A wave of renewed optimism in the broader crypto market has reignited interest in meme coins, with trading volume in the sector jumping 60% in the past 24 hours.
Leading the charge is Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), which has soared 17% today, making it the top-performing crypto asset in the market.
PENGU Breaks Out of Slump as Bulls Return
PENGU’s price has struggled to gain meaningful traction recently. Its lackluster performance dampened investor sentiment and triggered a spike in short positions. Even during moments of intraday recovery, traders remained largely unconvinced, holding back from placing bullish bets.
However, the tide now appears to be turning, as renewed buying pressure and improved technical indicators suggest that the bulls are finally regaining control.
PENGU’s funding rate has flipped positive for the first time since the beginning of July, suggesting that traders are now increasingly placing long bets. As of this writing, this stands at 0.0042%.
PENGU Funding Rate. Source: Coinglass
The funding rate is a periodic payment exchanged between long and short traders in perpetual futures contracts to keep prices aligned with the spot market. When positive, long traders pay shorts, indicating bullish sentiment and higher demand for leveraged long positions.
Amid this renewed momentum, whale activity around PENGU has picked up. According to Nansen, wallet addresses holding over $1 million in PENGU have modestly increased their balances by 1% in the past 24 hours.
PENGU Whale Activity. Source: Nansen
This group now holds 2.15 billion tokens, representing 2.8% of the meme coin’s circulating supply. While the accumulation is subtle, increased whale presence signals growing confidence and could provide short-term price support if the trend continues.
Bullish Signals Mount as PENGU Clears the Cloud
As of this writing, PENGU trades at $0.018. Readings from the PENGU/USD one-day chart show the meme coin exchanging hands above its Ichimoku Cloud.
At press time, this indicator’s Leading Spans A and B form support below PENGU’s price at $0.01405 and $0.0135, respectively.
The Ichimoku Cloud tracks the momentum of an asset’s market trends and identifies potential support/resistance levels. When an asset trades above this cloud, it reflects the bullish pressure in the market. This means demand is strengthening, with bearish pressures kept at bay.
If accumulation continues, PENGU could extend its rally toward $0.0203.
PENGU Price Analysis. Source: TradingView
However, if buying activity declines amid rising profit-taking, PENGU could reverse its current trend and fall to $0.0140.
