At six o 'clock in the early morning of February 12th, when the sky was just beginning to brighten, the hospital corridor was gradually filled with more people. The cleaning lady pushed the cleaning cart and swept softly, and the nurses carried their medical records and moved among the wards. The once quiet corridor gradually came back to life. K rested lightly on a bench and was awakened by a jolt of his phone. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and picked up the phone. A series of messages popped up on the screen and woke him up instantly - all about the market dynamics of PUPPIES tokens.
During the two hours from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., PUPPIES 'popularity spread like wildfire, already beyond the core crypto community and spreading to larger traffic platforms such as Twitter and Telegram groups. K quickly opened Twitter and entered the keyword "PUPPIES" to search. The related topic had quietly climbed to the bottom of the cryptocurrency hot search list. In just two hours, the topic read more than 500,000 and discussed more than 12,000, far exceeding the popularity of other newly launched tokens during the same period.
On Twitter, a number of top crypto influencers have begun to speak out for PUPPIES, including industry bloggers with over a million followers. The big V with the online name "CryptoKing" tweeted: "Beware! Another Musk concept new coin, PUPPIES, has emerged, based on Ethereum ERC-20 standard, decentralized without pre-mining, with a 60% increase in 4 hours of launch and high enthusiasm from retail investors. Could it become the next dogcoin? It's worth watching!" The tweet, which included PUPPIES 'contract address, price chart and buy-in tutorial, received more than 20,000 likes and over 5,000 retweets in just half an hour.
What's more, some bloggers deliberately took screenshots of Musk's recent tweets referring to "PUPPIES" and pieced them together with the promotional copy for Puppies to create the illusion of "Musk's covert endorsement". Although Musk himself has never explicitly mentioned the token, a large number of retail investors are convinced of it under the inertia of "hitching on the hot topic" in the crypto world. In the comment section, the enthusiasm of retail investors was completely ignited: "Rush! Musk's concept never fails. He has already bought 10,000 and is waiting for a hundredfold surge!" "Just learned to operate, buy 5,000, hoping to earn some pocket money" "The pain of missing Dogcoin, this time I can't miss PUPPIES again".
In addition to Twitter, telegram groups have become the main battlefield for PUPPIES 'dissemination. In several large cryptocurrency telegram groups that K joined, almost all the messages were about PUPPIES. The group chat, which was originally used to exchange market information, instantly turned into a "promotion ground" for PUPPIES. Some retail investors spontaneously formed several special telegram groups for PUPPIES. Within just a few hours, the number of members in each group exceeded a thousand, and the largest group had more than 5,000 members, reaching the maximum number of telegram groups.
In these exclusive telegram groups, administrators constantly release the latest price and trading volume data of PUPPIES, as well as "target price predictions" and "strategies for adding positions", further stimulating the buying enthusiasm of retail investors. "Brothers, we just got an insider message that there's big capital behind PUPPIES, with a target increase of 200% today. Hurry up and add to your position. Miss the chance!" "It's already up to $0.000002, up 25% in half an hour. What are you waiting for?" Similar remarks keep flooding the screen, and some people are Posting screenshots of their profits in real time, provoking more retail investors to follow suit.
K opened PUPPIES 'trading page, and sets of data made him frown involuntarily. By 6:30 a.m., the token price had risen to $0.0000038, a 171% increase from $0.0000014 at 2 a.m., and a 280% surge from the initial price; Volume has exploded, surging from 120 ETH at 3 a.m. to 380 ETH, more than tripling in just three and a half hours; The number of trading addresses exceeded 1,200, an increase of nearly 900 from 4 a.m., indicating a large influx of new retail investors into the market.
More importantly, the traces of manipulation behind the scenes have gradually weakened. After 5 a.m., the large, low-price sell orders that used to appear every 15-20 minutes disappeared, replaced by the frantic buying by retail investors. Prices began to rise in a straight line, and the occasional small sell orders were instantly swallowed up by the surging buy orders. K knew in his heart that this meant the buying by the backers had largely been done, and now he was allowing retail investors to push up the price in preparation for the subsequent selling.
"Ah K, are you awake?" Lin Ye came over from the cafeteria carrying two breakfasts and, seeing Ah K staring at the phone screen, curiously moved closer, "This coin... So much more?" K nodded, handed the phone to Lin Ye, and said solemnly, "You see, the heat has completely risen. Twitter and Telegram groups are all spreading it. Retail investors are rushing in like crazy. The price is going up very fast."
Looking at the price chart on the screen, Lin Ye couldn't help but gasp: "Oh my god, it's almost tripled in just a few hours? Fortunately we sold earlier, otherwise we would surely be in a state of collapse now, wanting to sell and waiting for the price to rise." K laughed and said, "This is the madness of the crypto world. Once it gets hot, retail investors lose their rationality and only see the rising profits but not the risks behind them. I've made a lot of money on the token I tentatively bought, but I'm not greedy and ready to sell at any time."
