The Rise and Fall of Meme Coin: The Emergence and Decline of WIF

On August 5, 2025, a pink knitted hat will be auctioned off. This is not a designer item or a historical artifact, but the emblem of Dogwifhat (WIF), which once swept through the crypto world. In November 2024, this hat still symbolized a meme coin with a market value of over $4 billion, and the community even raised nearly $700,000 to project the image of a Shiba Inu wearing it onto the giant sphere screen at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

On March 18, 2024, this "Shiba Inu with a Hat" was minted as an NFT and auctioned on a certain platform. In the end, a well-known trader in the cryptocurrency field purchased it for a high price of 1210.759 ETH (approximately 4.3 million USD), making it the second-highest auction item by transaction price on that platform at the time.

However, just a year later, this hat will once again enter an auction, but few people show interest. Against the backdrop of the collapse of the NFT narrative and a quiet market, the once-popular Meme is facing a silent disregard. WIF, as a representative old Meme, is in an even worse situation. After the auction news was announced on August 1, it couldn't even stir a ripple on social media.

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

The Rise of WIF

At the end of 2023, a simple photo began circulating on cryptocurrency social platforms: a Shiba Inu wearing a pink knitted hat. No one could have predicted that this seemingly random combination would generate billions of dollars in market value in the following months.

The explosion of WIF cannot be separated from a key figure - Ansem. As one of the most influential KOLs in the cryptocurrency field, a miracle happened when he began to frequently mention this "hat dog" on social media platforms. Every one of his posts was like an adrenaline shot to the market, pushing WIF from an obscure meme coin to the center stage of the crypto world.

The rise of WIF is astonishing - it took only 81 days for its market value to exceed $1 billion. The enthusiasm of the community has surpassed everyone's imagination. They are not satisfied with just spreading the image of Doge online; instead, they want to do something unprecedented - project WIF onto The Sphere in Las Vegas. This is the world's largest spherical LED screen, with millions of people passing by every day. If Doge could appear on it, it would be the most iconic moment in the history of meme coins.

In March 2024, the crowdfunding campaign originally aimed at $650,000 was achieved in just a few days, ultimately exceeding the goal with nearly $700,000 raised. Community members generously contributed, believing that this was not just a marketing event but a key step for WIF towards mainstream adoption. The social media platforms were filled with excited discussions, as everyone counted down the moments, looking forward to the moment when the hat dog would illuminate the night sky of Las Vegas.

On March 31, 2024, after the crowdfunding of The Sphere plan ended, market sentiment reached a peak, with WIF hitting an all-time high of $4.83. During that crazy period, WIF seemed to be unstoppable. Almost every crypto community was discussing this Shiba Inu wearing a pink hat. Ansem's influence, the community's enthusiasm, and the market's FOMO sentiment perfectly combined to drive WIF to its peak.

It 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, and a belief in the infinite possibilities of the crypto world.

The WIF Nightmare in Las Vegas

The turning point of fate came so quickly. In January 2025, the Trump meme emerged, sucking the liquidity out of the crypto market like a black hole. Shortly after, in February, the tariff policy announced by Trump triggered macroeconomic uncertainty, causing a significant pullback in the crypto market. Among them, the decline of meme coins was particularly severe. To this day, although mainstream coins like BTC, ETH, and SOL have returned to high levels, most meme coins are still struggling in the depths of the pullback.

The deadliest blow came from April 2025. It all started with the false hope at the beginning of the year — on January 29, the official social media account of Dogwifhat released a long-awaited teaser for the Las Vegas Sphere project, instantly igniting the enthusiasm of the community, and WIF surged 34% within a week. However, the good times didn't last long; the official department of Las Vegas Sphere quickly issued a statement, clearly stating that "there has never been any commercial cooperation discussions with any cryptocurrency project." This cold water was thoroughly poured over the community, and after the denial statement was released, WIF plummeted nearly 10% within an hour.

Worse still, serious divisions began to emerge within the community. Some members questioned the transparency of the project and strongly demanded a detailed account of how the fundraising funds were used. The crisis of trust spread like a virus.

After nearly a year of enduring and waiting, on April 1, 2025, Edward, one of the initiators of The Sphere project, finally announced the official abandonment of the project and the commencement of refunds. Nearly $700,000 in fundraising, countless days and nights of anticipation, ultimately turned into bubbles. At this time, the WIF price had fallen to a low of $0.42, and after the news of the project abandonment was announced, WIF plummeted again, setting a new low of $0.3 for the year. This last straw completely crushed the community's confidence. Even the planning team behind WIF seems to have chosen to give up.

