Foreword

Recently, with the approval of the Spot Bitcoin ETFs, market enthusiasm has gradually reached its peak. MEME Coins, led by inscriptions and the Solana community, have once again swept through, with stories of thousandfold and ten-thousandfold wealth explosions dominating social media, drawing in retail investors who missed out on the market trend.

So, what makes recent MEME Coins different from those in the past? And in a market flooded with “sh*tcoins,” how can one identify a MEME Coin with potential?

What is a MEME Coin?

The concept of “MEME” was originally introduced by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book “The Selfish Gene.” Dawkins used the term MEME to describe units of information that spread through human interaction in culture, much like genes in biology. His aim was to explain the process of cultural transmission, analogous to the transmission of genes in biological evolution. If the basic unit of biological evolution and reproduction depends on the inheritance of genes, then the basic unit for inheriting cultural ideas is the MEME. Its forms are diverse, including phrases, stories, allusions, images — any “carrier” that can hold a certain cultural idea can be considered a MEME.

Although the term MEME was initially a serious academic concept, it was redefined to some extent with the advent of the internet era, becoming a general term for various internet parody cultures. In a more colloquial sense, MEME can also correspond to the concept of “internet jokes” in Chinese internet culture.

MEME Coins, as the name suggests, are cryptocurrencies based on MEME culture, with Dogecoin often considered the first MEME Coin. Created in 2013 by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer by copying Litecoin’s code and adding a Shiba Inu meme, Dogecoin started as a parody token mocking Bitcoin (they thought Bitcoin was just “hot air”). However, its development took an ironic turn. Not only did Dogecoin not become a worthless air token, but it also gained immense popularity on Reddit, a well-known international forum. Elon Musk’s comment, “Dogecoin might be my favorite cryptocurrency, it’s pretty cool,” further propelled it to the moon. Dogecoin’s market value skyrocketed, turning a nonsensical joke into a billion-dollar legend in the crypto market, ranking among the top ten in market value.

The Hottest MEMEs of 2023

In 2021, as Dogecoin soared to the moon, various imitation tokens featuring animal images sprouted like mushrooms after the rain, each aspiring to become the next Dogecoin. At that time, the community had an interesting nickname for these tokens — “zoo coins.” However, only a few such as Shib and Floki, which gained significant popularity, survived. The rest, nearly 99% of these “zoo coins,” virtually vanished in the subsequent bear market. It seems almost like finding a needle in a haystack to pick a MEME Coin that could replicate Dogecoin’s success. So, how should one choose a seemingly baseless MEME Coin? And how should one shift their approach in a new bull market initiated by inscriptions? Let’s revisit some memorable MEME Coins from 2023, which stood out even in the bear market, to identify their commonalities and innovations.

PEPE

Pepe the Frog (PEPE), created by American cartoonist Matt Furie in 2005 for his comic “Boy’s Club,” has been a perennial favorite in Western social networks. However, in the MEME race, there was no matching PEPE Coin (in fact, the well-known PEPE token today is not the earliest, but others never gained traction). On April 4, 2023, a Twitter account named pepecoineth posted a meme image of Pepe wearing a hat, but no new tweets followed for ten days.

On April 14, the next tweet announced the creation of PEPE Coin, a Telegram group, and an official website (pepe.vip, a domain purchased in March). Two days after the token launch (allowing insiders to buy), some Twitter influencers suddenly started promoting PEPE Coin, leading to a surge in the token’s price and follower count. With the initial wave of attention, the official PEPE Twitter began mocking other MEME Coins with memes to fuel the hype. On April 18, Shaurya Malwa, the leader of Coindesk Asia’s data team, published a short report titled “Pepe the Frog’ Meme Coins Rocket as Crypto Twitter Moves Over Dogecoin Obsession,” giving PEPE further exposure. The next day, several first and second-tier exchanges began tweeting and voting on Frog-related content, with some even directly listing PEPE.

PEPE’s journey to the moon became unstoppable. Unlike its Shiba Inu predecessors, which took years to succeed, PEPE, under “careful planning,” became an overnight sensation in just four days, achieving a staggering 375,000-fold increase in a few months.

Silly Dragon (Compiled from “The Thousandfold Journey of Silly Dragon Silly”)

Silly Dragon, a MEME Coin that took off with Solana’s resurgence, has become a symbol in the community. The origin of this silly dragon dates back to the Solana Breakpoint summit on October 30 last year, where Solana co-founder Anatoly appeared in a green Western dragon costume. He joked about being a silly dragon and explained the significance of his attire: standing here in a dragon costume is crucial for discussing what we’re building and why. We need to know our goals and what we aim to achieve.

For Solana, reborn from the challenges of the bear market, this silly dragon seemed to carry special “meaning.” Twenty days after the summit, a Twitter account named DrakoSolana posted its first tweet, a modified meme image of a silly dragon. DrakoSolana gained significant attention in this trend, but unfortunately, despite being the first silly dragon on Twitter, it was overtaken by an account named Silly Dragon, which launched its token first.

