Solana Meme Token Litecoin Mascot (LESTER) Hits $140M Market Cap in Two Days

Solana-based meme token Litecoin Mascot (LESTER) has seen its market cap surge to over $140 million within just 48 hours of its debut.

According to data from GeckoTerminal, LESTER is currently trading at over $0.14, up by around 800% over the past day.

The meme coin has a 24-hour volume of $176 million and a locked liquidity of $2.53 million.

How Was LESTER Created?

The LESTER token launched on the pump.fun platform after Litecoin’s official account on X humorously said it now identifies as a memecoin.

Due to current market conditions I now identify as a memecoin.

— Litecoin (@litecoin) November 14, 2024

The Dogecoin account jumped on the craze, suggesting the creation of Litecoin-themed memes and even proposing a “chibi mascot” for Litecoin.

This inspired Greg, a prominent meme creator on X, to design a stick figure meme with the Litecoin logo as its head, which he named “Lester.”

Here they go pic.twitter.com/hTnjuFUYMC

— greg (@greg16676935420) November 14, 2024

Although not officially affiliated with the Litecoin team, LESTER quickly gained traction thanks to the social media interactions between Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Greg, coupled with the enthusiastic response from the crypto and meme communities.

Meanwhile, LESTER has since secured listings on major exchanges, including Gate.io, boosting its appeal among traders.

In its initial 10 hours, the token achieved a $40 million market cap with $62 million in trading volume.

The excitement also benefited Litecoin’s native token, LTC, which saw an uptick in both price and trading activity.

As of now, LTC is trading at $82.71, up by almost 2% over the past day.

Memecoins Lead Market Gains

As of late, memecoins have been leading the crypto market’s gains, with Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT), Pepe (PEPE), Dogwifhat (WIF), and Brett (BRETT) recording the highest increases among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

The rally aligns with Bitcoin hitting new highs and Donald Trump’s recent election win, sparking speculation about an imminent altcoin season.

Crypto analyst Miles Deutscher suggested that the market is still in Bitcoin’s price discovery phase, with alt season expected after Bitcoin’s dominance wanes.

He noted that a stronger Bitcoin performance would likely result in a more aggressive capital rotation into altcoins.

“This is the phase where BTC is still in price discovery, and sucking up the majority of fresh liquidity. Altcoins won’t truly rally until we see a momentum shift,” he wrote.

This is because we're still in the "Bitcoin phase" of the cycle.

This is the phase where BTC is still in price discovery, and sucking up the majority of fresh liquidity.

Altcoins won't truly rally until we see a momentum shift.

— Miles Deutscher (@milesdeutscher) November 12, 2024

On the other hand, analyst Ash Crypto argued that Bitcoin dominance, now at 60.80%, might have peaked, predicting that alt season will begin once Bitcoin starts losing ground.

As reported, Caitlyn Jenner, former Olympian and media personality, is at the center of a legal battle after a group of investors filed a class-action lawsuit accusing her of promoting an unregistered cryptocurrency, the JENNER token.

The plaintiffs claim they lost over $56,000 investing in the JENNER token, launched on Ethereum and Solana.