Author: Xiyou, ChainCatcher

Editor: Nianqing, ChainCatcher

On October 9, on-chain detective ZachXBT revealed the on-chain address holdings of meme coin analyst Murad, quickly attracting the attention of the crypto community and sparking a narrative of the revival of old meme coins. The strategy of investing in low market cap MEME coins is becoming an unspoken secret within the crypto community.

In fact, since September 15, when Binance listed three meme coins (Neiro, Turbo, and BabyDoge) in one day, leading to a capitalization dispute between Neiro and NEIRO tokens, the meme coin market has already ignited a new wave of speculation. During the National Day holiday, reports related to meme projects flooded the community, filled with various stories of overnight wealth. Vitalik Buterin (V God) sold gifted MEME coins on-chain twice in a row and publicly expressed gratitude to the MEME projects, which led to the remarkable near-hundredfold increase of the zoo coin Hippo MOODENG in a short time, attracting investors eager to catch the next hundredfold MEME coin.

However, unlike previous meme coin speculation, which was irregular and frenzied, this round of meme coin speculation mainly revolves around: the capitalization dispute of naming letters, donations to V God, and the revival of Cult (satirical culture) MEME coins.

Meme Coin Speculation Evolving from Public Chain Diversion to Capitalization Dispute

In this round of meme coin activity, the difference in letter capitalization has become a unique factor in speculation, primarily due to Binance simultaneously launching Neiro spot and NEIRO contract.

The token name NEIRO originally stemmed from the prototype of Dogecoin. On May 24 of this year, Kabosu, the Shiba Inu prototype of DOGE, passed away, prompting mourning in the crypto community. In remembrance, Kabosu's owner announced on the X platform that she had adopted a new Shiba Inu, named 'NEIRO' in English, leading to the creation of multiple meme projects with the same name across public chains like Solana and Ethereum, with different MEME projects on the same chain also differing in capitalization. However, as the MEME market cooled, many NEIRO projects on various public chains have disappeared into the annals of history, leaving only the two capitalization-distinguished NEIRO and Neiro on the Ethereum chain.

On September 6, Binance announced the launch of the uppercase NEIRO contract trading pair, and on September 15, it announced the listing of the NEIRO token. Due to the official announcement stating the token ID was also uppercase NEIRO, many mistakenly believed it was the previously launched NEIRO project. Following the announcement, the NEIRO token surged over 20%. However, as the community went wild and many rushed to buy on-chain, sharp-eyed users discovered that the NEIRO token contract address launched by Binance was not the uppercase NEIRO but the lowercase Neiro token. Consequently, the uppercase NEIRO token was heavily sold off by community users, dropping over 50% that day, while the Neiro token skyrocketed from an approximate market cap of $15 million at the time of the announcement to now $720 million, an increase of nearly 50 times.

The naming strategy of Neiro and NEIRO was originally intended to distinguish different projects, hoping to attract user attention through capitalization differences. However, Binance's simultaneous launch of NEIRO contracts and Neiro spot trading turned the capitalization dispute of MEME coins into a new speculative trend.

The capitalization drama has played out across major public chains, with the recent emergence of the meme token MOODENG, based on the hippo image from the Pattaya Zoo in Thailand, also featuring a capitalization dispute: Moo Deng and MOODENG. Unlike NEIRO and Neiro, Moo Deng and MOODENG are built on different public chains; the lowercase Moo Deng was initially established on Solana on September 10, while the uppercase MOODENG was issued on Ethereum on September 15, actually being a later entrant.

The capitalization differences in these coin names were originally meant to distinguish different projects, but now they have become a major highlight of MEME coin speculation, even being assigned different meanings and values during the speculation process, such as the uppercase NEIRO being considered a strong whale coin, while the lowercase Neiro represents a community project; Moo Deng on Solana, due to its earlier launch, is seen as the first-tier, while Ethereum's MOODENG, being a later issuance, is viewed as second-tier.

Regarding the capitalization dispute of meme coins, the crypto community is more confused, with many users lost in the dilemma of which one to choose, sometimes uppercase, sometimes lowercase, unable to distinguish clearly. Investors must carefully discern when making choices to avoid missing opportunities due to capitalization confusion. This differentiation strategy brings freshness to the market while also increasing the complexity of speculation.

