Parody X Account Donates $69K to Charity After Memecoin Gift Peaks at $1M

A parody X account, Richard E. Ptardio, has made a notable charitable donation after the memecoins gifted to him skyrocketed in value, peaking at nearly $1 million. The account, which claims to be run by a former trader, was gifted a large amount of memecoins inspired by his likeness, and despite initial surprise, Ptardio chose to donate the windfall to a good cause.

On December 17, the Richard E. Ptardio account received 700 million PTARDIO tokens, created using the Solana token generator Pump.fun. Initially, the tokens were valued at around $53,250. However, within hours, the value of the tokens surged by 1,765%, reaching nearly $1 million.

The account quickly distanced itself from the project, noting that the creation and distribution of the tokens occurred “entirely without my knowledge or consent.” Ptardio took to X to announce that, rather than profiting from the unexpected windfall, he would sell his holdings and donate the entire proceeds to charity.

“I shall be selling my position and donating the entire proceeds to Save the Children. A far better use of the funds,” Ptardio wrote.

Though the value of the PTARDIO token eventually declined, Ptardio followed through with his commitment. He donated 313.4 Solana (worth approximately $69,000 at the time) to Save the Children, an international nonprofit that supports education, health, and other essential programs for children worldwide.

It’s not unusual for memecoin creators to distribute a portion of their token supply to the person who inspired the coin. However, Ptardio made it clear that he had no involvement in the creation of the token and sought to use the unexpected gain for a more meaningful purpose.

The Richard E. Ptardio account, which presents itself as an older man who claims to have spent 35 years working on trading desks in London, Hong Kong, and New York, began sharing his commentary on the cryptocurrency world in mid-September. The account has since gained attention for promoting memecoin investing, often emphasizing the market's unpredictability and its reward for "boldness over logic."

Despite being created only a day before the value surge, the PTARDIO token reached a peak market cap of approximately $4.75 million before falling back to around $258,000. As of the latest data, the memecoin market cap stands at $128.2 billion, with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu leading the charge at $57.9 billion and $15.4 billion, respectively, according to CoinGecko.

Ptardio’s donation highlights an unusual yet heartwarming chapter in the memecoin world, where the chaos of cryptocurrency meets charitable giving.