Authored by: Mia, ChainCatcher
Edited by: Marco, ChainCatcher
When discussing the release of Meme coins with ChainCatcher, Old Mike (pseudonym) used an old joke: How many steps does it take to put an elephant in the fridge?
According to Old Mike, a Meme project is like “putting an elephant in the fridge,” it only takes three steps: preheat coin issuance, market value management, and community maintenance.
During Meme Summer, ChainCatcher talked to several Meme coin operators. Some actively followed the trend by launching Meme coins and managing the projects; others wholesale issued Meme coins, creating a buzz and constantly shifting focus; while some became “shareholders” by buying Meme coins and becoming project operators.
In this wealth creation movement, human emotions vary.
According to The Block Pro data, in May of this year, there were about 455,000 tokens created on the Solana blockchain, 177,000 on the Base chain, and 39,000 on the BNB Chain, not including other public chains.
Most of the tokens created on Solana are Meme tokens, partially due to the popularity of Pump.fun.
It is estimated that at least 100,000 tokens are generated on the chain daily. The environment for one-click coin issuance has become a paradise for monetizing Meme culture.
Perhaps behind every Meme coin you consider buying and waiting for one to explode is the same team conducting batch issuances.
However, this frenzy seems to show no signs of ending, as numerous institutions are joining in.
Projects are in motion.
Recently, Xiao Xi (pseudonym) released advertisements for a Meme coin through various media, announcing a collaboration between their Meme coin and a film company to create a series of films based on the Meme series.
Xiao Xi mentioned that he has been active in various “dog” groups and that many Meme projects are not well-prepared and lack a clear direction. They simply latch onto a trend, gain popularity and traffic, then quickly release the token address and determine the issuance time.
His project falls into this category.
A project that was originally intended to be developed slowly latched onto the Meme hype and hastily released the coin. Without a solid concept and product support, this project achieved success.
“This success may be more attributed to market hype. Nowadays, many Meme projects’ success depends entirely on market hype,” Xiao Xi said.
Meme projects endorsed by celebrities are more likely to gain traction.
The Meme coin $Jenner, endorsed by Caitlyn Jenner, the stepfather of the Kardashian sisters, surged from Pump.fun to the secondary market, increasing a thousandfold.
Elon Musk’s support for Dogecoin made it a representative of the last bull market.
Although former President Trump did not personally endorse any Meme, there are many tokens named after him in the market, experiencing rapid fluctuations due to his news.
However, most grassroots Meme projects lack the influence and intellectual property endorsement, and their traffic mostly comes from market trends.
If a project seizes a hot trend successfully, initiates presales, and brings liquidity and initial funding to the project, some projects will start taking action.
“To be honest, we had nothing in the beginning, but users thought we were keeping the project ‘secret,'” Xiao Xi said. It was only after they had funds that they began building the project.
When asked if this approach was too risky and if users were worried about them exiting, Xiao Xi responded, “This coin issuance process has become the norm in the current Meme market. I cannot confirm if other ‘dog’ projects will exit, but we will not.”
As Xiao Xi said, most Meme coins originate from a specific trend or market hype. Once the funds are in place, the project team starts researching concepts, strategies, and future plans.
Regarding the risk of exiting, for “10U Warriors” investing in Meme “dog” coins, it feels more like gambling. This speculative mindset makes the Meme market more chaotic.
Veteran Meme player R (pseudonym) stated, “Anything in the early stages will be chaotic, just like the A-shares in the 1990s. Everyone is skeptical, but the current Meme environment is much better than the previous bull market.”
Meme coins are forming an industrial chain.
Meme Coin Industrial Chain
From celebrity coin releases to various animated characters and even “meme packs,” every Meme coin has a purpose.
Old Mike has been involved in the issuance of many Meme projects. In his view, managing a mature Meme project is like “putting an elephant in the fridge,” it only requires three steps: preheating coin issuance, market value management, and community maintenance.
This mature operational matrix involves the entire crypto industry chain.
Coin issuance starts with preheating. Meme matrix researcher Ghost (pseudonym) told ChainCatcher that preheating can be done through self-fermentation of Meme IPs, such as “pepe” and “doge,” which already have traffic, resonating with the masses to gain popularity. Another method is through the crazy promotion by crypto KOLs, community leaders, and industry media.
Old Mike believes that promotion is necessary for Meme projects. Setting expectations too high may make it difficult for retail investors and whales to get involved.
When the hype reaches a certain level, coin issuance can begin. The current issuance methods include project presale and fair launch.
Regarding market value management of Meme, some project teams choose to involve market makers, while others opt for community collaboration.
