Author: Shenchao TechFlow

On August 5, 2025, a pink knitted hat will be auctioned.

This is not a designer item, nor a historical artifact - it is the symbol of Dogwifhat (WIF), the hat once popular in the crypto world on the head of the Shiba Inu. In November 2024, this hat still symbolized a meme coin with a market value exceeding $4 billion, and the community even raised nearly $700,000 to project the Shiba Inu wearing it onto the giant screen of Las Vegas's The Sphere.

Earlier, on March 18, 2024, this 'hat-wearing Shiba Inu' was minted as an NFT and auctioned on the Foundation platform. Ultimately, it was purchased for a high price of 1210.759 ETH (approximately $4.3 million) by one of the most famous traders in the cryptocurrency field, GCR, becoming the second-highest auction price at Foundation at the time.

[Image Source: X (@foundation)]

At that moment, no one would have thought this hat would enter another auction less than a year later, and this time few would show interest. Amid the backdrop of the NFT narrative collapsing and the market silence, the once leading meme faced a silent disregard. As a representative old meme, WIF's situation was even worse. After the auction news was announced on August 1, it failed to even create a ripple on Twitter.

From being the center of attention to being ignored, the story of WIF reveals a brutal truth: in the world of Web3, being forgotten is the true death.

The hat is about to be auctioned, perhaps this is the last mark WIF leaves in crypto history. But its story is worth reflecting on for every project battling in this attention battlefield.

The Rise of WIF

At the end of 2023, a simple photo started circulating on crypto Twitter: a Shiba Inu wearing a pink knitted hat. No one could have predicted that this seemingly random combination would create tens of billions in market value in the coming months.

The explosion of WIF cannot be separated from a key figure - Ansem. As one of the most influential KOLs in the crypto field, when he started frequently mentioning this 'hat dog' on Twitter, miracles happened. Every tweet he posted acted like an adrenaline shot to the market, propelling WIF from an obscure meme coin to the center stage of the crypto world.

The speed of WIF's rise is astonishing - it broke through the $1 billion market cap in just 81 days. The enthusiasm of the community exceeded everyone's imagination. They were not satisfied with merely spreading the image of the hat dog online; they wanted to do something unprecedented - project WIF onto Las Vegas's The Sphere. The world's largest spherical LED screen, with hundreds of millions passing by daily, if the hat dog could appear on it, it would be the most iconic moment in meme coin history.

In March 2024, a crowdfunding target of $650,000 was achieved in just a few days, ultimately exceeding $700,000. Community members generously contributed, believing this was not just a marketing campaign, but a key step for WIF to move towards the mainstream. Twitter was filled with excited discussions, and everyone was counting down, looking forward to the moment when the hat dog would illuminate the night sky of Las Vegas.

On March 31, 2024, after the crowdfunding for The Sphere project ended, market sentiment peaked, and WIF hit an all-time high price of $4.83. During that crazy period, WIF seemed to be able to do anything. Almost every crypto community was discussing the Shiba Inu wearing the pink hat. Ansem's influence, the community's enthusiasm, and the market's FOMO sentiment perfectly combined, propelling WIF to its peak.

That was the golden age of WIF, where every holder believed they were witnessing the birth of a new Doge. The hat was not just a hat; it became a cultural symbol, an identity, a belief in the infinite possibilities of the crypto world.

WIF's Las Vegas Nightmare

The twist of fate came so quickly. In January 2025, the Trump meme emerged, sucking liquidity out of the crypto market like a black hole. In February, the tariff policy announced by President Trump triggered macroeconomic uncertainty, leading to a significant correction in the crypto market. Among them, meme coins suffered particularly severe declines. To this day, although mainstream coins like BTC, ETH, and SOL have rebounded to high levels, most meme coins are still struggling in the mire of deep corrections.

The deadliest blow came in April 2025. It all started with a false hope at the beginning of the year - on January 29, the official X account of Dogwifhat released the long-awaited Las Vegas Sphere project preview, instantly igniting the community's enthusiasm, with WIF soaring 34% within a week. However, good times did not last long as the official department of Las Vegas Sphere quickly issued a statement clearly stating, 'We have never had any commercial cooperation discussions with any cryptocurrency project.' This cold water was thoroughly poured, and after the denial was released, WIF plummeted nearly 10% within an hour.

[Image Source: X (@dogwifcoin)]

Worse still, serious divisions began to emerge within the community. Some members questioned the project's transparency and strongly demanded the public disclosure of fundraising fund usage details. The trust crisis spread like a virus.

After nearly a year of agonizing wait, on April 1, 2025, Edward, one of the initiators of The Sphere project, finally announced the official abandonment of the project and began refunding. Nearly $700,000 raised, countless days and nights of anticipation, ultimately turned to dust. At this time, the price of WIF had fallen to a low of $0.42, and after the news of the project's abandonment spread, WIF plummeted again, hitting a new low of $0.3 for the year. This final straw completely crushed the community's confidence. Even the planning team behind WIF seemed to choose to give up.

To make matters worse, Ansem's voice began to disappear. This KOL, who used to mention WIF every day, gradually turned his attention to other projects. After months of downturn, WIF seemed to vanish from Twitter. The once omnipresent hat dog memes disappeared, passionate community discussions fell silent, and even the most loyal supporters began to shift their allegiance.

