Recently, CZ criticized Memes in a post and called on everyone to focus on 'real' blockchain applications:
"I do not oppose memes, but memes have become a bit strange now. Let's use blockchain to build real (web3) applications."
On November 23, according to platform X, Binance co-founder CZ unfollowed Musk about six hours ago, possibly due to CZ's lack of optimism regarding memes.
Meme: Investment field
MEME has become an important business card in the crypto world, filled with the ups and downs of wealth stories and hot topics. On the other hand, the MEME culture, accompanied by a surge of funds, is becoming increasingly complex, with speculation even shifting from internet trends to various abstract cultures. For many who hope to find the key to wealth in this market, it seems that they have entered a level of understanding that is epic in difficulty.
As of November 21, there are a total of 32 MEMEs on the Solana chain with a market capitalization of over 100 million, with the highest market capitalization MEME being BONK, a dog-themed project launched in 2023.
PANews categorizes these projects as follows: crypto-native (original crypto content), frog series (similar to PEPE), cats, dogs, internet trends (from TIKTOK or other internet social hotspots), AI, DeSci.
According to this classification, we can see that among the MEMEs with a market capitalization of 100 million, the number of internet trend and cat series projects is the highest, with 8 and 7 respectively. The number of AI-themed projects is 6. However, in terms of total market capitalization, the dog series MEMEs have the highest total market capitalization, reaching 7.206 billion, accounting for 42% of the total market capitalization.
In addition to market capitalization comparisons, the overall market's heat can be observed over time. The following chart compares the issuance time of MEMEs with a market capitalization of over 100 million. From this comparison, it is evident that there is a significant preference for themes in the MEME market during each time period.
Dog-themed projects are the earliest famous series on the Solana chain, with issuance times almost all concentrated in 2023. Since November 2023, there are still three dog-themed MEMEs with market capitalizations exceeding 100 million, among which BONK ranks first on the Solana chain with a market capitalization close to 4 billion. $WIF ranks second on Solana. Thus, it appears that dog-themed projects remain the most popular material in the MEME world.
October was the month when Solana entered the highest MEME popularity, with the most MEMEs over 100 million in market capitalization born this month, totaling 11. The most represented themes are AI series and internet trends. Notable examples include MOODENG (internet trend) and GOAT (AI).
In the overall heated crypto market of November, although the perspective of MEME changes daily, it seems that a strong momentum has yet to form. In November, three projects reached a market capitalization of 100 million, primarily focused on AI and internet trends.
Overall, looking at the time span, the highest market capitalization MEMEs on the Solana chain are still those that were issued earlier, with only Pnut being issued less than a month ago among the top ten projects. Perhaps from this perspective, leading projects mostly need to go through a period of time to solidify consensus.
Value projects: sector rotation
Previously, the asset sector rotation in the market was as follows: external incremental funds entering this industry would first flow from BTC, then to Ethereum, where the DeFi infrastructure of the Ethereum ecosystem would maximize the leverage of incremental funds, amplifying the effect of fund utilization, and finally flowing to popular projects in various new tracks.
However, this bull market is quite special, as the asset sector rotation has changed: BTC surged first, then Solana, followed by Doge, mainstream memes, and finally various memes across chains.
Why has this change occurred?
Firstly, Bitcoin is generally very strong at the beginning of a bull market, especially with the current support of ETFs, leading the entire industry.
External incremental funds for Bitcoin mainly entered through ETFs, which led to the funds not really entering the crypto space but instead being isolated in the US stock market.
Ethereum also has ETFs, but the attention of external incremental funds is currently focused on Bitcoin, making Ethereum very weak with insufficient liquidity.
Bitcoin's explosive growth has brought unexpected effects to the industry.
Bitcoin is the biggest meme, a symbol of this decentralized world, whose symbolic significance far exceeds its actual technical use.
Ethereum, as the 'world computer', relies more on the development of its ecosystem and practical applications for its value.
Now it has become two major factions, memes represented by BTC and VC projects represented by ETH.
The market has gradually divided into two major factions: one part prefers Bitcoin as a speculative asset or a store of value, while the other values the practicality and innovative potential of Ethereum and its ecosystem.
Therefore, the unexpected effect of Bitcoin's explosive growth is the meme craze, with speculators currently dominating the market; while the weakness of ETH has temporarily suppressed various practical 'value projects'.
Memes are very quick, highly volatile, and provide a strong sense of participation and stimulation.
Market attention is limited; since the utility projects represented by ETH (which generally have investment logic and value support) are stagnant, people rush to play in the large meme coin casino.
The simplicity and entertainment of memes make it easier for novice investors to participate. Coupled with top KOL Elon Musk's support for Doge, it has greatly boosted the popularity of memes.
Multiple factors have jointly promoted this round of meme explosion: timing (bull market cycle), geographical advantage (the US new government's policy environment relaxation), and people (Elon Musk's promotion).
Written at the end
However, assets without value support cannot go far, so after the meme craze, a return to rationality means that funds will still seek assets with narratives and imaginative space, as these assets have greater potential for bubble growth.
Therefore, do not be discouraged by VC projects represented by ETH; funds should still flow to projects with larger narratives.
