comedian, Binance also unveiled futures contracts for Akash Network (AKT), a decentralized cloud computing project, further expanding its offerings in the crypto space.
The SEC has clarified that most memecoins, including tokens like the Trump (TRUMP) and Melania Trump (MELANIA) coins, do not fall under its regulatory oversight.
Despite a recent downturn in the broader cryptocurrency market, Ethereum investors seem to be seizing the opportunity, with a significant increase in large-scale buying.
The cryptocurrency market appears to be moving in a new direction, with attention shifting from highly speculative memecoins to established layer-1 networks.
Blockchain data has revealed a major crypto whale incurring heavy losses on the Ethena (ENA) token.