Hyperliquid's legendary trader takes over Meme coin, self-funds "Build" community driving WhiteWhale market cap over $1B

**January 8, 2025** Solana-based meme coin WhiteWhale hit a new all-time high (ATH) on January 8, with its market capitalization exceeding $110 million, per GMGN monitoring (link). Key metrics as of press time: - Current price: ~$0.11 - 30-day surge: ~2,700% - Since December 2025: >100x gain - Holding addresses: >12,000 - 24-hour trading volume: $4.8 million (ranked 4th on trading leaderboards) ### Background & Project Turnaround WhiteWhale launched on October 13, 2025, on pump.fun—initially with a $100,000 market cap, trading sideways for months and nearly collapsing. The community used the avatar of renowned trader The White Whale (X: @TheWhiteWhaleV2) to launch the token. On December 7, 2025, The White Whale took over the project to prevent reputation damage from potential misuse. He pledged to return all related revenue to the community (stating he would “earn nothing from it”), bought 10,000 tokens, and planned to inject $140,000 of his own funds for liquidity to boost trading depth and anti-rug resilience. The project adopted a community-driven narrative: *“anti-KOL vampire, anti-rug” autonomy*. A December 20, 2025 announcement of a $100,000 “Community Giveback” incentive plan further fueled price gains. ### Trader’s Background (via HyperInsight monitoring) The White Whale was a legendary Hyperliquid trader with 87,000 X followers: - July 2025: Aggressive long positions on ETH and SOL netted ~$30 million in 1 week (topped Hyperliquid’s earnings chart) - Aug–Sep 2025: Annualized earnings neared $100 million - Oct 11, 2025: Largest single-day drawdown (lost $62 million) but remained overall profitable in 2025 - Nov 14, 2025: Permanently exited Hyperliquid trading to support teams focused on improving underlying design