Author: BitpushNews
After resigning from the internet giant Meta, Justin has fully committed to the crypto field as an entrepreneur and Crypto Degen. He has not only successfully bet on popular assets like PEPE, Degen, and TRUMP, accumulating impressive results, but he has also gained valuable experience through various market fluctuations.
In this exclusive interview with Bitpush, Justin shares his story from Meta to Crypto, delving into investment strategies for meme coins, the current market situation, and future trends. This article is packed with valuable insights, whether you are a newcomer to meme coins or a seasoned player. Recommended reading!
Part One: Big Tech Employee Jumps into the Crypto "Rabbit Hole"
What was the reaction of your family or friends when you resigned from Meta to focus on meme and Crypto? How do they view meme coins?
Justin: I see myself more as a Crypto degen rather than someone who "resigned from a big tech company to start a business." Before joining Meta, I had already decided to delve deeply into Crypto long-term, but I felt I needed more technical and teamwork experience, so I went to Meta. At that time, Meta had a Crypto team, and many big names were veterans of the Libra project, including the development team for the Move language, and Instagram even had an NFT business. However, shortly after I joined, the bear market hit, and Meta cut all blockchain-related businesses to focus on the metaverse and AI.
At that time, I was earning a salary at Meta while converting most of my income and stocks into cryptocurrencies, and in my spare time, I was experimenting with various DeFi, NFT, SocialFi, and meme projects. In 2023, we hosted the first large-scale Blockchain + AI conference in New York as Chinese, inviting many star projects. These experiences greatly helped my subsequent entrepreneurial endeavors.
My family is actually "somewhat understanding but fully supportive" of Crypto. My dad even searches for news himself, and every time he sees Doge or Trump coins trending, he comes to ask me, "Did you buy it?" It's quite cute.
Do they support you going all in on Crypto?
Justin: At first, they were a bit hesitant, after all, giving up such good benefits at Meta to enter an "uncertain" industry carries significant risks. But life is about choices; you can't want a stable salary while also trying to seize alpha opportunities. I talked to them about the long-term certainty of Crypto, and they ultimately respected my decision. My dad even asked me to help him store some Bitcoin.
Have you made money or lost money investing in meme coins, and what do the people around you think?
Justin: Overall, I have made money, but there are more meme coins that lose money than those that make money. The core strategy is: if I am optimistic about a certain meme, I will place a heavy bet, like Pepe in 2023, Degen in 2024, and Trump in 2025. This way, even if most memes go to zero, the few that I hit will be enough to turn things around.
I have seen many friends "cast a wide net," buying a little of every hot meme. They might hit a hundredfold coin, but due to their overly diversified positions, the final returns are usually mediocre, and they end up with a bunch of worthless coins in their wallets.
Before you entered the meme coin space, did you encounter any pitfalls?
Justin: Investing in memes is a "comprehensive discipline." You need to understand trends, emotions, culture, and investment, and also know yourself; everything is interconnected. What I learned the most in the past two years is that the market has many more ways to make you lose money than you can imagine.
Part Two: Discussion on the Current State of Meme Coins
CZ's promotion of BNB chain memes, what do you and your friends think?
Justin: CZ saw the trend in on-chain trading volume and hoped to leverage it to boost BNB chain activity, but the community's response was not very good. He didn't clearly "announce" which Broccoli was the authentic version, leading to hundreds of imitations in the market, which cut many retail investors and also dispersed liquidity.
This marketing operation was very successful in terms of generating buzz for the BNB ecosystem. However, the problem is that retail investors' emotions are determined by whether they make money or not. Many people lost money, so naturally, there was a lot of criticism. This model can create topics in the short term, but in the long run, it may damage user trust.
Is there still an opportunity for BNB ecosystem memes to explode?
Justin: There is certainly an opportunity, but the road ahead is long. The infrastructure of the BNB ecosystem cannot keep up with the demand for meme trading, such as trading speed, infrastructure, and stability. Solana and Base also went through multiple iterations to achieve today's smooth experience, while BNB clearly wasn't prepared this time. Pancake and Binance Wallet have severe lag issues, high slippage, and poor stability, making it difficult for many users to trade.
Additionally, BNB needs to find its own breakout point rather than simply copying the successful experiences of other chains. Solana has Pump.fun to standardize meme issuance, aggregate liquidity, and drive the trading tool ecosystem. BNB also needs a similar breakthrough. I think AI could be a direction, especially AI applications, where Chinese people excel. If we can incubate an AI-era "Pump.fun," it could revitalize the entire ecosystem.
What do you think about Argentine President Milei promoting meme coins and then rug pulling?
