On Monday, September 2, shares of Chinese agricultural supplier Farmmi on the Nasdaq exchange experienced an impressive but short-lived surge. At one point, quotes jumped by more than 300% — from $0.1187 to $0.50, but by the close of trading, nearly all of the gains had evaporated: the final price was $0.1501 (+26.45%). Trading volume soared to 867.2 million shares, compared to a modest 5.76 million the day before.
The reason for the hype is a synergy classic to the modern crypto market between meme coins and traditional stocks. A token called JINQIAN was launched on Robinhood Chain, whose name directly references Farmmi's product range: in its annual report, the company mentioned the Jinqian shiitake variety, which translates to "money mushroom." The creators of the meme coin clearly did their homework, linking the on-chain asset to a real issuer.
Hype and its consequences
JINQIAN's market capitalization reached $70 million just an hour after launch. According to Lookonchain, one trader converted 8 ETH (~$19,000) into tokens and then sold them for 82.54 ETH (~$198,000), locking in a profit of about $179,000. Trading volume in the JINQIAN/FAMI pair approached $88 million within three hours.
However, behind this facade lies a troubling story. A crypto trader under the pseudonym Rune previously claimed to have purchased 37.4% of the shares of an unnamed Nasdaq company for $1.8 million, planning to tokenize the securities and launch a meme coin to fuel a short squeeze. The community quickly matched the parameters to Farmmi, but Rune himself later admitted: the post was generated by the Claude neural network, and all the figures were "fabricated or exaggerated." He also denied any involvement in the issuance of FAMI and JINQIAN.
FAMI — not what it seems
The FAMI token that appeared on Robinhood Chain merely replicates Farmmi's ticker but is not an official Stock Token from Robinhood. The platform's documentation lists the contract addresses of all legitimate tokenized assets, and FAMI is not among them. The issuance amounted to 37.43 million tokens, matching the number of shares outstanding, but it has no mechanism linking it to real securities. Buying FAMI does not grant rights to Nasdaq shares, and the lack of locked liquidity in the pair adds risks.
Farmmi's fundamental problems
The issuer itself is in a difficult situation. On August 11, Nasdaq sent the company a notice of violation of the minimum price requirement after 30 trading sessions below $1. The deadline for correction is February 8, 2027, for which the price must hold at no less than $1 for ten consecutive days. Financial metrics also leave much to be desired: revenue for fiscal year 2025 fell from $64.1 million to $28 million, while net loss grew from $4.6 million to $53.4 million.
My analysis: This case is a vivid example of how meme culture penetrates traditional markets, creating an illusion of liquidity where none exists. Investors should remember: on-chain tokens mimicking the tickers of real companies do not replace shares and grant no rights. Such surges are not an investment opportunity but a speculative trap, where only those who manage to exit first win.