At 8 a.m., PUPPIES 'popularity escalated further. The related topic on Twitter had already climbed to fifth place on the cryptocurrency hot search list, with over 1.2 million views and more than 30,000 discussions. More and more crypto bloggers have joined the promotion, and even some cross-industry bloggers have started to mention the token, attracting a lot of retail investors from outside the circle.
At this point, the token price had risen to $0.0000042, with a daily increase of more than three times, up 320% from the initial price; The trading volume reached 520 ETH, the number of trading addresses exceeded 2,000, and the market circulation increased from the initial 250 billion to 380 billion, with more tokens being held by retail investors. K noticed that the 20 anonymous accounts that were previously suspected of being pushed to buy had stopped buying and instead started selling tokens in small amounts, each time between 500 million and 1 billion, to realize some of the profits without affecting the upward momentum of the market.
Just then, K received a strange message on his phone, with the sender noted as "Recruitment department of a decentralized exchange". "Hello, we are XX decentralized exchange. We have noticed that PUPPIES token has been extremely popular recently and there is a strong demand from users. We are now sending you an invitation to list. We hope to connect with token project parties for listing matters. We will provide support policies such as zero transaction fees, fast listing channels, and home page recommendations. We look forward to your reply."
K was stunned for a moment and then understood. The PUPPIES token has no official team or project team at all. The exchange couldn't find a contact person and could only contact through active users in the crypto community. He had previously posted promotional copy in the core community and was regarded by the exchange as a core member or insider of the project team.
Instead of replying immediately, he opened the official websites and communities of several well-known decentralized exchanges and found that more than one exchange was proactively dealing with the launch of PUPPIES. Some exchanges directly posted announcements in their official communities: "Call for contact information of the PUPPIES token project team. If a user can help connect successfully, 10 ETH will be awarded." Some exchanges have already started testing the trading function of PUPPIES in the background and are ready to launch trading as soon as they find a matchmaker.
K knew in his heart that the exchange's proactive approach meant that PUPPIES had reached a new level of popularity. For the exchange, a token with high popularity and strong retail demand can bring a lot of traffic and transaction fees to the platform, even if the token has no team and no white paper, as long as it has enough popularity, it has the value of going online. And for the backers, the launch of PUPPIES by the exchange is undoubtedly an endorsement of the token, which can attract more retail investors and also provide a more convenient channel for subsequent large-scale sales.
At 9 a.m., things in the hospital were temporarily settled. Mother's preoperative examination was arranged and the operation was scheduled for the morning of February 14th, and everything was proceeding smoothly. Lin Ye stayed in the ward with his mother, while Ah K went to the safe passage at the end of the corridor and dialed the old ghost's phone - he had long suspected that the old ghost was behind PUPPIES, and now the heat had escalated to this point, he wanted to confirm his guess, and also wanted to remind the old ghost to control the risks.
After the call was connected, the old ghost's voice was a little tired but still steady: "K, why did you think of calling me? Auntie's surgery is arranged?" K, without beating around the bush, came straight to the point: "Ghost Brother, Auntie's surgery is arranged, thank you for your help. I'm calling you to ask about PUPPIES tokens. You must be the one behind it, right?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, followed by the old ghost's laughter: "You can't be fooled. Yes, PUPPIES was laid out by me. I also discovered this token by chance through the Falcon system and thought it had the potential to be hyped, so I arranged for Dao Ge's team to secretly raise funds and contact marketing agencies to create a buzz. I didn't expect it to gain popularity so quickly, even better than I expected."
"Ghost Brother, your insight is truly unique," said K. "Now Twitter and Telegram groups are all talking about it, the price has risen more than threefold in a single day, retail investors are flocking in like crazy, and several exchanges have come forward to deal with listing matters. The heat has completely risen. But I still want to remind you that this token has no team, no white paper, and is very risky. Once market sentiment reverses, the price is likely to plump."
The old ghost sighed and said, "I know the risks are huge. The hype in the cryptocurrency world is just a game of dancing on the edge of a knife." I've already arranged it. Now let the retail investors push the price up to their heart's content. When the exchange is completed and the price reaches the target level, I'll have Dao Ge's team sell off in batches. I won't be greedy. Did you buy some as well? If you want to sell, now is a good time, or wait a little longer until the price goes up again."
"I bought a little to test the market," said K. "I don't want to sell for the time being. I want to see how the market reacts when the exchange goes live. Oh, by the way, what do you plan to do with those exchanges that actively connect and go online?"
"I've arranged for people to connect with two well-known decentralized exchanges and expect to complete the launch tomorrow," said the old ghost. "After the launch, I'll have the marketing agency step up the hype to push the price to $0.00001 and then start shipping. You rest assured, I'll keep the pace in check and not cause too much fluctuation in the market, at least until the auntie's surgery is over."
