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Memecoins is redefining the importance of the cryptocurrency market, driving exchange strategy adjustments and the rise of the DEX market.
Research summary
1. Memecoins has transformed from a mere speculative asset to a dominant trading force, which not only attracts a lot of liquidity, but also reshapes the capital flow model in the crypto market.
2. Platforms represented by Pump.fun have promoted the rise of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), attracting liquidity and active traders, thereby weakening the early price discovery capabilities of centralized exchanges (CEXs).
3. Exchanges like MEXC that quickly adapt to Memecoins trading performed strongly, while slower-responsive platforms such as Binance face the dual challenges of liquidity and market influence.
1. New battlefield of exchange
Memecoins is redefining the cryptocurrency market.Starting with the initial speculative trends, they have now become important symbols of major exchanges, driving huge trading volumes.
In order to adapt to this trend, the exchanges have adjusted their strategies one after another.Gate.io and MEXC have seized market share with their rapid launch of Memecoins, while Binance has launched “Binance Alpha”, focusing on the early launch of Memecoins and providing a smooth transition.In the DEX market, Solana-based Raydium successfully surpassed Ethereum-based Uniswap to become a market leader.This change proves the strong driving role of Memecoins in the market.
As Memecoins continues to grow in importance in exchanges, its wider impact is also worthy of attention.Will Memecoins trading lead a lasting market change, or is it just a short-term cyclical phenomenon?In addition, how will changes in regulatory policies affect the sustainability of Memecoins as a mainstream asset?These issues will determine the future development direction of retail trading and exchanges.
2. DEX breakthrough status:Raydium Beyond Uniswap
The Memecoins craze has driven Raydium’s rapid rise.As of January 2025, Raydium has occupied 27% of the DEX market, becoming the preferred platform for retail investors.Raydium’s success is inseparable from the technological advantages of the Solana chain, which provides lower fees and faster transaction speeds than Ethereum on-chain exchanges.These features make Raydium the core platform for Memecoins trading.
Meanwhile, Uniswap’s market share fell from 34.5% in December 2024 to 22% in January 2025, losing its dominance in the DEX market.The high Ethereum Gas fees have become a major obstacle for Memecoins traders, which has also led many cost-sensitive retail investors to turn to other platforms.If Ethereum-based DEXs fail to innovate in time, they will face greater pressure to transfer liquidity.
Although the Memecoins deal clearly drives Raydium’s growth, the sustainability of this trend still needs further observation.Some analysts believe that the Memecoins trading boom may fade as speculative demand drops.However, Raydium has become a familiar platform for users with the help of Memecoins trading.If this trend can be grasped, Raydium is expected to further consolidate its market position by strengthening liquidity pools, optimizing user experience and building an efficient trading system.These efforts will help Raydium maintain a long-term advantage in the competition between DEX and CEX.
3. CEX’s response: Can they keep up with the rise of DEX?
Gate.io and MEXC have successfully attracted a large number of retail investors interested in speculative assets through focusing on Memecoins’ listing strategy.Among them, MEXC has become the leader in this trend with its rapid Memecoins launch policy.For example, they opened trading on the day Memecoins Official Trump ($TRUMP) went public, which directly led to a rapid increase in record volume and number of users.
These strategies have had significant effects.MEXC’s daily Memecoins trading volume surged from 5.9% in the first quarter of 2024 to 25.9% in January 2025.Meanwhile, the proportion of Memecoins traders has also increased from 18.7% to 37.1%.
As the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance is also actively expanding its Memecoins listing scope to attract retail liquidity.Recently, Binance has been focusing more on speculative assets, trying to seize market opportunities in the “attention economy”.However, due to its nature as a centralized exchange (CEX), Binance is inevitably limited by the internal audit process.These processes lead to Memecoins being launched usually when the market heat has declined or shifted to new trends.
While Binance provides ample liquidity to protect investors, this liquidity becomes an export for early holders to sell off Memecoins.Due to the small impact of the sell-off on market prices, many newly listed Memecoins prices generally fell by more than 75% in the short term, causing losses to a large number of investors.This situation not only hurts Binance’s long-term credibility, but also raises questions about its listing review process.
Compared to Binance, major centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken and Upbit have adopted a more conservative strategy, focusing on proven cryptocurrencies rather than Memecoins.Although this strategy cannot seize the market opportunities with high returns in the short term, it helps the platform stability and reduces regulatory risks.
The core challenge of CEX is how to find a balance between attracting short-term trading activities and maintaining long-term platform stability while maintaining the trust of institutional investors and effectively attracting more retail investors.
4.Strategic summary and future prospects
Memecoins has gradually evolved from a simple speculative tool to an important trading product in the cryptocurrency market.With the sharp increase in Memecoins trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), this trend brings new opportunities and challenges to the crypto industry.
In the recent bull market, Memecoins on DEX performed significantly better than assets listed on centralized exchanges (CEXs), prompting more and more investors to turn to DEXs.Platforms like Pump.fun optimize the issuance and trading process of Memecoins, so that new tokens can quickly achieve explosive growth even if they are not listed on CEX.
To adapt to this change, market makers, liquidity providers and project teams have adjusted their strategies.They no longer focus on just CEX listing, but instead start to focus on the DEX environment.They build liquidity on multiple platformsPool improves transaction accessibility and flexibility.
However, the Memecoins market still faces many risks.Improper behaviors such as running away with money, manipulation of small groups and malicious transactions have seriously damaged the interests of investors.These problems are common due to the lack of effective supervision in the market.For example, the Argentina Libra ($LIBRA) scandal exposed these potential risks, triggering widespread market doubts about Memecoins and causing a significant decline in trading volumes for Solana DEX.
Despite this, Memecoins still demonstrates its potential in the crypto space.They have gradually become representative assets of certain entities and groups.For example, Elon Musk’s relationship with Dogecoin, Trump’s association with Official Trump Token, and some Memecoins issued by startups and states, all show that cryptocurrencies are capturing real economic and social value.This trend is similar to the securitization process in traditional financial markets and may gradually evolve into a new cultural phenomenon.
Faced with this change, CEX must quickly adjust its strategy.Investors no longer wait for CEX to go public before starting to trade potential assets.To attract more users and stay competitive, the exchange needs to integrate on-chain features and DeFi elements while ensuring platform stability and compliance.This flexible and innovative strategy will be the key to driving the crypto market to its next growth phase.
