WEEX Labs: The Next Act of Memecoin, The Flashmob Era

Author: WEEX Labs

In the somewhat weary market environment, Memecoin, although no longer in a frenzy, remains a battleground for the attention economy.

Memecoin is not over yet, just pivoting

Compared to the 2024 scene where Memecoin reigned supreme, this year's Memecoin has indeed become much quieter after $TRUMP, but this is not the end; it is a transition to the next phase of the market.

• From Solana to Base, BNB Chain: Early on, Solana monopolized 90% of the new coin issuance share with its low fees and high speed, especially with the launch of Pump.fun, which significantly decentralized the token issuance rights, catalyzing the year-long meme craze in 2024. However, with multi-chain expansions and continued efforts from other public chains, Solana's share has now dropped to 57%, with BNB Chain, Base Chain, and others constantly seizing on-chain share.

• Small and medium-sized Memes become mainstream: The Memecoin market has shifted from the narrative dominated by Ethereum chain DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, and other billion-dollar market cap coins to the birth of large Memecoins worth billions on the Solana chain, such as BONK, WIF, FARTCOIN, TRUMP, and now to the emergence of small to medium-sized Memecoins worth tens of millions on various chains, such as BRETT and TOSHI on the Base chain, and Binance Man, BROCCOLI, and others on the BNB chain, signaling that the market cap ceiling of Memecoins is continuously lowering, and the market is becoming more mature.

• Rotation pace accelerates: With limited liquidity growth and the accelerating trend of Memecoin quantity, the market's rotation pace has shifted from "weekly" to "hourly." Particularly benefiting from the proliferation of AI tools and the upgrade of social media algorithms, the viral spread speed and decay speed have increased significantly, leading to a large number of new coins reaching their peak from launch within 24-48 hours, with a lifecycle much faster than the previous weekly cycle.

Recent Popular Memecoins: Social Media Buzz + Small to Medium Market Cap

Browsing through recently popular Memecoins undoubtedly validates the above changes.

$Franklin: Franklin The Turtle was originally a classic children's character from a series of books and TV shows in Canada in the late 80s and 90s. The current U.S. Secretary of Defense recently posted a political satire image on X expressing the U.S.'s tough stance on cross-border military drug enforcement. Subsequently, the Memecoin of the same name portrayed Franklin Turtle as a satirical, militarized anti-drug warrior. The coin was launched on December 1st and reached a peak FDV of $24.36M on the 10th, currently pulling back to $5.4M.

$DOYR: The origin is that DYOR was mistakenly typed as DOYR, and later in a reply post suggesting "DOYR = DO YouR meme?," the BNB Chain community quickly launched a Memecoin of the same name. The coin was launched on December 6 and reached its peak FDV of $31.34M the next day, currently falling to $3.4M.

$Horse Success: Originating from the Chinese community's blessing phrase "马到成功" (instant success), it is a popular Chinese Memecoin following "Binance Life" and "Vulgar Penguin." The coin was launched on November 15, peaked at an FDV of $5.03M on December 2, and is currently at $2.6M.

$jesse: A personal Memecoin issued by Base co-founder Jesse in November. The coin was launched on November 21, reached its peak FDV of $28.08M the same day, and is currently at $10M.

Opportunities for Structural Changes in Memecoins

From the inception of DOGE's dog meme to today's diverse ecosystem where any topic can become a coin, Memecoins are no longer just internet jokes but a perfect blend of community narrative, attention diffusion, and speculative fervor.

This year's Memecoin market has been as exhilarating as a roller coaster: accelerated rotation, reduced scale, cross-chain expansion, all signaling a transition from frenzy to maturity.

It is foreseeable that in the future, regardless of the market's direction, the Memecoin market will never be silent because as long as there is attention, there will always be someone going all-in with a dog meme to spread emotions.

However, in this era of flash mobs, Memecoins have begun to transition from being a "joke" to a "cultural index." For example, established tokens like DOGE, SHIB, and BONK are breaking free from religious constraints, continually undergoing technological upgrades and applying them to empower memes. On the other hand, more newly minted small to medium Memecoins are shifting towards "social media popularity + data-driven" strategies, with higher risks but finer opportunities. The price fluctuations of these Memecoins also represent the evolution of certain social topics' popularity.

Regardless, this structural shift will reshape the investment thesis, providing participants with more opportunities while also putting a greater emphasis on DYOR.

* This article is provided by WEEX Labs for trend research and discussion purposes only, and does not constitute any form of investment advice or commitment. The content, data, and opinions contained in this article are for reference only. Investors need to make their own judgments and bear the corresponding risks.