Justin: Milei probably saw the meme heat of Trump and other celebrity coins and thought he could combine Crypto to boost Argentina's economy while also financing private enterprises. The KIP team might have also offered him some profit-sharing. But he probably didn't expect to get rug pulled later, leading to a collapse in coin prices and an explosion of social media criticism, so he immediately deleted his posts to distance himself from the situation.
How do the Crypto traders or VCs around you evaluate this incident?
Justin: Many on-chain experts and founders lost a lot, totaling at least $10 million. Everyone is very angry about Milei's deletion of tweets because the endorsement from a national leader made them willing to take large positions. But Crypto is a casino; every piece of information affects decision-making. The key is whether you can anticipate and respond to new information. For example, when Milei deleted his tweets, did you choose to cut losses or add to your position?
The most important thing is that traders should not develop a "loss aversion" mentality due to losses, thinking about averaging down to recover losses. Instead, they should analyze calmly whether to add to their position or cut losses, just like when they see Milei's tweet. The essence of trading is to take responsibility for your own decisions.
Will "national-level endorsements" become the new norm for meme coins?
Justin: If in a short period, 3-4 national-level meme coins all follow the "launch and skyrocket—plummet to zero" model, this play won't be sustainable. Those who have lost money won't get back in, and future countries won't dare to play.
If it is to be established long-term, it must find an economic model and gameplay that can sustain operations; otherwise, it will collapse like NFTs after a brief boom.
Part Three: How Should Ordinary Users Play with Meme Coins?
Many meme coin investors say they "know it's gambling, but they just can't help but dive in." What do you think of this mentality?
Justin: Meme coins give people a sense of "grassroots reversal," which is similar to the allure of casinos, but the volatility of memes far exceeds that of casinos, making even casinos seem a bit boring. Although most people end up losing, the stories of making hundreds or thousands of times still make people believe that "the next turnaround could be me." Even if they lose, they will continue to dive in because the FOMO mentality is at play.
But diving in without strategy won't last long. Real traders will carefully select targets with a high probability of success rather than going all in on every meme they see. At the same time, setting clear take-profit and stop-loss strategies will prevent them from being swayed by market emotions.
If I am an ordinary investor, how should I judge which meme coins have potential and which are purely for harvesting?
Justin: Due to time constraints, I rarely have the opportunity to sit in front of my computer continuously monitoring newly launched memes and participating in the early stages. Therefore, I prefer to choose mid-to-long-term memes that last more than a few hours. This requires judging the narrative, token distribution, risk-reward ratio, and whether it has the potential for social virality.
Narrative
In terms of narrative judgment, I believe there are two key points: the number of people it covers and the depth of resonance. First, we need to see if this narrative can reach a sufficient number of people; second, whether it can touch these people and resonate with them. If the narrative is too niche, it may not necessarily be bad, but the ceiling is limited, making it difficult to spread widely. On the other hand, some well-known IPs may not be suitable as memes because the resonance and sense of recognition among people may not be high. Both points are essential.
Token Distribution
You need to determine whether this project shows signs of manipulation. Generally speaking, a manipulative wallet will definitely appear in the Top 100, so you can focus on digging into the Top 100 addresses, especially paying attention to when the price is consolidating, as that's when manipulators are most likely to accumulate.
Market-making wallets mainly look at trading frequency. Their role is to cash out at high positions, distribute, accumulate, and gradually raise the bottom while harvesting retail investors' losses, transferring tokens to diamond hands and large holders.
Trading volume is also a good way to judge manipulation. I usually use trading volume / market cap to assess; if this value remains >1 for a long time, it indicates that the manipulators of this token are still strong.
Address management: Every time I find a manipulated token, I save the addresses for future reference, similar to tracking smart money.
Risk-Reward Ratio
You need to set a target price for this token based on your narrative judgment. For example, PNUT might be a narrative at the $1 billion level, while Trump is at the $100 billion level. Based on the current market cap and your target price, you can help determine whether it's worth investing and how much to allocate. For instance, I recently looked at a narrative called Dogshit2, which I believe can reach at least a $100 million market cap, while it currently sits at only $2 million, giving me a potential upside of 50x, so I choose to invest a certain amount based on my judgment.
Virality
You need to quickly assess which people on Twitter are following this token and deduce their network of influence, analyzing which potential circles or KOLs might pay attention to it in the future. This requires some accumulation of knowledge about the value of KOLs in the meme core circle. Tools like Katio or The1 can be used to analyze the influence of KOLs who promote tokens, assisting in judging their potential for virality.
Many meme experts have summarized excellent investment advice. I recommend checking out the "From $0 to $10 Million Meme Operation Guide" co-authored by GMGN and on-chain experts, which contains in-depth analyses on selecting meme targets and corresponding take-profit and stop-loss strategies. This guide is a very practical reference. GMGN: From $0 to $10 Million Meme Operation Guide.pdf
How do you view a meme project? Do you have set rules for "take profit" or "stop loss"?
