On the morning of April 21, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, has passed away at the age of 88. Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on a Vatican television program on the morning of the 21st, "Dear brothers and sisters, I must announce with deep sorrow that our Pope Francis has died. At 7:35 AM, Pope Francis returned to the Lord's kingdom. He dedicated his life to serving the Lord and the Church."

This news quickly drew global attention, stirring the faith of 1.4 billion Catholics and impacting the cryptocurrency market. With his passing, the crypto community has its unique way of commemorating—issuing and speculating on related meme coins. Below are several tokens with high trading volumes within 24 hours.

The first to react was the meme coin LUCE, named after the Vatican's mascot. To promote the 2025 "Holy Year" celebration, the Vatican will launch a two-dimensional mascot named "Luce" (meaning "light") in October 2024. Its design combines religious symbols with modern pop culture: the yellow raincoat symbolizes the Vatican flag, the muddy rain boots represent the hardships of pilgrimage, the shell staff signifies "enlightenment and hope," and the pet dog Santino symbolizes loyalty, attracting the younger generation's interest in Catholic culture. Subsequently, a meme coin of the same name on the Solana chain emerged, with its market cap soaring to $362 million, becoming the first cryptocurrency deeply tied to a religious theme.

After the news broke, LUCE quickly surged, with its market cap rising from $9.08 million to $28.19 million within 45 minutes, an increase of 210.46%. However, due to a lack of follow-up growth momentum, the market cap fell back after reaching its peak, currently around $16 million.

It is worth noting that three days prior, it appeared that LUCE's market makers had abandoned their positions, causing the LUCE token to plummet 80% in an instant. Now, under the influence of the death announcement, LUCE has rapidly rebounded, leaving the author to reflect on the unpredictability of life.

The FRANCIS token, named after Pope Francis, saw its market cap exceed $5 million shortly after the news was announced, but it has since significantly dropped to around $600,000. This token is a typical example of short-term speculation on the "celebrity effect," lacking fundamental support and relying solely on sentiment, quickly returning to zero as interest waned.

In addition, speculation has turned to the next papal candidate, with Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin becoming the focus. As the Archbishop of Italy and the Vatican Secretary of State, he facilitated the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba and the Vatican-China agreement, being viewed as a pragmatic candidate. A token named "POPE" once had a market cap exceeding one million dollars, but due to unclear election results and declining market sentiment, most have returned to zero. Additionally, potential candidate tokens from the Philippines' Tagle and Ghana's Turkson were briefly active but ultimately fell silent.

The passing of Pope Francis is a significant event in global religion and has become a hot topic in the crypto market, with the short-term frenzy and rapid collapse of different coins reflecting the essence of meme coin speculation: high risk, high reward, but no foundation. Investors should adhere to a cautious principle, rationally approach "sentiment and trends," and avoid chasing prices due to momentary emotions or FOMO.

During his tenure, Pope Francis not only focused on those fleeing war and hunger but also on those trapped in poverty, earning him the title of "the People's Pope." He fought against illness with courage and humor throughout his life, growing from a childhood of poverty in Buenos Aires to become the leader of a Catholic Church with 1.3 billion followers, becoming the 266th pope. As we bid farewell to a pope who advocated for peace and justice, may we solemnly wish him well, regardless of how the market consumes and speculates.

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