Silly Dragon initially lagged in attention and tweet timing but quickly gained traction by releasing its token, SILLY. With the surge in popularity, Silly Dragon seized the moment with a silly dragon art contest.

Anatoly’s attention during this event, although the token price hadn’t soared yet, changed on December 16 when he tweeted urgently needing silly dragon memes, comparing the sales of Samsung and Apple devices to Solana phones. This tweet ignited community enthusiasm, and SILLY’s price skyrocketed, creating a new thousandfold legend.

Harry Potter Obama Sonic 10 Inu

This might be one of the longest-named tokens you’ve ever seen. Harry Potter Obama Sonic 10 Inu (abbreviated as HPOS1I for brevity, though its token name is Bitcoin) highlights its satirical nature right from its name, and the absurdity doesn’t stop there. Launched on May 10, 2023, HPOS1I gained internet fame with a rudimentary yet hilarious website filled with parodies of Harry Potter, former U.S. President Obama, Sonic the Hedgehog (the protagonist of a famous parkour game), cryptocurrencies, and the Illuminati, featuring videos, images, and spoof stories.

HPOS1I’s development approach is also unique. Now completely abandoned by its developers, the project is entirely community-driven, which is one of its unique selling points. It represents a purely community-based, meme-culture-driven development. As memes spread wildly on social media, HPOS1I’s price steadily climbed, peaking at $0.1783 in August 2022, achieving a hundredfold miracle in a bear market.

Pogai

“Pogai, the silliest panda ever, represents our most cherished youthful memories,” goes the slogan from Pogai. Its image, a familiar panda head from the Chinese internet community, represents a token with no fees, no copyrights, and no development roadmap — purely community-driven. The community decides its future direction, and all tokens are distributed, with the founder retaining only one billion Pogai tokens to be part of the silly panda family.

The project gained attention in the Chinese Twitter community with its witty and humorous promotions, along with the familiar panda head meme. Launched on May 2, 2023, at a price of $0.000008, peaking at $0.0005, Pogai didn’t see the exaggerated gains of other MEME Coins but still left a lasting impression.

SATS

In December 2022, Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor released an open-source software called ORD, running atop Bitcoin Core software. ORD allows users to mint Bitcoin inscriptions in two steps: inputting any information, such as text or images (“inscription”), on the Bitcoin blockchain, linking the uploaded inscription to a specific Satoshi. Satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, with 1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis. The final product is a Satoshi with an inscription, also known as a Bitcoin inscription.

Bitcoin inscriptions can be text-based, mainly for creating tokens like the BRC-20 standard, or image-based, primarily for creating NFTs like various cartoon characters.

SATS is a MEME inscription based on the BRC20 standard (I personally like to call inscriptions ‘divisible text NFTs,’ but a more accurate term now is ‘semi-fungible token’). Its full name is Satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, commonly abbreviated as sat, or Satoshi Nakamoto. 1 BTC equals 100 million satoshis, with a total supply of 21 trillion, equivalent to 21 million BTC.

The minting process of SATS took nearly half a year, deployed on the blockchain in March and completed by September. Unlike traditional MEME Coins with their satirical and rebellious culture, SATS is quite special. It pays homage to BTC and commemorates Satoshi Nakamoto, with its massive total supply reflecting the strong consensus behind the inscription. SATS’s popularity surged, and on December 12, 2023, its market value doubled on the day of its Binance listing, soaring to $1.15 billion, even surpassing the first inscription ORDI, ultimately achieving a 25,000-fold increase.

Diversification of MEME Coins

From the MEME Coins discussed above, it’s evident that they have evolved from the dog-themed “zoo coins” to a more diversified direction. The current categories can be divided into four types:

1. Classic MEME: Represented by PEPE and Pogai, these are tokens based on classic MEME images. Many classic MEMEs yet to be tokenized or unsuccessfully tokenized include Trollface, Grumpy Cat, Success Kid, Kermit the Frog.
2. Crypto-native MEME: Represented by BONK and Silly Dragon, these MEMEs originate from crypto-native “jokes.” Both emerged from the Solana community, with imitations like Polygon’s “Polygon Dragon.”
3. Inscription MEME: Represented by SATS and RATS, these are MEME inscriptions. Due to their unique issuance method, these MEMEs often lack visual images and are text-based. Most carry homage, commemorative, or satirical meanings, like SATS paying tribute to BTC and Satoshi Nakamoto, and RATS satirizing rat trading and exchanges.
4. Original MEME: Represented by HPOS1I and Ladys, these MEME Coins have their own original styles, different from the simple imitations of past MEME Coins.

What Elements are Essential for the Success of a MEME Coin?