In this regard, some crypto users lament that the rise of MEME coins on different public chains previously caused capital diversion, and now MEME projects on the same chain with the same name due to different letter capitalizations are causing capital diversion, putting the already weak consensus at risk and leading to further market fragmentation and shrinkage.

Currently, meme projects are not only the main battleground on Solana; with the rise of projects like Neiro and MOODENG, Ethereum remains the most anticipated place. Meanwhile, later entrants like Sui are also attracting user attention, such as the recently born MEME project HIPPO, which is also inspired by the hippo Moo Deng from the Thai zoo, and its token market cap once exceeded that of Moo Deng on Solana.

Donations to V God to Attract Attention, Utilizing Celebrity Effect to Boost Coin Prices

In addition to the capitalization of names, donations to V God (Vitalik Buterin) have become another hotspot in meme coin speculation. As the spiritual leader of Ethereum and the crypto world, V God often plays an important role in meme coin projects. Some MEME coin projects donate the funds raised to V God or his related foundations, hoping to enhance the project's credibility and influence. For instance, in 2021, the creator of Shiba Inu (SHIB) airdropped 50% of the total supply of SHIB to V God’s wallet address, quickly attracting the attention of the crypto community and sparking a wave of zoo meme coin speculation; Neiro also made a donation to V God.

In fact, many meme projects primarily hope to attract attention by donating to the Ethereum founder, leveraging the celebrity effect to boost coin prices, attempting to gain community attention and trust. This connection with industry leaders is a major gimmick for meme coins to attract investors, effectively drawing a large number of investors' attention in the short term and becoming a significant highlight of speculation.

The Ethereum chain meme project Hippo MOODENG, which gained significant attention during the National Day holiday, leveraged donations to V God to gain traction. Initially originating from Solana, the hippo quickly became known to the community as its market cap surpassed $100 million, while the uppercase hippo MOODENG on the Ethereum chain, being a later entrant, struggled to break the $10 million mark and did not attract much user attention.

On October 5, V God sold meme tokens, including MOODENG. After the news broke, the market cap of MOODENG surged to $10 million within minutes and began a steady upward trend. Other MEME projects sold in the same batch, ITO and KABOSU, also saw significant increases after being sold, with ITO rising over 222% shortly after the sale and KABOSU increasing over 70%.

On October 7, V God sold MOODENG again and subsequently donated 260 Ether (approximately $642,000) to the charity Kanro, publicly expressing gratitude to MOODENG for bringing positive results to the real world.

Some community users believe this is a rare positive evaluation from V God regarding MEME tokens. Through donations and charity, selling air coins from the crypto circle, and transferring value to address some real-world issues, it can be seen as a shift from virtual to real in the crypto space.

V God’s actions of selling coins and publicly expressing gratitude have generated immense interest and attention for the Ethereum-based hippo MOODENG, propelling its price to soar, with its market cap quickly breaking the $100 million mark, surpassing the popularity of the hippo on Solana.

As the narrative connecting Ethereum's Neiro and MOODENG to V God gains traction, direct donations from MEME projects to V God’s wallet address have become a new trend in speculation. V God’s actions of selling coins attract investor attention and following, thereby driving up the coin's price. Currently, MEME coins are transferring to V God’s wallet address every hour.

Some crypto users have even designed a set of SOP for the success of "MEME coin donations to V God": MEME project donates to V God — V God sells coins (attracting attention) — V God donates and tweets thanks (driving price up) — listed on exchanges.

Cult Satirical Culture Meme Coin Revival

Cult Memecoin is a type of token that combines internet pop culture and cryptocurrency. These coins are usually created around specific communities or pop culture phenomena and often have strong community-driven characteristics. They are often presented in a humorous or satirical manner, such as Dogecoin, which was initially created as a joke, and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which calls itself the "Dogecoin killer," along with the once-popular PepeCoin based on the famous Pepe the Frog.

At Token2049, MEME coin analyst Murad's presentation on the "MEME Coin Super Cycle" sparked widespread discussion in the crypto community. His list of MEME tokens, which he compiled and filtered, circulated widely in the crypto community and became a sort of bible for meme coin trading.

Murad's selection criteria for the meme coin list were to pick tokens that had been online for at least six months and had experienced a significant drop, with market caps between $5 million and $200 million, primarily built on Solana and Ethereum.

