Rethinking Meme Coins: Market Catalysts Rather than Cycle Disruptors

Recently, there has been a view that Meme coins have harmed the current cryptocurrency market cycle. Although I have always advocated the investment philosophy of “technical narrative + long-term value”, objectively speaking, Meme coins not only did not disrupt this cycle, but rather served as a catalyst to accelerate the industry’s maturation process.

The Market Impact and Value of Meme Coins

The Rise of the Attention Economy Era

The current market has shifted from a “technology-driven” phase to an “attention-driven” phase, and Meme coins are the most intuitive reflection of this transition. Traditional tech projects often require a three to five-year roadmap to realize their goals, while the market has lost patience and trust to wait, creating an opportunity window for Meme coins to attract liquidity through short-term wealth effects.

Self-Innovation of Technological Narratives

Meme coins have actually forced tech projects to innovate. The old model of relying on financing valuations, technical packaging, and conceptual piling has come to an end. Investors have experienced an investment experience in Meme coins that is “simple and straightforward, with a clear wealth effect,” and can no longer accept projects that are “technically complex but have no substantial delivery in the long term.”

Expand market boundaries and user base

No matter how sophisticated the technical narrative is, it can only attract a small elite group that understands these concepts. Widespread adoption requires interactive methods that are simple, easy to understand, and can quickly reach a consensus. When a large number of ordinary users enter the market due to Meme coins, some will inevitably explore deeper ecosystems, bringing new users to technical projects and addressing the long-standing “user scarcity” dilemma faced by these technical projects.

The Spillover Effect of Market Vitality

The Meme craze will not last throughout the entire market cycle, but the market vitality it releases will benefit most areas of the crypto ecosystem. The essence of capital chasing profits determines that Meme coins cannot continuously generate wealth effects. After most people experience the duality of short-term wealth and zeroing out, they will naturally seek more balanced investment targets.

At that time, those technology projects that truly solve practical problems, establish user stickiness, and have a clear business model will welcome a valuation reconstruction, completing the transition from concept to actual value. For technology narratives, this is not an end, but the beginning of a rebirth through fire.

Reconstruction of Investment Models

Meme coin has actually reshaped the distorted market structure of traditional venture capital coins, characterized by “high valuation and low circulation.” The financing model dominated by venture capital in the past has led to a general decline after token generation events, leaving almost no room for ordinary investors to benefit from holding the coins.

In contrast, despite the enormous risks, Meme coins have reactivated market vitality with their transparency, simplicity, and equal participation characteristics, bringing the market back to a more fair and transparent competitive environment. To some extent, the shrinking market space of some venture capital institutions is not unrelated to the mainstreaming trend of Meme coins.