Trader Misses Out on $36 Million by Selling TROLL Meme Coin Too Early
Date: 2025-08-07 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
A Solana developer, Leland King Fawcett, came into the spotlight after revealing his unsuccessful investment in the TROLL meme coin. In August 2024, he spent about $1,300 to buy the tokens, but sold them shortly after for a similar amount, not even suspecting that a year later his profit could have exceeded $36 million.
Fawcett explained that he intentionally created the token to test the reaction of the crypto community. Once one of the influencers bought the coin, he gave it to copy traders and received 9 SOL in return. After that, he completely lost interest in the project and no longer followed its development.
TROLL remained in the shadows for almost eight months. However, in April 2025, the situation changed dramatically - the token price increased by 174,948%, and the capitalization reached $ 42 million. Between May and July, the coin stabilized, but since July 26, it began to grow again, jumping by another 924.65% in ten days. According to CoinGecko, the token's market cap has now reached $ 192 million.
Despite the missed opportunity, Fawcett says he does not regret it. According to him, there were no signals indicating future growth at the time, and TROLL was just one of millions of similar meme coins. It was impossible to predict such dynamics.
The token was issued on the Pump.fun platform - a popular launchpad for meme coins. According to Dune statistics, more than 12 million similar projects have been launched through Pump.fun since January 2024. Today, TROLL is the ninth-largest token issued on the platform, and the 32nd-largest meme coin overall.
Interestingly, earlier in July, blockchain analyst Chang Min Yu accidentally destroyed about $58,000 worth of PUMP tokens, further highlighting how unpredictable and risky this market is.
Fawcett’s story highlights how difficult it is to predict success in the cryptocurrency world, especially when it comes to meme coins, which often take off for no apparent reason.
