In late December 2025, Solana’s meme ecosystem was thriving on viral, scandal-driven tokens that capitalized on real-world controversies, where quick launches on pump.fun turned public outrage into tradable narratives. Learing burst onto the scene perfectly aligned with a massive Minnesota daycare fraud exposé by YouTuber Nick Shirley, whose December 26 video revealed Somali-run centers allegedly defrauding millions in government funds for non-existent children, epitomized by the infamous “Quality Learing Center” sign missing an ‘n’ in “learning.” This typo transformed a grave issue of taxpayer abuse—over $110M across centers—into a meme-worthy mockery of incompetence, immigration policies, and systemic scams, spreading rapidly across X and TikTok. Solana, with its fast, cheap transactions and meme-friendly tools, was emotionally charged: traders, fatigued by rugs but excited by timely satire, sought the next cultural hit after similar political tokens. Learing stood out as the original Solana play (before Base versions fragmented liquidity), embracing pure, edgy humor without added utilities—it captured the market’s readiness for flash narratives amid crypto’s holiday volatility and broader distrust in government spending.
Who Spotted It First
Runner Type: Smart wallet (sniper bots or early degens). The first signal was initial buys on pump.fun right after the December 27 launch, with small entries at sub-$10K MC signaling confidence in the scandal tie-in. These runners mattered as classic Solana snipers, scanning for viral hooks like the “learing” misspelling post-Shirley’s video. Their credibility comes from patterns matching past winners (e.g., scandal memes), making this a signal via rapid volume—foreshadowing CT adoption and turning early positions into multiples.
Why It Ran
Learing’s pump was driven by impeccable narrative timing, launching December 27 amid Shirley’s December 26 video exploding the Minnesota daycare fraud, positioning the token as satirical commentary on $110M+ waste and incompetence. Elon’s tweets on related scandals added credibility, drawing mainstream eyes and validating the meme. Liquidity was strong with 100% LP burned after Raydium migration, enabling stable spikes without rugs. Social momentum surged causally: high-engagement posts (e.g., Mario Nawfal’s breakdown) and Elon’s fraud calls fueled FOMO, with holder count jumping 35x amid political buzz. Structurally, Solana’s speed sustained it beyond average memes (400x MC vs. 100x typical), via low fees and viral tie-in. Momentum persisted through community memes and integrations, but faded from narrative fatigue—no fresh developments post-video—and Base competitors splitting attention, plus profit dumps eroding trust.
Influential Tweets & Social Signals
Ilhan Omar committed fraud
| Influence | Ultra-high (billions in reach). |
| Signal | Direct accusation of fraud against Ilhan Omar in context of Minnesota scandals. |
| Impact | Amplified the fraud narrative nationally, drawing massive attention to related memes like $learing. |
You really can't make this shit up, it's like I'm watching a comedy skit 1. Set up fake childcare center to defraud the Government 2. Misspell 'learning' 3. Get caught by a citizen journalist and his camera 4. Get embarrassed in front of over 100m people 5. Fix the misspelling 6. Forget to fix another misspelling of their street name 7. Get called out again 8. Try to fix it, and fail And they want us to believe parents put their children in a place run by these stooges... Source: @nicksortor
| Influence | High (large crypto and news audience). |
| Signal | Detailed breakdown of the 'learing' misspelling and fraud exposure steps. |
| Impact | Highlighted the absurdity, boosting viral spread and tying into $learing meme virality. |
LEARING is the most viral word in the US political space. $LEARING started as a dumb spelling mistake on a daycare banner that was receiving public funding, and the irony was too perfect for the internet to ignore. That misspelled “LEARING” sign led people to uncover a wider issue across Minnesota, where so-called “Learing” centers were abusing government funding by operating fake daycares and learing centers. The fraud became impossible to overlook when it was revealed they couldn’t even spell Learning correctly. The Somali daycare banner and the broader daycare-funding scandal have since gone viral on X, pulling in millions of impressions. When Elon Musk jumped in and called it the word of the year, it stopped being a local joke and became an internetmeme. Community: https://t.co/Qc5RsEFM14… CA: 3kC6gheQ5fxK8iKWWDHeomHU5Z6U2dUWfqEK6dpLpump
| Influence | Medium (crypto marketing focus). |
| Signal | Explanation of $learing origins tied to the scandal and Elon's involvement. |
| Impact | Directly promoted the token, linking real-world virality to crypto momentum. |
Signal vs Noise
Genuine signals included Shirley’s video and Elon’s fraud tweets, reliably spiking engagement and holder growth by tying real outrage to the meme. Misleading were overblown partnership claims or competing chain hype, seeming bullish but diluting liquidity. What appeared insignificant but crucial: Early pump.fun buys post-video—they signaled virality before mainstream, overlooked until proven. Conversely, high CT likes post-peak seemed strong but were noise, often FOMO or bots without sustained scandal updates. Hindsight: Real-world exposure + typo satire drove it; chain splits and fatigue killed momentum—prioritize OG narratives next time.
What We Learned from $learing
- Early traders succeeded by identifying the narrative edge early; in a fraud-heavy meta, a misspelling tied to real scandal was a viral advantage, with accumulation occurring before widespread CT buzz via on-chain signals like launch transactions.
- Scandal exposure credibility is a key early signal; Nick Shirley’s video provided legitimacy and differentiated the project from generic memes.
- Late traders underperformed by chasing peaks without validating ongoing developments; many entered post-2M market cap on FOMO, ignored red flags such as competing chains, and became exit liquidity.
- A common mistake was over-relying on CT engagement without verifying the scandal's sustainability, assuming endless political buzz could sustain price action indefinitely.
- Future Solana runners tend to follow repeatable patterns, particularly scandal-tied meme launches during political controversy cycles.
Learing’s runner case highlights Solana’s prowess in turning real-time scandals into rapid meme pumps, using pump.fun to transform a $110M fraud typo into a 400x spike—underscoring the ecosystem’s edge in viral, low-friction plays while revealing risks like narrative exhaustion and fragmentation that teach traders to chase authentic signals over fleeting hype.