Original author: Shenchao TechFlow
If there are no assets, we create assets; if there is no narrative, we create narratives.
This sentence is perfect to describe the inscription craze in the crypto market this year - anti VC, create assets, and shape consensus, and the result is good Fomo.
In addition to the inscriptions, the Meme coins flying all over the sky also follow a similar logic. Meme coins in the shape of chickens, dogs, monkeys, frogs and other animals are emerging one after another, and they have risen alarmingly in the recent bull market.
However, the formula for Memes success this time is a little different.
Different from the previous Zoo Mania which simply hyped the names and images of animals, this time the lively Meme Zoos are hyping more specific objects:
They began to study the pets raised by the founders of the Web3 project.
Vitaliks cat, Tolys dragon
Scan around the founders Twitter or other social media. If you find that they have shown off pets, then create a Meme coin with a similar name and image; then the market will start to pay attention to this coin because of the popularity tied to the founder. It can even cause a short-term FOMO effect.
For example, just before this article was published, a cat-image Meme coin named Hemule topped Dexscreens transaction popularity list, and related smart money monitoring tools also showed that the number of purchased addresses continued to increase.
The name Hemule corresponds to Vitaliks own cat.
Vitalike himself has printed this cat on his clothes to show his love; and Vitalik’s mother has also shared many cute moments about this Hemule on Instagram.
At the same time, the issuer of Hemule tokens also seems to be very knowledgeable. After issuing the tokens, he actively transfers the coins to V God. It seems to be more proactive in showing people, We are related to V Gods cat concept.
So, Hemule went up. There is no technology, no reason, just emotion.
And Hemules pet meme effect is not an isolated case.
A week ago, a similar story was unfolding in Avalanche Ecology --- Avalanche Co-FounderKevin SekniqiHis pet dog Bear was also meme-smitten.
Kevin once posted a photo of his pet dog Bear on social media, and the token BEAR of the same name was also hotly speculated at the time.
Coupled with the fact that the Avalanche Ecology project was in the midst of a revival last week, Fomo sentiment continued to increase, ultimately pushing up the price of BEAR in the short term.
Coincidentally, in Solana, another ecosystem that has attracted much attention, the Meme coin also has a wonderful relationship with the founder.
Last Saturday, a Meme project called Silly Dragon suddenly attracted the attention of Solana founder Toly (aeyakovenko).
Interestingly, if you look closely at Tolys Twitter avatar, you can see that it is also a dragon wearing a similar appearance to the Silly Dragon cartoon character.
This was understood by the community and market as Tolys hint and support for Silly Dragon, and the relevant screenshots were widely forwarded as supporting evidence.
Although the dragon is obviously not a pet that Toly can keep, the market has already seen another connection between Toly and the dragon:
Wearing a dragon on yourself may be more effective than just keeping a pet.
At a certain public meeting, Toly directly cosplayed a dragon shape and appeared wearing a blue dragon coat, which also matched his cartoon avatar on Twitter.
Although these fragmentary photos do not directly reflect the connection between the founder of Solana and Silly Dragon; the existence of these materials makes Silly Dragon, which has the same symbol and shape, stand closer to Toly.
At the same time, since next year will be the Year of the Dragon in China, this wave of narratives will be more popular among domestic communities.
In just 1-2 hours after Toly paid attention to Silly Dragon, Silly tokens instantly experienced an exaggerated increase of nearly 10 times.
Catching this increase may not require you to be proficient in technology. On the contrary, it may require you to pay close attention to every move on social media.
In addition to those introduced above, Meme coins related to the pets or hobbies of the project founders have appeared in other ecosystems, such as Sui pointing to the founder’s pet dog Uni Wonder Dog, etc.; just because the tokens are not There hasnt been much improvement, so the attention is far less than the previous ones.
Although pet-oriented narrative may not necessarily succeed, studying the founders pets has obviously become a popular Meme method.
No wonder there were ridiculing voices on Twitter:In 2021, we need to carefully study the project’s TVL/MC, transaction volume, revenue, daily active users and other data;
In 2023, we need to study founders’ pets.
Origin of the craze: Musk and the Shiba Inu dogs
This pet meme season reminds me of a classic English proverb:
Love me,Love my dog.
And this proverb has become a more popular version in the currency circle---If you love me, take over for my dog.
The configuration of a celebrity + a pet brings about the craze for taking over the dog. When did this popular phenomenon in the encryption circle begin?
Musk must be a name that cannot be skipped.
When the richest man shouted Dog, the price trembled. The former Doge soared into the sky with just a few words from Musk. The news that Tesla accepted Dogecoin as payment and Space The inner hints and expectations of the market Doge to da moon.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or false, what’s important is that today’s Doge, under an infinite inflation model, has a market capitalization of nearly 13 billion, ranking 11th in the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization list.
You can say it has no value, but you cannot deny its market value, let alone the contribution of key figures in it.
In addition, Musk also shared his new pet dog Floki on his social media one weekend two years ago.
Subsequently, the price of the eponymous token Shiba Floki increased by 1406.37% in 24 hours.Todays Floki is no longer just a Meme that became popular due to Musks new pet calling orders, but a cryptocurrency with a market value of nearly 350 million and ranking around 150th on the market value list.
At the same time, after gaining popularity and traffic, Floki also launched a new TokenFi platform and shifted its business to the RWA field.
Who says Meme is not productive? In the crypto world, popularity is valuable, and after gaining popularity, everything can become logical.
Tokens that become popular because of pets may have a bright start with their own traffic. Musk’s Shiba Inu have already made this start; but what to do next, whether they will take advantage of the opportunity to take off or end in disgrace, everything depends on subsequent operations and development.
The popularity continues, but the method regresses?
In this new inscription and meme-led rally, we seem to be seeing a more original approach to the hype mania:
Nothing, just relying on emotions.
Thinking back to the 2017 ICO, at least most projects would produce a decent technical white paper full of formulas and dreams to demonstrate their technical advantages;
Thinking back to the Defi Summer of 2020, most projects will at least clearly tell you the benefits and benefits to attract the provision of liquidity;
As the time comes to the end of 2023, this Meme season blessed by pets seems too primitive in fundamental terms. There is neither technology nor token function, but only relying on relationships and popularity to start a boom.
The market has been craving for explosive moves for so long that the method of explosive moves has begun to go backwards --- it makes no sense, its just about emotions.
At the same time, this may also reflect the attitude of the encryption market towards the project from another aspect, that is, don’t tell me any advanced technologies and narratives, I just want it to simply rise.
But simplicity and benefit are often not synonymous.
The popularity of the encryption market is still continuing. Can the prosperity of the encryption market also come easily?
