jakiro
Author: Westie Source: X, @WestieCapital Translation: Shan Oppa, Bitchain Vision
Let’s talk about the memecoin cycle.Forget their practicality, forget their long-term vision, and even forget coherent narratives.The essence of this cycle is not about these things.
It has only one core goal:Seize early opportunities.
Sparks: ETF boom and Solana’s revival
This spark is not just the general momentum of the market.It’s more specific.At the end of 2023, Bitcoin ETF applications imply that institutional funds will enter the cryptocurrency market.Solana made a strong return after the FTX crash.It all became the tinder – a story of regaining legitimacy and resurrection.
Traditional altcoins feel outdated.Many projects are burdened by the bear market.Projects backed by venture capital, owning roadmaps and white papers, usually valuations look more like…well-designed exit strategies than exciting innovations.
memecoin offers different options: original, unfiltered, and fun.Currency for anti-risk capital.There is no white paper, and usually no official website.There is only one emoticon, one transaction code and one release.Its appeal lies in simplicity and a sense of risk.Memecoin becomes the ultimate “high risk test”, especially because traditional altcoins look too muchPredictable.
If Bitcoin could rise twice as much as the ETF boom and Solana was reborn from the ashes, maybe a Dogecoin with no purpose could rise 100 times.This is the spark: ETF optimism, Solana’s revival, boredom with venture capital-backed altcoins.
BONK: The first time I tasted “early”
then,BONKHere comes.
BONK is not complicated and has no profound meme connotation.But it was the first to capture this energy.People see fluctuations and gains, and gradually form a basic understanding:Something is happening.This is different.This is very fast.
Initially, “early” was not a conscious goal.More like, “This is very unstable, maybe a little gamble.” But the BONK market – after the outbreak and then experienced predictable fluctuations, began to subtly define the game.
Elemental Transformation: Absurdity emerges from a limited meme pool
Metagame has changed.The cryptocurrency brain begins to understand: “Memecoin is a game. The goal of the game is to find the next BONK, but better.”
“Better” does not mean technology or team.”Better” means higher viral spread.How to do it?In this early stage, memecoin’s metagame is still in its infancy, with unexpectedly limited options for differentiation.There aren’t thousands of complex strategies or narratives to choose from.In fact, the ready-made meme pool on the internet is very small in itself.You’re not picking from thousands of options, but choosing from a limited pool that resonates with you intuitively.
And what is the most prominent among this limited choice?absurd.
In this context, “better” becomes synonymous with “more absurdity”.Because in this immature memecoin market, absurdity is a powerful signal.It can catch the eye and is naturally shareable.More importantly, while the market is still exploring what a “good” memecoin is, a sense of humor and instant, original laughter have become a powerful choice mechanism.
So Dogwifhat (WIF) was born.
“Wif hat”, a misspelled, meaningless image of a Shiba Inu wearing a hat.The pinnacle of the absurdity of the Internet.For many people, the immediate reaction is-laugh.It’s just funny.And in this sense of humor and absurdity, there is a signal:
“This is new. This is fresh. Is this… early?”
The game becomes intuitive.It’s not just finding a memecoin, but finding the memecoin that can spread quickly before it’s popular.Capture the spirit of the times, the jokes of the Internet, and the fleeting absurdity.In these early days, in that limited meme pool, the most laughable and ridiculous currency naturally stood out.
To find that coin, you must beEarlyof.
Memescope: Optimize speed and control
Metagame iteration quickly.”Early” does not just refer to the time point after the issuance of coins.Too late.The real “early” is before the issuance of coins.Before the masses have poured in, before the speculation has begun, and before the prices have soared.
So, likePhotonTools like “memescope” came into being.The game becomes tactical.Traders devote themselves to memescope – Photon’s memecoin new coin launch page.The Yuan game is: refresh memescope all day long, quickly buy new online currencies, and become the first buyer.Pure “early” optimization – speed, responsiveness, staring at the screen all day.
“Memescope Metagame” still looks like some kind of democratized gameplay – anyone with tools and time can participate.But beneath the surface, a darker dynamic begins to emerge: the rise of **”insiders”**, who are creating memecoin and manipulating indicators that memescope traders rely on.
These currencies are not always spontaneous, grassroots movement.More and more memecoins are carefully designed for profit.These “insiders” will:
•Create memecoin out of thin air: Usually there is no real community or organic kinetic energy as a basis.
•Manipulate data: Artificially raise the on-chain data, create false social media popularity, and manipulate the “trend” ranking system, making the currency look more popular than it actually is.