What’s worse is that Ansem's voice began to fade away. This KOL, who used to mention WIF every day, gradually shifted focus to other projects. After months of stagnation, WIF seemed to have disappeared from social platforms. The once overwhelming doge meme is gone, heated community discussions have quieted down, and even the most loyal supporters have started to change sides.

At the same time, other meme coins are making great strides in their respective tracks:

• Doge remains the unshakable king. Every new meme aspires to become and surpass Doge. A well-known entrepreneur has never stopped interacting with Doge, and he has long become the best spokesperson for Doge.
• Pepe has occupied another high ground with its classic frog image. Pepe has become a part of online language thanks to its massive meme ecosystem.
• Pengu is backed by the strong NFT community of Pudgy Penguins and has gained favor from certain Wall Street institutions. Pengu is committed to expanding the web2 ecosystem and recently announced a partnership with a consumer goods company in China. At the same time, they are also active on multiple social media platforms.

These successful meme coins share a common characteristic: multi-dimensional vitality. They either have representative KOL support, strong community creative ability, or institutional recognition. The key point is that they have established a diversified communication network that will not collapse due to the disappearance of a single support.

In contrast, the issues with WIF are obvious. It overly relies on Ansem's personal influence, has not established its own content ecosystem, lacks innovative mechanisms, and has failed to gain institutional favor. When the initial hype subsided, it had no support system to rely on.

In this era of extreme scarcity of attention, once you start to be forgotten, it is almost an impossible task to return to the spotlight. WIF is undergoing this cruel process - from being the center of attention to being ignored, it only takes a few months.

The Harsh Truth of the Crypto World

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

The price rises, everything is right. The community is active, KOLs are vying to recommend, and new holders keep pouring in, starting a positive cycle. The price drops, and all problems are exposed. The community begins to have infighting, KOLs quietly leave, panic spreads, and the death spiral follows.

For WIF, it is facing two fatal issues:

First, no longer remembered. In the crypto world, the pace of time is tenfold or a hundredfold compared to the real world. A hot topic from three months ago is now ancient history here. When Ansem no longer mentions WIF, when the community stops creating new content, and when trading volume starts to shrink, WIF transforms from a "present continuous tense" into a "past perfect tense." In this market that is always chasing the next opportunity for wealth, no one will be interested in history.

Second, it has lost the appeal of the wealth creation effect. The fundraising failure of The Sphere is not just a marketing setback, but reveals a cruel reality: when prices fall, even the most loyal community members become cautious. Without new capital inflow, there is no momentum for price increases; without price increases, it's impossible to attract new funds. 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 hinge on a single thought. A post on social media can create a hundredfold coin, while a single failure can destroy all efforts. There is no gradual decline here, only a cliff-like collapse.

The story of WIF is a microcosm of countless meme coins. They streak across the sky of the crypto world like shooting stars, briefly illuminating a corner before quickly disappearing into the darkness. A fortunate few 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 the true death

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

At the moment the auction hammer falls, it may mark the last footnote of WIF in the history of crypto. In a sense, the fate of this hat is quite ironic – it once represented a market value of billions of dollars, symbolizing the dreams of a community, and now it seeks meaning through an auction.

But this ending precisely confirms our initial point: in the world of Web3, being forgotten is the true death. Hats can be auctioned, collected, or placed in a museum display case. But WIF, as a meme, a cultural symbol, and a cryptocurrency, has gradually lost its popularity. Not because of a code issue, not because of a hacker attack, but because people no longer remember it.

This is an era where attention is scarcer than gold. New projects are born every day, new stories are told, and new myths of wealth circulate. In this endless cycle, only those projects that can continuously occupy people's minds will survive. Others, no matter how glorious they once were, will be washed away by the torrent of time.

Interestingly, NFTs, as products of the last era, have shown even stronger vitality in this cycle dominated by meme coins. Even during the NFT winter, some well-known projects can still create buzz with occasional IP licensing news, and there are times when exorbitant transactions make headlines, or they regain public attention due to the release of physical toys. The teams behind these projects are still working, and the community remains strong. They have successfully carved out a bloody path, continuously generating real commercial value and profits.

In contrast, meme coins are mostly products of wild growth. They often lack a clear team structure, do not have long-term business plans, and find it more difficult to establish deep collaborations with mainstream brands. The background of small teams makes it harder for meme coin projects to gain recognition in the traditional business world.