Killer Whales: Markets - Episode 24 - Powered by $HELLO

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Killer Whales
@KillerWhalesTVAug 13, 2025

The Spaces covered a fast-moving week across crypto markets, memecoins, and NFTs, with hosts Nathan, Bunny, and Maurice joined by Shotgun. Ethereum’s surge to near all-time highs framed the conversation, as they recapped last week’s accurate calls (ETH >4k and PUMP back to ICO levels) and discussed tougher forecasting once momentum is underway. Memecoin launchpad dynamics dominated a segment: Pump.fun’s rapid recovery, Bags’ rising volumes, and the founder’s $800k “wif hat” purchase highlighted the capital sloshing through attention-driven plays. NFTs showed renewed strength: Chromie Squiggles and Pudgy Penguins commanded high floors, while the team weighed entry-level community bets like Sappy Seals and Bodogos, plus anime OG ON1 Force on both Ethereum and Bitcoin Ordinals. They unpacked GameSquare’s $2.5M AnimeCoin treasury buy and agency role for Azuki’s ecosystem, Bullish’s IPO (parent of CoinDesk), and Do Kwon’s guilty plea (faces up to 25 years; $19M forfeiture). New predictions: Bunny sees Moonbirds to 3 ETH; Maurice targets SOL to 125 then a pullback; Nathan calls SOL to 230 by next week and ETH to break ATH; Shotgun calls ETH to $5k with rotation into Arbitrum. The session ended with programming notes and the debut of their livestream video format.

Killer Whales Markets Ep.24 — Comprehensive Notes and Highlights

Format, participants, and setup

  • First livestreamed video edition on X (Twitter) and YouTube; plan to continue weekly on Wednesdays. The video allows showing charts/tweets and live reactions.
  • Audio routing note: multiple speakers’ audio comes through the Killer Whales account due to a bundling device.
  • Panel: Nathan (host, behind the Killer Whales account), Bunny, Maurice. Guest: Shotgun.
  • Minor stream quirks (X preview title showing “untitled”; screen sharing and wallet setup hiccups), but overall smooth for a first video run.

Icebreaker: Social moment — Ashley Deacon vs. Eric Trump

  • Bunny surfaced a months-later “dunk” by Eric Trump on creator Ashley Deacon, who previously mocked his “buy the dip” call. Trump had seemingly bookmarked Ashley’s old tweet and replied after market strength returned.
  • Panel tone: lighthearted. Nathan and Maurice praised Ashley’s authenticity and humor; observation that even a “dunk” can be a net W given the engagement boost.

Market overview: Ethereum leading; last week’s calls landed

  • Ethereum price status (live during show): ~$4,719; panel cited the all-time high (ATH) near ~$4,878 (Bunny quoted $4,878.26). ETH has been “rocketing” in recent weeks.
  • Recap of last week’s predictions:
    • Nathan: ETH to break $4,000 within 7 days — correct.
    • Sander’s take (referenced, not present live): Punks strength vs. other blue chips was broadly aligned with the NFT bid returning.
    • General sense: all major calls last week ended up right given the market tailwind.
  • Note from Maurice: predicting post-pump becomes harder than predicting the pop itself.

Meme-platform and token flow: Pump.fun vs. Bags vs. BONK

  • Bunny and Nathan: Pump.fun’s recovery has been striking; back near its initial valuation zone (ICO context discussed), with current market cap cited near ~$3.8–4.0B during the session.
  • Shotgun added 24h volume comps (approximate, panel-cited):
    • Pump: ~$600M
    • BONK: ~$98.8M
    • Bags: ~$84M
  • Bags platform positioning: fee-sharing design (creators receive transaction fees to their X accounts) may reduce creator dumping incentives; observed use cases include charity tries, mixed success.
  • Headline marketing moment: the WIF meme hat (from the viral meme) purchased for 6.8 BTC (~$800k); panel said buyer is the founder of Bags. Viewed as a signal of deep liquidity and attention.
  • BONK timeline presence faded relative to Pump/Bags recently; a “BONK sticker” drop was seen as a local top marker by Shotgun, though he doesn’t call BONK “dead.”

