Last Tuesday, shares of Chinese agricultural producer Farmmi (FAMI) on the Nasdaq exchange experienced an incredible surge in volatility. During trading, quotes spiked by more than 300% — from $0.1187 at the previous close to $0.50. The reason for this abnormal movement lies not in the company's fundamentals, but in the world of on-chain speculation, where a frenzy erupted that day around a new meme asset, JINQIAN.
By the close of the trading session, most of the gains had been erased: the final price settled at $0.1501, which still represents an increase of 26.45%. However, liquidity metrics speak for themselves: daily volume in the stock reached a colossal 867.2 million shares, compared to a modest 5.76 million on the previous trading day.
The Butterfly Effect: From SEC Filing to Meme Coin
The connection between the traditional market and the crypto sphere turned out to be curious. Farmmi's product range includes dried mushrooms, and the company's annual report mentioned a shiitake variety called Jinqian, which translates to "money mushroom." This very fact became the trigger for creating a meme token of the same name on the Robinhood Chain network.
Just one hour after launch, JINQIAN's market capitalization soared to $70 million. Lookonchain data shows how one trader invested 8 ETH (~$19,000) into the asset and then exited the position for 82.54 ETH (~$198,000), locking in a net profit of about $179,000 on a single trade. Trading volume in the JINQIAN/FAMI pair over the first three hours approached $88 million.
A Controversial Trail: An AI-Generated Post
The meme coin's launch was preceded by a publication from a well-known crypto trader under the pseudonym Rune. In it, he claimed to have acquired 37.4% of shares in an unnamed Nasdaq-listed company, spending $1.8 million on the purchase. However, after the rally began, Rune disavowed his own words, admitting that the post had been generated by the Claude neural network at his request, and that all the figures turned out to be "fabricated or exaggerated." The trader also denied any involvement in the issuance of the FAMI and JINQIAN tokens.
An Important Caution: FAMI Is Not a Stock Token
It is critically important to understand: the FAMI token that appeared on Robinhood Chain merely replicates Farmmi's ticker but has no relation to Robinhood's official tokenized assets program. Unlike real Stock Tokens, FAMI lacks a issuance and redemption mechanism tying it to actual shares. Thus, buying this token grants investors absolutely no rights to the company's securities on Nasdaq. Moreover, 38% of FAMI's supply was initially held by the contract creator, and the trading pair lacked liquidity locking, creating enormous risks for uninformed participants.
Fundamental Context: Farmmi on the Brink of Delisting
It is worth noting that prior to this surge, Farmmi shares were in a deep slump. On August 11, Nasdaq sent the company a notice of violation of the minimum bid price requirement: the stock had traded below $1 for 30 consecutive sessions. The company was given until February 8, 2027, to remedy the situation. The financial position also leaves much to be desired: for fiscal year 2025, revenue fell by more than half (from $64.1 million to $28 million), while net loss soared from $4.6 million to $53.4 million.
My analytical conclusion: This situation is a vivid example of how narrative and speculative fervor in the crypto community can create an illusion of value with no real foundation. Such stories, where a meme coin "revives" a loss-making issuer, usually end the same way: organizers profit at the expense of retail investors who enter positions at the peak of the hype. Always verify whether a token is an official instrument backed by real assets, rather than merely a game with tickers.