Determining the potential success of a MEME Coin is a challenging task. As a product of satirical culture, the value of MEME Coins often sparks diverse opinions. In my view, the success of a MEME Coin hinges on cultural identification, promotional capabilities, and narrative direction. Let’s discuss these aspects using representative MEME Coins as examples.

The Importance of the MEME Medium

In the crypto market, we often hear tales of sudden wealth created by various MEMEs. However, only three MEME projects have made it into the top 100 by market value: Dogecoin, PEPE, and Shib. Let’s focus on the first two (Shib, essentially a Dogecoin imitation using the classic Shiba Inu image, owes its success more to grassroots culture and external factors, so it’s not elaborated here). A commonality between Dogecoin and PEPE is their use of already classic MEME images. As Alain de Botton once said, only things that are widely discussed and have a broad public base have vigorous vitality; everything else is fleeting and insignificant. This applies aptly to MEME Coins, where the extent of the audience determines the upper limit of a MEME Coin (though not the lower limit). During the last bull market, numerous non-Shiba Inu MEME Coins like Pig, Feg, and other animal tokens were popular. Why didn’t they survive? The main reason is that the public’s interest in these tokens was driven by FOMO and herd mentality, based on tales of sudden riches. The MEME elements of these tokens were mostly created by the project teams themselves, with a very limited actual audience. Once the market turned sour, these MEME Coins were on the brink of collapse.

In contrast, Doge (the image behind Dogecoin) and PEPE have been popular MEME figures in Western internet culture for over a decade (due to differences with Chinese MEME culture, we usually notice these tokens only when their prices soar, as seen with Pogai in 2023). Their widespread recognition and the plethora of parodies associated with them have deeply embedded them in public consciousness, making them highly infectious for viral spread.

Why Did This Particular PEPE Succeed?

As mentioned earlier, the PEPE we know today is not the first PEPE Coin. So why didn’t the earlier PEPEs succeed? The fundamental reason is a lack of promotional capability. Effective promotion not only accelerates the success of a MEME Coin but also determines its lower limit.

For instance, well-known brands in our daily lives often invest more in advertising. For any product, the audience for its ads can be divided into frequent consumers, infrequent consumers, and non-consumers. The logic behind ads is based on informing, persuading, reminding, and reinforcing. The promotional logic for MEME Coins should follow suit, consolidating community members and speculative buyers while attracting more potential buyers. Therefore, in addition to choosing the right medium, how to “spread the word” is equally important for a MEME Coin.

PEPE’s rapid success is inseparable from its ability to exploit human nature. Reviewing PEPE’s journey, it’s clear that influencers had quietly bought PEPE tokens early on, and their vested interests drove them to actively promote it. Additionally, the pre-planned domain name and token launch (with team members liaising with exchanges) led to a meteoric rise in price and holder addresses. Coupled with PEPE’s iconic memes and positive news, this perfect storm of factors ignited explosive viral spread. The intensity of a fire depends on the amount of fuel, and PEPE’s blaze was indeed a wildfire. PEPE’s rise was not just a stroke of luck; orchestrating such a perfect herd effect without fizzling out is no simple feat (interested readers can compare the early tweets of $pepe.BRC-20 and PEPE for insights).

A MEME That Didn’t Want to Be a MEME — Shib

Rewinding a few years, I had confidently asserted that Shib would inevitably fail. In the Web3 world, a copycat challenging the original seemed like a pipe dream. However, Shib proved me wrong. Looking back, I still view Shib’s rise as a miracle fostered by various factors. If we set aside elements of luck (like economic stimulus and Musk’s tweets) and analyze Shib, I believe its uniqueness lies in its excellent community culture and bold narrative direction.

All dog-themed MEME Coins face a critical issue: due to their simple imitation of Dogecoin, they suffer from severe homogeneity. Their promotional reach on social networks is weak, as their true audience is quite limited. Shib faced the same challenge, with Doge holding a significant advantage in Western internet culture and celebrity impact. A second-creation Shiba Inu cartoon couldn’t possibly become a “Dogecoin killer.”

Thus, Shib’s narrative had to focus on its ecosystem — a MEME Coin with Swap, cross-chain bridge, Layer2, and metaverse aspirations suddenly seems more sophisticated. Despite skepticism, I believe this direction is the only viable and sustainable path for Shib to become a Dogecoin killer.

Conclusion

The market for MEME Coins is always tempting, but it comes with high risks. According to CoinMarketCap data, there are 1,467 tokens in the MEME category. However, if we only consider the top 300 projects by market value, there are merely 9, indicating a success rate of less than one percent. With the evolution of MEME Coins and the introduction of inscription-based MEMEs, the complexity of choices is increasing. If you really want to invest in some MEME Coins today, you need to thoroughly understand the unique cultures of Crypto and Western MEMEs. A potential MEME project should at least embody cultural recognition, promotional strategies, narrative direction, and community engagement.

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