Editing Luce

**Luce** (ticker **LUCE**) is an unofficial [[Solana]] memecoin named after Luce, the mascot of the Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee, created on [[pump.fun]] within hours of the mascot's unveiling on 28 October 2024.[^1] It passed an $80 million market cap within two days.[^1]

## Lore
The Vatican's jubilee organiser, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, presented the mascot at a news conference on 28 October 2024.[^2] It was designed by Italian artist Simone Legno, owner of the company tokidoki; "luce" is Italian for "light", and the character wears a yellow raincoat and muddy boots and carries a pilgrim's staff.[^2] The mascot spread online through Catholic memes and fan art, and the token's market cap passed $50 million in its first week.[^2]

LUCE went from the pump.fun home page to more than $80 million in market cap within two days.[^1] By 19 November 2024 it had the ninth-largest market cap of any pump.fun token, and Bybit had listed a LUCE perpetual future with up to 12.5x leverage in its Innovation Zone.[^1] The token peaked at about $0.30 in November 2024.[^3]

After Pope Francis died on 21 April 2025, LUCE rose about 45% in a day to $0.013, with 24-hour volume up from $5 million to $60.27 million; it had about 44,800 holders and remained about 95% below its peak.[^3]

## Timeline
- 2024-10-28: Vatican unveils the Luce mascot; LUCE is created on pump.fun[^1][^2]
- 2024-10-30: market cap passes $80 million[^1]
- 2024-11-19: Bybit lists LUCE perpetual futures and runs a spot-listing vote[^1]
- 2025-04-21: Pope Francis dies; LUCE volume rises twelvefold[^3]

## Controversies
The token is not affiliated with the Vatican and carries an "unaffiliated and unofficial" warning.[^3]

## See also
- [[Celebrity memecoins]]
- [[YZY]]
- [[Broccoli]]
- [[Iggy Azalea]]
- [[Haliey Welch]]
- [[Daddy Tate]]
- [[Mother Iggy]]
- [[Hawk Tuah]]

## References
1. [Catholic Church-Inspired Meme Coin Luce Blesses Traders With Righteous Gains](https://decrypt.co/292407/catholic-church-inspired-meme-coin-luce-blesses-traders-with-righteous-gains), Decrypt, 2024-11-19
2. [Vatican's anime-style mascot Luce goes viral on internet with Catholic memes, fan art](https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/vatican-s-anime-style-mascot-luce-goes-viral-on-internet-with-catholic-memes-fan-art), EWTN News (Catholic News Agency), 2024-11-03
3. [Unofficial Catholic Meme Coin LUCE Surges as Bettors Wager On Next Pope](https://decrypt.co/315714/unofficial-catholic-meme-coin-luce-surges-bettors-wager-next-pope), Decrypt, 2025-04-22
Title
Ticker
Contract checked by reviewers
Chain
Launched
Launchpad
Deployer checked by reviewers
Status
X
Telegram
Website
Also known as