Ghost believes that if a project team focuses too much on promotion in the early stages of Meme, excessively high market value may lead to participants in presales, airdrops, or the project team itself losing control and abandoning the ecosystem.
Most “dead” Meme projects on the chain show a pattern of high opening and low performance, either due to investors in the presale selling off or unscrupulous project teams running away with the funds.
In response, Old Mike stated, “Market value management should involve market makers, as whales continuously arbitrage within a Meme project, making sustained upward trends difficult. Most so-called ‘project control’ is just wash trading, ensuring perpetual gains for the project.”
For project maintenance, R’s strategy is to “promote during highs, plan during lows.”
During market highs, more promotion should be done to expand the market. When facing market lows, planning for the next steps and team optimization is crucial.
As Meme progresses to the late stage, Old Mike admitted, “Listing on a major exchange is the only way out.”
Listing on a major exchange means going mainstream, but very few Meme projects survive to the secondary market; the primary market is the battleground for Meme.
Listing on an exchange also leaves some of the life and death of Meme coins in the hands of the exchange, as “with mediocre liquidity, Meme coins face the risk of being delisted.”
Therefore, when the positive effects of listing on an exchange start, project teams work on promotion to boost the price. At this point, the price of Meme coins reaches a new high.
This peak could be the start of something new or the end.
“Now, a large number of sell-offs will occur after listing on an exchange,” Old Mike said. Currently, most Meme speculators tend to sell after the positive effects, as “they don’t care if it flies off the shelves, as selling off perpetually earns them.”
Speculators are the main audience in the Meme race, and maintaining these speculators is the most challenging issue for project teams in the development of Meme coins.
White knights or community consensus
Whether successful in getting rich or hindered by Meme, the real driving force behind every project has always been the grassroots users of the crypto community.
R explained, “In the early stages, individual investors who enjoy rapid trading may become more united over time.”
Meme coins represent decentralization, and the community embodies decentralized collective consciousness. When this collective consciousness turns into consensus, the decentralization of Meme coins becomes complete.
Successful Meme coins are not solely driven by the project team but also by the collective enthusiasm of the community.
Community involvement (CTO) is common in the Meme field, with R being one of them.
When faced with malicious team exits in the early stages, R and a group of like-minded community OGs, KOLs, began voluntarily taking on the operation of the entire Meme project.
R stated, “Our strength and that of the KOLs are powerful; the subsequent success is all thanks to the long-term team we have now.”
In R’s view, rescuing a project from a malicious team is a testament to the power of community consensus, injecting vitality and vitality into the Meme project.
Currently, every Meme project comes with official TG and Discord groups, with official administrators to maintain an active atmosphere and answer user questions.
Most mature Meme projects conduct regular AMA events, showcasing project updates to the public and addressing user queries, while also allowing the community to offer suggestions to the project team.
Compared to the centralization of mainstream coins, the top-down connectivity established by the Meme community is more decentralized.
Excessive decentralization – Meme as a speculative casino
As Meme coins push decentralization to the extreme, speculation grows unchecked.
For Old Mike, issuing coins was never his initial intention, but the profit-seeking and speculative nature of Meme drew him in.
The transparency and decentralization on the chain make it a natural breeding ground for speculation.
Old Mike has witnessed the birth and demise of many Meme projects.
“For me, projects are like pets; I don’t have high expectations for them. I see their entire life from birth,” he shared.
Very few projects truly break away from the cycle, with most either starting and ending abruptly, but behind them, perhaps, is the same team.
Old Mike defended himself, “I never consider myself a big loser. In the Meme race, most are speculators; there are losses and gains.”
In the Meme casino, human desires are magnified infinitely in high multiplier increases, attracting more and more profit-seeking speculators.
Ghost believes, “The Meme market sees many ‘one-night stands,’ where people are frantically profiting. But afterward, only trapped speculators and depleted liquidity remain.”
“Take a risk, and a bicycle becomes a motorcycle,” this phrase is often heard in the Meme community. For most players buying Meme coins daily, purchasing coins feels more like buying a lottery ticket.
“As an investor and ‘Builder,’ R views Meme from an investment perspective, “Many Meme coins now have certain use cases and are gradually heading towards good long-term development. As long as the investment is reasonable, I still have confidence in this area.”
In every market cycle, Meme tokens play a crucial role. An investor group passionate about a specific Meme gathers, rapidly driving up the price of a particular asset in a short period. This strategy has become popular in the crypto field, boosting token prices while revitalizing the entire ecosystem.
From Solana to Base and now to Ton, Meme coins are leading this bull market, with more traditional institutions turning their focus to Meme. Avalanche even established specialized Meme token funds.
