The world’s richest man
Elon Musk appears to have greenlit the revival of old school video app Vine, after an xAI employee announced that the company has acquired the defunct mobile app.
In response, the Pump.fun launched Vine Coin, VINE, created by the app’s co-founder, has spiked 122% over the past three days.
Musk’s love affair with Vine
Musk’s love affair with Vine started back in January when he said he was “looking into” bringing back the popular app, amid concerns that TikTok would be banned in the U.S.. Not long after, the co-founder of Vine, Rus Yusupov, launched a Solana meme coin hinting that the app’s return could possibly use the token, prompting it to quickly touch a $498 million market cap.
But that was short-lived. It has since fallen 89% to $55 million.
Announcement from xAI
On Friday, Dane Jacobson, an employee of xAI, the artificial intelligence arm of Musk’s X, said on X that the company now “owns” Vine. He asked his followers what should be done with the app.
Musk responded “feel free to take that on,” with many taking this as the billionaire greenlighting the revival. Yusupov reposted the exchange.
Vine Coin activity
Vine Coin pumped 110% from Friday into Saturday to a market cap of $52 million, following the Musk interaction. The token then retraced 41% to $30.55 million on Sunday, before spiking another 80% to $55 million on Monday. Over the entire three day period, the coin climbed 122%, according to DEX Screener.
Market predictions
Polymarket betters believe there is a 24% chance that X relaunches Vine before July, down from 58% at the end of January.
Website and rumors
Alongside the launch of Vine Coin, Yusupov created a website of the same name which includes a waitlist. This has spurred on rumors that the popular app will soon return— and might even incorporate the token.
Musk’s ventures in cryptocurrency
Musk has previously toyed with using cryptocurrencies in his business ventures, including accepting Dogecoin for Tesla vehicles and investing in crypto through his companies. More recently, it was reported that the billionaire was pondering the use of a public blockchain for the Department of Government Efficiency, although this hasn’t come to fruition yet.
New ventures by Venmo co-founder
Similarly, co-founder of Venmo Iqram Magdon-Ismail has created a podcasting app called JellyJelly that utilizes a Pump.fun token of the same name for a tipping feature. On its January launch, it spiked at a market cap of $248.5 million but has since fallen 94% to a $14.88 million market cap, according to DEX Screener.