A photograph of a man standing guard inside his smashed-up store during France's riots was turned into a Solana meme coin called PIERRE that ran 155 times its starting value in roughly nine hours on Sunday, according to Bitcoin.com News.
The token's rise unfolded against a backdrop of real unrest. Around 550,000 people joined demonstrations across France on Oct. 17, and Euronews reported that dozens of shops were looted in Paris, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux and Lille, according to Bitcoin.com News. By Sunday, the Interior Ministry put arrests at nearly 2,400 people, and President Emmanuel Macron said he felt anger and shame over the violence.
The Photo Behind the PIERRE Meme Coin
The image shows a long-haired man in a black T-shirt standing in the doorway of a gutted video game and collectibles shop, with glass from the front window piled at his feet and a Dragon Ball poster of Goku peeling off the wall beside him, Bitcoin.com News reported. The man pictured goes by the name Pierre and had tried to stop looters, albeit unsuccessfully.
Gamestop chief executive Ryan Cohen posted the picture on X earlier today, while others identified the store as a Micromania outlet in Nice, according to Bitcoin.com News. Crypto traders, however, saw something else in the photo: a ticker.
From $9,700 to $1.75 Million in Hours
On Oct. 18, PIERRE was trading at roughly a $9,700 market cap, according to one trader's running tally cited by Bitcoin.com News. At 16:38 UTC, the token graduated from Pump.fun's bonding curve to its Pumpswap pool, per Dexscreener pair data.
Around 21:00, the token's market cap hit about $1.51 million, a 155x run in roughly nine hours. By Monday morning, PIERRE sat near a $1.75 million market cap, with $5.9 million in 24-hour volume and 34,666 buys against 28,426 sells on the main pool, Bitcoin.com News reported.
Copycats piled in alongside it. One account's daily memecoin recap listed PIERRE next to "mucron," a Macron-themed token that reached $1.1 million, while other traders complained about 20 or more competing versions launching on Pump.fun at once, according to Bitcoin.com News.
One Winner, Hundreds of Thousands of Losers
Pump.fun's own promotional account highlighted the best trade as wallet owner wirelyss, who turned $200 into $34,000 in profit, a 173x return after buying at a $6,310 market cap, Bitcoin.com News reported.
The wider data is far less flattering. A wallet breakdown covering Pump.fun's last 30 days counted 413,579 wallets. About 69.2% lost money, most of them less than $500. Only about 3.2% made more than $500, and just 17 wallets cleared $50,000, according to Bitcoin.com News.
Put another way, 96.8% of wallets either lost money or made less than the cost of a decent phone. For every winner, hundreds of thousands of traders walked away with small losses.
No Product, No Team, No Link to Pierre
PIERRE has no product, no team statement, and, as far as anyone has shown, no link to the man in the photo, Bitcoin.com News reported. Its value rests entirely on attention, which is why it has already given back about 27% from the top.
The launchpad, however, has kept expanding. Bitcoin.com News reported recently that Pump.fun had added Hyperliquid perps this weekend, giving traders yet another way to bet on moments like this one. Pump.fun has expanded beyond its Solana meme coin business, introducing perpetual futures trading powered by Hyperliquid.
Markets Shrug Off 'Black Monday' Fears
The PIERRE launch coincided with the day crypto Twitter spent hours debating a "Black Monday" repeat on the 39th anniversary of the 1987 crash, a fear Bitcoin.com News laid out ahead of the Monday open. Bitcoin's price ended up bouncing instead, trading near $82,700 today, while the riskiest corner of the market chased a riot photo.
Conclusion
PIERRE's 155x run from a $9,700 market cap to over $1.7 million in about nine hours on Sunday is established by Dexscreener pair data and trader tallies cited by Bitcoin.com News. The token now trades roughly 27% below its peak, with no product, no team statement and no shown link to the man in the photo. The next concrete step the facts point to is Pump.fun's continued expansion, having added Hyperliquid-powered perpetual futures trading this weekend.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the PIERRE meme coin and where did it come from?
PIERRE is a Solana meme coin created from a viral photo of a man named Pierre standing guard in his smashed-up video game and collectibles shop during France's riots. The man had tried to stop looters, albeit unsuccessfully. The token launched on Pump.fun and ran 155x in roughly nine hours on Sunday, according to Bitcoin.com News.
How high did the PIERRE token's market cap go?
PIERRE climbed from roughly a $9,700 market cap on Oct. 18 to about $1.51 million by around 21:00 that day, a 155x run in roughly nine hours. By Monday morning it sat near a $1.75 million market cap with $5.9 million in 24-hour volume, though it has since given back about 27% from its peak, according to Bitcoin.com News.
Who profited the most from the PIERRE meme coin?
Pump.fun's own promotional account highlighted wallet owner wirelyss, who turned $200 into $34,000 in profit, a 173x return after buying at a $6,310 market cap, according to Bitcoin.com News. A 30-day wallet breakdown of Pump.fun counted 413,579 wallets, of which only about 3.2% made more than $500 and just 17 cleared $50,000.
What was happening in France when the PIERRE photo was taken?
Around 550,000 people joined demonstrations across France on Oct. 17, and Euronews reported that dozens of shops were looted in Paris, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux and Lille. By Sunday, the Interior Ministry put arrests at nearly 2,400 people, and President Emmanuel Macron said he felt anger and shame over the violence, according to Bitcoin.com News.
Does the PIERRE token have any connection to the man in the photo?
No. PIERRE has no product, no team statement, and, as far as anyone has shown, no link to the man in the photo, according to Bitcoin.com News. Its value rests entirely on attention, which is why it has already given back about 27% from its peak.