LUCE, the Solana-based memecoin that was named after the vatican mascot, has experienced a new resurgence after the recent death of Pope Francis.
Following his death, there also has been many new memecoins that popped up on the market, all paying tribute to the the Pope.
According to GMGN.Ai, LUCE surged as high as 134% in the wake of Pope Francis’ passing, reaching a daily peak of $0.02517 before settling around $0.015 at press time.
The token, launched in late October 2024 after the Vatican unveiled its anime-style mascot “Luce” (meaning “light” in Italian), is not officially affiliated with the Catholic Church or the Pope.
Despite this, LUCE quickly achieved a market cap of over $80 million just days after launch and now boasts roughly 44,750 holders, $15 million in market cap, and $1.8 million in liquidity, with daily trading volumes exceeding $40 million.
The news of Pope Francis’ death has triggered a surge in Solana-based meme coins themed around the Pope. Within hours, new tokens like “Francis,” “POPE,” “RIP POPE,” and “RIP”—often featuring images of the late pontiff—began appearing, with some spiking more than 115% shortly after launch.
This rapid proliferation highlights the meme coin market’s tendency to capitalize on viral news and pop culture moments.
Despite the hype, LUCE and its copycats come with major red flags. Platform GMGN.Ai has attached a 100% rug pull probability warning to LUCE, signaling extreme risk for investors. The token has already dropped nearly 40% in the past week, underscoring the volatility and speculative nature of these meme-driven assets.
Luce, the Vatican’s official mascot for the 2025 Jubilee, was designed by Simone Legno to engage younger generations and symbolize hope and pilgrimage.
While the mascot has captured the imagination of both Catholics and anime fans, the LUCE meme coin is entirely unofficial and unaffiliated with the Vatican.
The LUCE surge is a textbook example of how meme coins can explode in response to real-world events, but also how quickly fortunes can reverse in the high-risk world of speculative crypto.
As new Pope-themed tokens continue to appear, traders are urged to exercise extreme caution—these coins are driven by hype, not fundamentals, and rug pulls remain a real threat.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, when a Pope dies or resigns, cardinals gather to elect the successor through a secret ballot,known as a papal conclave.
As a result, betting markets have launched around the prospects of papal succession. According to Myriad Markets, punters have voted Italy's Cardinal Pietro Parolin as the most possible candidate to be next in line followed by Philippines' Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who received the second most votes.
The conclave is set to convene within the next three weeks to elect a new leader for the Catholic Church’s 1.4 billion global followers.
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