After hanging up the phone, K finally felt relieved. After confirming that the old Ghost was the mastermind behind it, he felt even more confident - the old Ghost had been trading in the crypto circle for years, was experienced, knew how to control risks, and wouldn't rush to make a market crash like those novice masterminds. He turned on his phone and checked the trading data of PUPPIES again. The price had risen to $0.0000048, with a daily increase of 380%. The trading volume exceeded 700 ETH and the number of trading addresses exceeded 3,000. The market heat continued to rise.
By noon, news about PUPPIES had spread to domestic social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin. Despite clear regulatory policies on cryptocurrency trading in China, there are still many retail investors who have learned about the token through various channels and are discussing buying methods and profit expectations on social media platforms. A blogger posted a video of PUPPIES 'price increase on Douyin, which garnered over a million views in just a few hours. The comment section was filled with questions like "How to buy?" and "How long can it keep rising?"
K noticed that there were already some discordant voices in the market at this time. Some rational veteran players warned in the community: "PUPPIES is just an air coin that is purely hyped. There is no team, no white paper, and no actual value. The current rise is all due to retail investors following the trend. Once the promoters start selling off, it will definitely plump. Everyone should cut their losses and exit quickly."
But these rational reminders seem insignificant in the surging wave of gains. Most retail investors have been so carried away by the immediate profits that they don't listen to any warnings at all. Instead, they mock the cautionary: "Are you sour? You don't get on board yourself and you want others to get off?" "I've already made 50%, so even if it plummets, I'm not afraid. At worst, I'll make a little less." "Wealth comes from risk. Don't come to the crypto world if you're afraid of risk."
At 2 p.m., two well-known decentralized exchanges simultaneously announced that the PUPPIES token will be officially listed for trading at 10 a.m. on February 13, opening the PUPPIES/USDT trading pair, and launching a "new coin listing event" where users can enjoy fee reductions, position rebates and other benefits when trading PUPPIES. The price of PUPPIES soared again after the announcement, instantly reaching $0.000006, with a daily increase of more than 500%, volume surging to 1,200 ETH, and the number of trading addresses exceeding 5,000.
K looked at the price on the screen with a slight upturn of the mouth. He knew that the exchange's listing announcement was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the market, and the price would continue to rise, but risks were also accumulating. He opened his wallet and looked at the 1 billion PUPPIES tokens inside, which had already made more than four times the profit, equivalent to over 30,000 yuan. But he didn't waver in the slightest and stuck to his strategy - to wait for the signal that the old ghost was starting to sell off and to exit decisively before the peak.
At four o 'clock in the afternoon, Ah K returned to the ward, Lin Ye was chatting with his mother, who was in good spirits and had a long-lost smile on her face. Seeing K come in, mother hurriedly said, "Little K, thank you so much for running around for our family's affairs. Auntie really doesn't know how to thank you." A K smiled and said, "Auntie, you're welcome. Lin Ye and I are good friends. It's only right for us to help each other. Have a good rest and focus on preparing for the operation. Everything will be fine."
Lin Ye walked up to Ah K and whispered, "Brother Ah K, how is that coin now? Is it still rising?" K nodded and said, "It's still rising. It's more than five times higher. The two exchanges are going online tomorrow. I guess it will rise again. But don't be envious. We've made enough money for the operation. There's no need to take this risk again." Lin Ye hurriedly said, "I'm not envious. I'm just curious to ask. As long as my mother can have a successful operation, it's better than anything else."
In the evening, PUPPIES 'token price stabilized at $0.0000058, with a daily increase of 480%, trading volume of 1,500 ETH, and the number of trading addresses exceeded 8,000. The related topic on Twitter has climbed to the second place on the cryptocurrency hot search list, with over 3 million views and more than 80,000 discussions; Telegram groups have grown to more than 20 exclusive communities, with a total of over 100,000 members; Headlines on major crypto forums and news platforms are all about the PUPPIES token, reports and analyses.
K sat on a bench outside the hospital room, looking at the data on his phone screen, lost in thought. He knew that the hype drama, led by the old ghost and driven by the small investors, had reached its climax. After the exchange goes live, the price is likely to experience a final wild surge, followed by a gradual collapse as the old ghost sells off. And he, as a spectator and participant in this drama, has to hold onto his profits and stay clear-headed at all times and not be carried away by the market's frenzy.
As the night deepened, the lights in the hospital corridor lit up again, and the warm light shone on the ground, reflecting K's steady figure. He took out his phone and sent a wechat message to the old ghost: "Pay attention to controlling the shipment pace and don't cause panic in the market." Soon, the old ghost replied with two words: "Rest assured." K put away his phone, leaned against the bench, closed his eyes and began to rest. He knew tomorrow was going to be an even crazier day, and he was ready.
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