PAIN is the meme coin of the legendary meme OG "Hide the Pain Harold" that raised 185,976 SOL (equivalent to about $37 million) just 48 hours after the sale opened.
This figure seems to be higher than any other meme coin presale in terms of USD value. To put it in perspective, the PAIN meme coin raised an amount 3 times more than the SLERF meme coin raised at its launch in 2024.
Surprising success of the PAIN meme presale
In an announcement recorded by BeInCrypto, at 11:17 am on February 2nd Vietnam time, a meme coin project called PAIN launched a 48-hour presale on the X platform. Participants were informed that they would receive PAIN coins after the presale ended, and the distribution ratio of PAIN coins would be based on the ratio of SOL contributed by each person and the total SOL raised by the project.
Exactly 2 days later, at 8:10 pm on February 5th, 2025 Vietnam time, the PAIN project announced that they had raised 185,976 SOL. Notably, the project also stated that they would refund 80% of the funds received from the presale and only retain 20% to support the launch, provide liquidity, and pay listing fees (if any).
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Who is Hide the Pain Harold?
Hide the Pain Harold is the nickname of a man named Andras István Arato. We are quite familiar with Andras István Arato through the meme image shown below. The owner of the Hide the Pain Harold nickname is a retired electrical engineer and model from Hungary.
Hide the Pain Harold's real name is Andras István AratoAlthough he is not an expert or KOL in the cryptocurrency field, Arato has also appeared at some industry events. According to BeInCrypto's records, in August 2019, the old man was invited to attend an event organized by 9GAG, the parent company behind Memeland, in Hong Kong. Recently, Arato also had a photo taken with CZ at the Blockchain Week Dubai event organized by Binance in 2024.
Hide the Pain Harold once took a photo with CZ at the Blockchain Week DubaiIs the PAIN meme coin not related to Arato?
Although using Arato's image, the PAIN meme coin is most likely not or has no connection with him. According to the information BeInCrypto has researched, Arato has a personal Facebook account but has not posted or mentioned any content related to the PAIN coin.
It is possible that Memeland is the author behind the PAIN meme coin. The evidence is that when the PAIN X account posted information about the presale, the official Memeland account also shared that post, helping to increase traffic and coverage. Therefore, some community members speculate that this PAIN presale has been in the works by Meneland for a long time.
The shadow of Wintermute behind the PAIN coin
After the PAIN presale ended, some community members also discovered the presence of market makers by analyzing the payment addresses on the chain. After receiving funds from the market maker Wintermute and related wallets, one address transferred 1,700 SOL to the PAIN fundraising address in 4 transactions.
Wintermute is a quite active MM in creating the market for meme coins in this cycle. Some major meme coin projects related to Wintermute include SLERF, MOODENG, and ACT. Although there may be subsequent pump and dump actions, for a newly launched meme coin project like PAIN, the participation of MMs like Wintermute still plays an important role in driving the success of the project.
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