•Directly targeting trader resources: Knowing that memescope and similar tools have become the core of memecoin transactions, they specially designed manipulation to leverage these platforms.
•Hire market makers: Created the illusion of real trading volume when it was first launched, making the new currency look instantly active and attractive on the chart.
•Work with KOL (Key Opinion Leader): Pay influencers to promote the coins they make, create social verification, and promote early FOMO (fear of missing outing).
•Deploy the “Responder” Twitter Corps: Build a network of robots or paid accounts whose sole purpose is to reply to large crypto accounts, flood the information space, and create false popularity about their tokens.
Memescope traders really think they are playing “early” games, even though they are actually always behind those who really capture the most value.
The key elements of these two memecoin games—absurdity became the driver of virality, and the “insiders” realizing “early” games and manipulating exit liquidity—are now ready to enter the final “Boss level.”
Fartcoin: Pursuing public attention and ultimate absurdity
For those who actively try to create the “next WIF”—the next memecoin that can achieve escape speed—a crucial understanding gradually emerges: to get the public to buy your memecoin, you must catch them in a flash.attention.In the memecoin field, attention is not achieved through complex narratives or technical commitments, but through spectacular scenes that cannot be ignored.For the pursuit of “early” it’s now fully accepted: it’s not just about speed, or even absurdity, but about strategically creating extreme absurdity as the ultimate attention-grabbing mechanism.
At this time, Fartcoin came on stage.
Fartcoin.Imagine memecoin creators seeking mass adoption.What can capture the attention better than launching a token called “Fartcoin”?It is not only absurd, but even a universal and instantaneous absurdity.The name itself is a necessary conversation starter, a clickbait title, waiting to happen.It seems to have been laser-precisely designed to create a sensational news that can penetrate the noise of the Internet: “Look at these stupid things, people are actually investing money!”
Fartcoin has become the ultimate experiment in the attention economy in the memecoin world.It is not just another token launch; it is a deliberate, almost cynical attempt to use absurdity to attract attention to the masses.It emerges as a stark and possibly hilarious proof of concept: In memecoin games, especially in the pursuit of true “escape speed” and mainstream adoption, ultimate absurdity is more than just an ideal trait, it is the core marketingStrategy, the purest and most provocative form after refining.
Is there a more ridiculous memecoin than Fartcoin?
Internal Game with Trump Ceiling
Next, another more fundamental understanding gradually emerged in the manipulation strategy that had already appeared in the “memescope” era: the purely absurd era of animal memecoin, although initially explosively, has become unsustainable.The market has become smarter.
Meta requires a new entry angle, a coat of legality.At this time, we see the rise of “substantive” memes – although these tokens are still memetic in nature, they can defend themselves with a thin layer of seemingly reasonable pseudo-denial.So, the meta of AI coins appeared.Suddenly, buying memecoin is not just about buying a dog with a hat, but about “investment” on the future of artificial intelligence!This provides a reason for buying, although this reason is fragile and goes beyond pure absurdity.
But behind this transformation of theme decoration, the core mechanisms of the game and the roles of insiders remain unchanged.Information asymmetry is still the key.Those insider groups have simply adapted to this new meta, using their early access to information to continue to take advantage of this advantage.They knew about the launch of AI coins before anyone and continued to take advantage of this advantage.
This evolution eventually gave birth to the meta of celebrity memecoin.Insiders realize that the ultimate way to create viral launches and ensure exit liquidity is to work with celebrities – who often have a huge influence but have limited understanding of cryptocurrencies and become the front desk for these internal operations.More importantly, these insiders are still behind the scenes, often suggesting that they are just “better traders”, subtly (or less subtly) suggesting that their excess returns are a manifestation of skills rather than information advantages, furtherIntensified the frustration of the average participant, who are increasingly excluded from the “early” game.
“Inside Game” is fully manifested in its most cynical and transparent form, covering:
•Be the initiator.Create tokens, control narratives, and create viral transmission with extreme absurdity or a substantial garb.The ultimate “early” and the ultimate viral control.
•Be an internal staff.Look for those ridiculous or seemingly substantial token promoters, enter these tokens early and participate before they arrive on crypto Twitter.Information asymmetry about viral/substantive potential is an advantage.
•Be an influencer.Build a fan base, use it as a channel to get into ridiculously viral or seemingly substantial tokens early, and then…you know.Amplify selected narratives, drive headlines, and ensure exit from liquidity.