Justin: I look at a meme in several stages: information gathering → assessment → investment → take profit / stop loss.
Information Gathering: I try to have as many information channels as possible while ensuring the quality of the information. I discuss in groups with some core players on the chain and also follow quality KOLs on Twitter and TG groups to ensure I can know about quality projects as soon as they appear. Additionally, I keep an eye on on-chain signals to avoid missing potential targets.
Quick Assessment: After discovering a potential meme, I need to make a quick judgment. Shared friends on Twitter are a very helpful dimension for judgment; this requires your Twitter following list to be well-trained, focusing on quality KOLs and continuously accumulating quality information sources. This is the key to judging project quality. Next, I assess the narrative, token distribution, and risk-reward ratio as mentioned earlier, and then decide whether to invest and the size of the investment.
Take Profit and Stop Loss Strategy: My strategy is to double or triple my initial investment to recoup my costs, and then take profits in stages based on ideal valuations. Memes change too quickly, so I don't set rigid take profit and stop loss standards; instead, I adjust in real-time according to market sentiment. For example, the sudden deletion of tweets by Argentine President Milei is something that cannot be predicted in advance; when such unexpected events occur, you must immediately cut losses without hesitation.
If you were to give meme investors three survival tips, what would you say?
Justin: 1. Learn to judge the sentiment, virality, durability, and whether it has cyclical potential. Whether a meme can go viral depends not only on the narrative itself but also on whether its sentiment can continue to ferment.
If you are optimistic about a meme based on its narrative, token distribution, and risk-reward ratio, you must be bold in taking positions and not blindly diversify your investments. An overly diversified investment approach may prevent you from capturing significant returns, ultimately leading to "working hard for a long time, only to earn pocket money."
Losses are part of success; carefully analyze the reasons for each loss, summarize deeply, and apply those lessons to your next investment. True experts do not avoid losses; they learn from each loss and continuously optimize their strategies.
Part Four: The Future of Memes
Do you think the hype around meme coins has peaked, or will there be even crazier plays in the future?
Justin: I believe that there will definitely be crazier plays than Pump.fun in the future. Meme culture has run through the entire course of history; even before the emergence of blockchain, people were already adept at playing with memes and culture, which is one of the indispensable joys of life. Blockchain has provided a more efficient way to create and disseminate memes, making it possible for an IP to explode in popularity quickly, something that traditional cultural dissemination cannot achieve.
I think that in the future, social media, news, and memes will be more closely integrated. What would it be like if every news story and hot topic corresponded to a meme? The future meme ecosystem may not just be about trading but could become a consensus carrier for certain news hotspots, allowing people to participate in a more intuitive way. This will be very interesting and could be the next big opportunity.
If you were to predict the meme market in 2025, do you think it will continue to be booming?
Justin: Memes will not only continue to be booming in 2025 but will also run through the entire market for a long time. Memes have already become a new generation of expression for news, hot topics, and culture, consolidating consensus through coin prices.
Hot topics will continue to emerge, trend culture will continue to evolve, and popular figures will keep appearing; it's just that the trends will differ each year. Therefore, to seize opportunities in the meme field, one must be sensitive to global hotspots, including technology, culture, trends, and politics.
Each field will give birth to its own leading meme, and investors can choose directions they are good at, leveraging their advantages to seize opportunities when the right memes appear.
Do you think the meme ecosystem has the potential to become "valuable long-term assets"?
Justin: To understand the essence of memes, it is essentially a type of information with dissemination properties. Whether a meme can go viral depends on whether the information it carries (culture, memes, news, popular figures, etc.) can accumulate enough attention and dissemination effect in a short period. This is similar to the trending search mechanism, with the difference being that memes are measured by trading volume and market cap, while trending searches are judged by post popularity and view counts.
Thus, to determine whether a meme has long-term value, we need to see if the information it carries has the ability for long-term dissemination or cyclical dissemination. For example:
Doge is occasionally mentioned by Musk, and it is also linked to issues of government efficiency in the U.S., giving it long-term discussion value, which is why Doge has become a long-term meme.
On the other hand, a meme like PNUT has strong real-time explosive potential, but it is hard to predict whether it will have suitable scenarios to ignite again in the future, so its long-term attributes are weaker.
Currently, only a few memes possess long-term value; most memes remain short-cycle hotspots without the ability to explode again. The lifecycle of these memes is like fashion trends, with new trends emerging every year, while old memes gradually fade away. Therefore, the meme ecosystem will continue to evolve, but only a very small number will truly become long-term assets.
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