NFT market breadth: price checks, thesis, and targets

  • Chromie Squiggles (Art Blocks): floor 6.12 ETH ($28k). Panel consensus: iconic, love for the art and on-chain generative OG status.
  • Pudgy Penguins ecosystem:
    • Little Pudgys floor ~ $7.6k discussed as an “attainable” entry vs. main Pudgys ~ $60–80k range mentioned; Nathan and Maurice both tempted.
    • Bunny recalled Luca’s acquisition era when floors were far lower; regrets not buying then.
  • On1 Force (anime OG):
    • Maurice favors On1 Force as an underrated pick; notes recent pump.
    • Cross-chain angle: separate collection on Bitcoin Ordinals with a ~$242 floor; ETH collection around ~$726 (USD-equivalent cited). Good art and a credible team based on a recent space.
  • Yuga Labs ecosystem:
    • Otherdeeds (Otherside) and migration: two collections (Original and Expanded) exist due to a required migration; only ~half completed historically per Bunny’s recollection.
    • Bunny sees Otherside as high risk/high upside; UGC experiences live now; building a metaverse at scale is hard but progressing.
    • Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC): floor roughly comparable to Little Pudgys per Nathan’s scan, but he wants more context on utility/culture before entry.
    • Light banter on pronouncing BAYC (Bunny prefers “bayc,” Nathan had said “bake”).
  • Moonbirds:
    • Bunny bullish to 3 ETH; notes Spencer’s leadership “cooking” since taking over; Moonbirds flipped Miladies and Azuki this week (per Bunny’s observation).
  • Azuki / BEANZ / Anime Coin:
    • Shotgun still holds BEANZ from airdrop; round-tripped value from ~$30k to ~$5k; believes team is building, remains patient.
    • GameSquare (NASDAQ-listed; also associated with FaZe) to buy $2.5M of ANIME coin on the open market for treasury and becomes Anime Coin Foundation’s agency in a deal also involving $2.5M in tokens. They reportedly hold ~$250M of ETH blue-chip NFTs in treasury already.
    • Focus areas: merchandising and gaming integrations; Shotgun is most intrigued by the gaming angle. Bunny flagged a costly Azuki watch collaboration (price called “like 25” — very expensive) and social media banter where Zagabond clapped back at critics.
    • Shotgun’s take: Azuki and ANIME token feel undervalued relative to peers, but the asymmetric bet right now might still be Otherside if Yuga nails the game.
  • Sappy Seals:
    • Bunny doesn’t mind Seals due to strong crypto-Twitter holder base (name-dropped big accounts). Sees potential game tie-in; candidly admits he hasn’t tracked development closely.
  • Bodogos (Solana):
    • Strong community, active “in the trenches” trading intel in Discord; sustainable revenues cited by Bunny; suggests as an affordable, community-first entry.
    • Live floor cited: 3.8 SOL ($760 when SOL ≈ $200). Nathan tried to buy one on-stream (Phantom vs. MetaMask setup issue) and committed to purchase post-stream.
  • Claynosaurz (Solana):
    • Shotgun and Maurice positive on art, animation/IP and broad social reach (Instagram/TikTok), often compared to Pudgys-as-a-serviceable IP archetype; quoted floor around ~11 SOL.
  • DeGods (Solana):
    • Shotgun noted a ~9 SOL floor; Bunny remarked on the project’s resilience despite founder distractions and chain migrations; still above many peers.
    • SMB (Solana Monkey Business) quoted around ~20 SOL.

Culture and platform odds-and-ends

  • X checkmark behavior: changing PFP or account name often drops the checkmark unless on an affiliate setup. This affects how frequently participants rotate PFPs (e.g., Sander cycles between Punk/BAYC/MAYC to match market narratives).
  • Human-photo PFP norms: joked as a “red flag” for male accounts; women get a pass; in general, NFT PFP is the cultural standard for crypto-native identity.

Corporate and macro news mentions

  • Bullish (parent company of CoinDesk) IPO: listed at $37; limited details discussed beyond listing; noted as an indicator of crypto’s return to mainstream market venues.
  • Liquidity breadth: panel sees large, tactical capital flowing into exchanges and assets across cycles — recurring reminder that significant money is in-market now.

Enforcement: Do Kwon plea

  • Do Kwon pled guilty to two counts (conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud).
  • Faces up to 25 years in prison and a $19M forfeiture; sentencing set for December 11.
  • Panel reaction: $19M feels small relative to the ~$40B collapse; uncertainty about actual time he will serve; desire for a legal expert’s view.

Predictions for the coming week

  • Nathan:
    • Solana to $230 by next Wednesday (current context: hovering around $200 during show). Thesis: break and hold above ~$209–210 resistance amid a strong market could open a move into $230–$250; official call is $230.
    • Secondary group question: Does ETH break its ATH by next Wednesday? Nathan says yes.
  • Bunny:
    • Moonbirds to 3 ETH this week; momentum under new leadership continues.
    • ETH to break ATH by next Wednesday: agrees yes.
  • Maurice:
    • Bitcoin to $125,000 with a tag-and-pullback expectation (i.e., a reaction lower after first touch). Recognizes strong buy flows but expects resistance behavior at the round level.
  • Shotgun:
    • Ethereum to $5,000.
    • Side note: Suggested getting exposure to “Abstract” (unclear in transcript; likely referring to a scaling/ecosystem rotation play) on the thesis that liquidity rotating into ETH then tends to flow into adjacent L2/ecosystems.
  • Maurice add-on: If ETH breaks ATH, expect a new Web2-origin meme coin to erupt (fresh ticker, not a legacy one).

Notable takeaways and highlights

  • ETH leadership is pulling NFTs and alt activity with it; several NFT mid-caps resurfacing with credible catalysts (Moonbirds, On1 Force, Otherside, Seals, Solana IP sets like Bodogos/Claynosaurz).
  • Meme-token platform competition is intense (Pump.fun vs. Bags), but Pump currently leads by a large margin on volumes; innovative fee models (Bags) may improve creator alignment.
  • Corporate alignment with NFT/IP tokens is growing: GameSquare’s ANIME coin buy + agency role formalizes institutional relationships around NFT-native brands.
  • Despite market euphoria, panel acknowledges resistance mechanics at major round numbers and prior highs (BTC 125k reaction risk; ETH ATH test mechanics; SOL’s 210 zone significance).
  • Community and distribution matter: affordable, high-engagement communities (e.g., Bodogos) are attractive entries during a rising tide.

Programming notes

  • Recurring schedule: Hello Club space on Tuesdays; Killer Whales Markets on Wednesdays (now livestreamed). Replays on Spotify and YouTube. Killer Whales Academy stream with Maurice on Friday.