WEEX Labs: The Next Chapter for Memecoin, the Era of Flash Trends

Author: WEEX Labs

In a somewhat fatigued market environment, although Memecoin is no longer in a frenzy, it remains a battleground for the attention economy.

Memecoin Hasn't Reached the End, Just Changed Direction

Compared to the scene in 2024 where Memecoin stood out alone, this year's Memecoin market has indeed quieted down significantly after $TRUMP, but this does not mean it has come to an end. Rather, the market has evolved to the next stage.

• From Solana to Base, BNB Chain: In the early days, Solana monopolized 90% of the new token issuance share thanks to its low fees and high speed, especially after the launch of Pump.fun, which greatly democratized token issuance rights and sparked the year-long Meme craze in 2024. However, with multi-chain expansion and the continued efforts of other public chains, Solana's share has now dropped to 57%, while BNB Chain, Base Chain, and others are continuously seizing on-chain market share.

• Small and Medium-Sized Memes Become Mainstream: The Memecoin market has shifted from being dominated by Ethereum-based DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, and other tokens with tens of billions in market cap, to Solana-based large Memecoins such as BONK, WIF, FARTCOIN, TRUMP, etc., with several billions in market cap, and now to small and medium-sized Memecoins with tens of millions in market cap emerging on various chains, such as BRETT and TOSHI on Base, Binance Life and BROCCOLI on BNB Chain. This indicates that the market cap ceiling for Memecoins is continuously lowering, and the market is becoming increasingly mature.

• Faster Rotation Pace: With limited liquidity growth and a rapid increase in the number of Memecoins, the market rotation pace has shifted from "weeks" to "hours." Especially thanks to the widespread adoption of AI tools and the upgrade of social media algorithms, the speed of viral spread and decay has increased significantly, resulting in many new tokens reaching their peak within just 24-48 hours after launch, with life cycles much shorter than the previous week-long cycles.

Recently Popular Memecoins: Social Media Hype + Small and Medium Market Caps

Browsing through recently popular Memecoins, it is clear that all of them are validating the above changes.

$Franklin: Franklin The Turtle was originally a classic children's character from a series of Canadian books and TV shows in the 1980s and 1990s. Recently, the current U.S. Secretary of Defense posted a political satire image on X, expressing a tough stance on U.S. cross-border military anti-drug operations. Subsequently, the Memecoin of the same name turned Franklin the Turtle into a satirical, militarized anti-drug warrior. Since its launch on December 1, the token reached a peak FDV of $24.36M on the 10th, and has since fallen back to $5.4M.

$DOYR: The origin was a typo of DYOR as DOYR. Following a reply post "DOYR = DO YouR meme?", the BNB Chain community quickly launched a Memecoin of the same name. Since its launch on December 6, the token reached a peak FDV of $31.34M the next day, and has since fallen back to $3.4M.

$马到成功 (Horse Success): Originating from the Chinese community's blessing phrase "马到成功" (instant success), this is a popular Chinese Memecoin following Binance Life and Vulgar Penguin. Since its launch on November 15, the token reached a peak FDV of $5.03M on December 2, and has since fallen back to $2.6M.

$jesse: A personal Memecoin issued by Base co-founder Jesse in November. Since its launch on November 21, the token reached a peak FDV of $28.08M on the same day, and has since fallen back to $10M.

Opportunities in the Structural Changes of Memecoin

From DOGE's dog meme origins to today's complex ecosystem where any topic can become a token, Memecoin is no longer just an internet joke, but a perfect blend of community narrative, attention propagation, and speculative frenzy.

This year's Memecoin market has been as thrilling as a roller coaster: faster rotations, smaller scale, and multi-chain expansion—all signs of a transition from euphoria to maturity.

It is foreseeable that regardless of bull or bear markets in the future, the Memecoin market will never be silent, because as long as there is attention, someone will go all-in on a dog meme to spread emotion.

However, in this flash era, Memecoin has begun to shift from a "joke" to a "cultural index." For example, veteran tokens like DOGE, SHIB, and BONK are breaking free from their cult status, continuously upgrading technology and applications to empower Meme, while more newly issued small and medium Memecoins are turning to "social media hype + data-driven" strategies. These carry higher risks but also more refined opportunities, and the price fluctuations of such Memecoins also represent the changing popularity of certain social topics.

In any case, these structural changes will reshape investment logic, bringing more opportunities to participants while also putting greater emphasis on DYOR.