Yesterday, on-chain detective ZachXBT revealed Murad's on-chain address holdings of meme coins, which are valued at approximately $24 million, with the top four being SPX, GIGA, RETARDIO, and POPCAT, and their recent performance has been very promising.

Among them, the abstract index token SPX, ranked first in holdings, has increased by about 20 times in the past half month. This project is a derivative of the reversal of the S&P 500 index story, with a narrative of a cute girl saving the crypto world. GIGA is a meme token on Solana that has surged over 200% in the past 7 days. This project originally pays tribute to the legendary figure Ernest Khalimov's Gigachad while also satirizing societal expectations, sparking discussions about toxic masculinity and more. The MEME project POPCAT originates from the popular mischievous cat meme on the internet, with an increase of about 90% in the past 7 days. RETARDIO positions itself as a symbol of courage, rebellion, and community cohesion.

These MEME coins share a common characteristic: they all possess some cult-like qualities, draped in a layer of absurdity, non-mainstream, and abstract elements, often related to popular internet culture, memes, or specific subcultures, and are referred to as Cult Memecoins.

Because of cultural identity or a user base, Cult Memecoins are typically community-driven, relying on social media and viral marketing for dissemination.

Some crypto users have pointed out that most of the Cult Memecoins currently on the market are older projects that have already gone through a round of increases and corrections. Users should look for communities that promote tokens at the bottom rather than the top, with continuously increasing new holders and elements resembling Cult culture when making their selections.

A Good Meme Requires "Special Narrative and Tone + Strong Spontaneous Community + Strong Whales"

According to data from the Coingecko platform, the total market cap of the meme coin sector has exceeded $50 billion, with over 2,000 types of assets included, making it the sector with the most types of coins in the crypto market.

Crypto KOL @ririfish has expressed that the MemeCoin market is growing increasingly robust; they are no longer just tools for short-term speculation but represent a new trend of decentralized culture and consensus. The long-term market resilience of these projects stems from the fact that the community is not merely passive investors but the core driving force behind project development. The community gives these tokens lasting vitality through meme dissemination, social interaction, and participation in project development.

Crypto asset player Vincent @thecryptoskanda has repeatedly emphasized that MemeCoin is no longer just a crypto track; it has become a "property." This is reflected in the fact that discussions around MemeCoin are no longer solely about price fluctuations but are gradually integrating into decentralized culture, representing an identity and market consensus. They embody the unique power of decentralized communities and transcend traditional IP-driven models.

Crypto KOL @CXOegg wrote in a recent tweet that a good MEME must have "special narrative + meme's own tone + strong spontaneous community + strong whales," with none being dispensable.

Ririfish also pointed out that the success of MemeCoin relies not only on IP support but on their ability to create unique narratives through the community. Even projects without strong brand backing, such as Shiba Inu and Pepe Coin, have managed to establish themselves in the crypto market through community power. The growth of these MemeCoins demonstrates the unique cultural symbols they build through community interaction, meme dissemination, and collective creation.

In summary, for MEME coins to succeed, they first need an engaging story; the design of the token and community culture must be unique and attractive to resonate and spark investor interest, allowing them to stand out among numerous projects. Additionally, a strong spontaneous community is essential; an active and engaged community is key to the success of MEME coins, as community power can influence market sentiment and investment decisions. Furthermore, there must be strong supporters and operators behind them who can drive the coin price at critical moments.

For instance, before Neiro was listed on Binance, several promotional images from the Northwest community were leaked, showing community members marketing in overseas regions like Turkey and Vietnam, as well as donations made by the CTO team to charitable organizations. The community of the Ethereum-based hippo MOODENG project revealed that they had donated to a Thai zoo three times and conducted marketing offline in North America, attracting attention from Neiro's major whale holders, Pepe developers, and V God through airdrop donations.

Regarding how to participate in MEME coins, @CXOegg stated that there are currently thousands of new projects emerging daily, with similar narratives existing under different names (tickers), the same names competing on different chains, and now the same names on the same chain experiencing various dramatic events due to different capitalizations. This makes it quite challenging for users to identify a potentially promising project early on.

Currently, there are three strategies to choose from: first, directly select mature, high market cap older memes that have undergone market fluctuations, such as PEPE, WIF, etc.; second, take over mid-sized MEMEs with market caps in the millions or tens of millions, but this requires strong discernment and project filtering abilities; third, monitor new projects in the primary market on-chain, although the failure rate is very high.

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