Meanwhile, other meme coins are making great strides in their respective tracks:

Doge remains the unshakable king. Every new meme wants to become and surpass Doge. Elon Musk has never stopped interacting with Doge, and he has long become its best spokesperson.

Pepe occupies another high ground with its classic frog image. Pepe has become part of online language thanks to its vast meme ecosystem.

Pengu, backed by the strong NFT community of Pudgy Penguins, has also attracted the favor of Wall Street institutions like VanEck. Pengu is dedicated to expanding the web2 ecosystem and recently announced a collaboration with Chinese company Suplay, a trendy IP consumer goods company. At the same time, they are also active on multiple platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and Whatsapp.

These successful meme coins share a common feature: multidimensional vitality. They either have prominent KOL support, possess strong community creativity, or have gained institutional recognition. The key point is that they have established a diversified communication network that won't collapse due to the disappearance of a single support.

In contrast, WIF's problems are clear. It overly relied on Ansem's personal influence, failed to establish its own content ecosystem, lacked innovative mechanisms, and did not gain institutional favor. After the initial hype faded, it had no supporting system to rely on.

In this era of extreme scarcity of attention, once you begin to be forgotten, returning to the spotlight becomes nearly impossible. WIF is undergoing this brutal process - from being the center of attention to being ignored, it’s just a matter of months.

The brutal truth of the crypto world

Pulling the market is justice. Although this phrase sounds vulgar, it accurately summarizes the essence of this market. In the traditional financial world, we would still discuss fundamentals, value investing, and long-termism. But in the world of meme coins, all these concepts are simplified into a single number: price.

When prices rise, everything is right. The community is active, KOLs are recommending it, and new holders keep pouring in, starting a positive cycle. When prices fall, all problems are exposed. The community begins to infight, KOLs quietly leave, panic spreads, and the death spiral follows.

For WIF, it faces two fatal problems:

First, not being remembered. The time flow in the crypto world is tenfold or hundredfold that of the real world. Hot topics from three months ago are already ancient history here. When Ansem stops mentioning WIF, when the community stops creating new content, and when trading volume starts to shrink, WIF transforms from 'present continuous tense' to 'past perfect tense.' And in this market that is always chasing the next wealth opportunity, no one will be interested in history.

Second, losing the attractiveness of wealth creation effects. The failure of The Sphere's fundraising was not just a marketing setback; it exposed a cruel reality: when prices fall, even the most loyal community members become cautious. Without new funds flowing in, there is no incentive for price rise; without price rise, new funds cannot be attracted. This is an unsolvable dilemma.

The deeper truth is that in this era dominated by attention economy, the life and death of meme coins often hinges on a single thought. A tweet can create a hundredfold coin, while a single failure can destroy all efforts. There is no gradual decline here; only abrupt collapse.

The story of WIF is a microcosm of countless meme coins. They streak across the sky of the crypto world like meteors, briefly illuminating a corner, then quickly disappearing into darkness. A few lucky ones can become stars, but most can only accept the fate of being forgotten.

This is the survival rule of the crypto world: stay relevant or die. There is no middle option.

Being forgotten is true death.

On August 5, that pink knitted hat will be searching for its new owner.

The moment the auction hammer falls may be the last footnote WIF leaves in crypto history. In a sense, the fate of this hat is quite ironic - it once represented tens of billions in market value, symbolizing a community's dream, but now it must be auctioned to seek its meaning of existence.

But this outcome precisely confirms the point we made at the beginning: in the world of Web3, being forgotten is the true death. The hat can be auctioned, collected, and placed in a museum display case. But WIF, as a meme, a cultural symbol, and a cryptocurrency, is gradually losing its heat. Not because of a problem with the code, nor because of a hack, but because people no longer remember it.

This is an era where attention is scarcer than gold. Every day, new projects are born, new stories are told, and new wealth myths are circulated. In this never-ending cycle, only those projects that can continuously occupy people's minds can survive. The rest, no matter how glorious in the past, will be washed away by the tides of time.

Interestingly, as a product of the previous era, NFTs have shown even stronger vitality in this meme coin-dominated cycle. Even during the NFT winter, BAYC can still create buzz with occasional IP licensing news, CryptoPunks occasionally makes headlines with sky-high transactions, and Pudgy Penguins returns to the public eye with the release of physical toys. The teams behind these projects are still working, and the community remains strong, successfully fighting their way through to continue generating real commercial value and profit.

In contrast, most meme coins are products of barbaric growth. They often lack a clear team structure, have no long-term business plans, and find it difficult to establish deep cooperation with mainstream brands. The background of small teams makes it harder for meme coin projects to gain recognition in the traditional business world and to resonate widely outside the community. When the heat fades, these projects often lack the resources and capability to maintain long-term brand value.

The story of WIF streaked across the sky of the crypto world like a meteor, briefly illuminating a corner, then quickly disappearing into the darkness. The only certainty is that in this consensus-driven world, memory is the most precious asset. When no one remembers your name anymore, you are truly dead.

This is the life and death of a meme coin in the crypto world.