After this trend toward creating viral absurdity and controlling the release narrative became significant, Fartcoin demonstrated the primitive power of extreme absurdity, followed byTrump CoinThe appearance of
Trump Coin.The largest and most ridiculous memecoin on earth?Suddenly, even creating absurdity becomes less important.How to transcend Trump’s absurdity and create something with more news potential?Nearly impossible.
Imagine how you react as a memecoin trader when Trump coins are launched.Anyone who follows this can see this as an internal release.80% of the token supply is obviously locked to insiders.On-chain data shouted loudly about token snipers and pre-issued access.It shouldn’t make any sense, but it doesn’t matter.This is Trump.The president-elect of the United States.Memecoin in all memecoin.Ultimate Celebrity Coin.Of course you will buy it.It feels like a new paradigm.The internal game is obvious, but for Trump, it doesn’t matter.This is too big to ignore.
NextMELANIAlaunch.
At that time, the whole atmosphere seemed to have been taken away.The people in the club suddenly became awake.The internal game of Trump coins is so obvious that the emergence of Melania coins has made all this completely and inevitably exposed.The mechanism is the same, and cash grabs become more transparent.What is the difference?For Trump, the scale of memecoin has briefly surpassed this cynicism, and there is nothing that can be surpassed by Melania.
The internal game that has been revealed has always been, although people have chosen not to care before, after the emergence of Melania, people finally care.The emperor was not wearing any clothes.This cycle breaks down.
Trump Coin is more than just the pinnacle of memecoin; it becomes the final case on another level: the clearest example of internal gaming reaching its peak.It is not just a memecoin, it is a political and cultural force launched with a halo of internal access and destined success.
Is there a more transparent and larger internal game than Trump and Melania?
Echoes of 2021: The “early” cycle of NFT
The entire memecoin cycle… does it make you feel a little familiar?Back in 2021, that NFT boom.
What was the spark at that time?The rise of ETH based on DeFi summer.NFT has emerged as the “beta play” of ETH and has become an investment with higher risks and higher returns.
meta soon became concentrated on the PFP project.”Community” became a buzzword, but in reality, the game is looking for the next “Bored Ape”, the project that will skyrocket and gain cultural recognition.
Just like memecoin, people realize that games are “early”.But in the NFT field, “early” means fighting for a whitelist.Discord check-in, Twitter interaction, and do endless tasks – the whitelist competition has become the NFT memescope refresh, and has become a relentless pursuit of pre-issuance access.
“Early” optimization is further upgraded.People realize that the first ones that can be involved are creators.Soon, celebrities began to join in.
You see Steph Curry and Jimmy Fallon showing seven-digit JPEGs, while Logan Paul blatantly cheats his fans.Who is next?The NFT field also seems to have reached its peak of celebrity-driven, a meta-touch fatigue point.
Speaking of cycle changes… NELK, once represented the peak of the celebrity NFT boom in 2021, has just launched its own memecoin – Fullsend.If this is not a signal yet, what else can it be?
These similarities are obvious.Different asset classes, but the same underlying game: the unremitting pursuit of “early” and ultimately towards self-consuming.At some point, the game has no room for development; you need to reset the game completely.
Twilight with the inevitable reset
At the end of the memecoin cycle and the aftermath of the NFT frenzy, we see currencies like LIBRA appearing, and people seem to be putting their entire portfolio into it, desperately hoping to recapture the magic of TRUMP trading.This is a classic sign of what George Soros calls “Twilight”—a phase in the market cycle.As Soros observed, this is a stage where “people continue to participate in the game, even though they no longer believe it.”Belief in the “early” magic is weakening, but the ingrained habit of chasing the rise of memecoin remains.
Soros warns, “There will eventually be a cross or inflection point, and the trend starts to fall, and bias reversal, leading to a catastrophic accelerated decline (8), often referred to as a collapse.”
So, you have to ask yourself: Is there any variation of this metagame that can continue?Is there any more level of this game?
Is there any more ridiculous meme than Fartcoin?Is there any insider game that is bigger and more transparent than TRUMP and MELANIA coins?
Probably nothing.At least there is no more in this cycle.
The memecoin cycle, defined by the “early” pursuit, may have come to an end.It is driven by hype, absurdity and “early” commitment.But like all hype cycles, it is essentially self-consuming.As the mechanism becomes clear, the illusion gradually disappears, and the “early” pursuit begins to self-destruct.
However, the “early” impulse of humanity still exists.It has been deeply rooted in crypto psychology.
This memecoin cycle may have ended, but that desire still exists.This game is likely to return with new rules, new ridiculousness, new players, and they may still desire…you guessed it…early.
Friends, stay safe.
