Where is the battleground for Meme coins? The competition among the three chains has just begun
Playing Meme coins on Ethereum? Old wallet users do have this habit. As the big brother of smart contracts, its position is solid, the community consensus is strong, and it handles financial narratives skillfully. With the Pectra upgrade coming in 2025 and ETFs advancing, old projects are coming back to life. But the problem is obvious—gas fees are painfully high, and Layer

An HTTP status code forgotten for almost thirty years suddenly became the new favorite in the crypto world in 2025.
We're talking about the 402 status code—"Payment Required." It was reserved back in 1997 when the HTTP protocol was designed, but since there was no suitable payment method at the time, this functionality just sat unused in the protocol documentation.
Now, things have changed. Stablecoins have matured, Layer 2 has brought transaction costs down, and AI Agents are running around the world doing tasks, calling APIs, and searching for data. The need for micropayments finally has real use cases.
A leading exchange (the one that recently upgraded its domain from .io to .com) seized this opportunity and partnered with Cloudflare to launch the x402 protocol: allowing AIs or users to access paid content without registering an account, without redirecting pages, and completing on-chain payments directly. Sounds simple

In the third quarter of 2025, the total market capitalization of the crypto market surpassed $4 trillion, with the competitive landscape among exchanges remaining concentrated and one platform holding a 34.59% market share. On-chain ecosystems are developing rapidly, institutional investment is accelerating, and traditional financial institutions are especially beginning to get involved. Fee reduction measures have helped drive a surge in trading volume, reflecting market recognition of on-chain assets, which signifies that large-scale adoption of Web3 is accelerating.

DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) was established after Trump took office, quickly attracting attention with crypto culture, but was dissolved after 294 days due to mismanagement and legal issues. This reflects the short-lived nature of political meme experiments and the triumph of traditional political structures. This event reveals that the integration of crypto culture with traditional politics still requires balance, and true value comes from substantive execution.

From Joke to Battlefield: How Meme Coins are Redefining the Rules of the Crypto Game
Remember when meme coins were considered a joke a few years ago? Now, these “jokes” account for 5%-7% of the total crypto market cap, with a total market value of $63.6 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $7.61 billion. This is no longer child’s play—it’s a real battlefield with real money.
Brands are using meme coins for marketing, hedge funds are testing the waters with small positions in high-volatility plays, and even politicians are issuing tokens to gain momentum. We are witnessing a shift from the fringes to the mainstream, but what is the cost of this transformation? Let the data speak.
The Frenzy of 2024-2025: The Underlying Currents Behind 500% Growth
In 2024, capital in the meme coin sector surged by over 500%. By early 2025, speculative funds flooded from “old timers” like Bitcoin and Ethereum into meme altcoins. The US SEC is

During the National Day holiday, some people are waiting in lines at tourist attractions, while others are glued to their screens watching their positions get liquidated.
You're in Lijiang watching crowds, he's staring at candlestick charts and getting liquidated.
This National Day, while the A-shares market was closed and stock investors were supposed to relax, on the crypto side, a few tokens with names that sound like a joke—Meme4, PALU, and something called "某平台人生"—saw their market caps multiply dozens of times in just a few days.
Early entrants easily saw their account profits surpass $1 million. Chinese-speaking groups exploded with activity, and major influencers on Twitter were frantically reposting like they'd discovered a new gold mine.
And then? Starting October 9, it all went into free fall.
Some coins dropped 95% in a single day. Over 100,000 traders were liquidated, with total losses of $621 million. Overnight riches turned into a flood of bitter complaints.
I've seen this story before, just not in the crypto market last time.
The year of GameStop, retail investors went crazy once too.
Remember 20

Once seen as a joke, Meme coins have now become a force in the crypto market that cannot be ignored. They not only stir the flow of funds but also leave their mark on social media and even political brand shaping.
Brands use them for marketing and interaction, and some hedge funds have even started to test the waters with small positions in these high-volatility assets. This is not a baseless rumor, but a real evolution in the market.
2024-2025: Capital Surge and Regulatory Watershed
In 2024, the total market value of the entire Meme coin sector skyrocketed by over 500%. This influx of hot money quickly shifted from mainstream coins to various altcoin Meme projects at the beginning of 2025.
The more critical turning point is that the U.S. SEC officially defines many meme coins as "collectibles" rather than securities in 2025. This means that the regulatory barrier for investor protection has been lowered, and the risks are entirely borne by the investors.
$TRUMP on January 1, 2025

What was once just a community joke, the Meme coin has now completely changed the game.
They are no longer fringe novelties. Where is liquidity heading? Look at Meme coins. What are social media discussing? Still Meme coins. Even political brands are starting to get in on this.
The marketing team uses it to engage, while hedge funds take small positions to bet on high volatility. This field is reconstructing the crypto market at an unimaginable speed.
Crazy 2024-2025: 500% growth is just the appetizer
In 2024, the total market value of Meme coins skyrocketed by over 500%. And then? In early 2025, speculative funds crazily shifted from the large market to Meme altcoins.
The US SEC has given a qualitative assessment: many Meme coins are collectibles, not securities. What does this mean? There is less regulatory protection.
On January 17, $TRUMP burst onto the scene. In less than 24 hours, its market cap surged to 27 billion.

The Meme coin market has become a hotspot for speculation, with a total market capitalization of $63.6 billion. In 2025, 1.7 million new Meme coins will be issued, which the SEC classifies as collectibles. Most activities on the SOL chain are related to Meme coins, but the survival rate of most new coins is low. The market is dominated by a few large coins, with extreme fluctuations; 95% of new coins are eyewash, and retail investors face high risks. Social media serves as the price engine, with whales manipulating the market, so retail investors should participate with caution.

Recently, the market has been paying considerable attention to the actions of $PING and $PAYAI. The transformation of $PING into a Launchpad aims to enhance the value of the token, while $PAYAI is attempting to break through the limitations of its tool attributes through token migration. The changes in these two projects are intended to address shortcomings, adapt to the market environment, and increase sustainability. Although the current market reaction is lukewarm, it may bring new development opportunities in the long run.

During the National Day holiday, a Meme coin frenzy occurred in the crypto market, with market capitalization experiencing a big pump in a short period of time, but then it fell significantly, leading to severe losses for many investors. The article points out that the crypto market is a leaderless territory, where prices are determined by narrative and Consensus, and sentiment has become a new form of capital. In the future, governance and transparent regulation should be strengthened to ensure that technology drives financial fairness.

From community jokes to a speculative frenzy - this is the true portrayal of Meme coins in 2025. They are no longer just marginal products, but are genuinely influencing the flow of funds, social sentiment, and even the branding efforts of political figures.
The marketing team uses it to create hype, while hedge funds use it for high volatility allocations. It sounds magical, but data doesn't lie.
What is happening in the market
In 2024, the total market value of this sector skyrocketed by over 500%, directly causing a massive shift of speculative funds from mainstream coins to Meme altcoins at the beginning of 2025. More importantly, the U.S. SEC officially classified many Meme coins as "collectibles" rather than securities in 2025—this means that investor protection has significantly diminished.
On January 17, $TRUMP emerged, reaching a market capitalization of $27 billion in less than 24 hours. In the following weeks, over 700 Trump-themed imitation coins appeared in the market, among which 19

Recently, a certain public chain has been extremely popular, with various Meme coins flying everywhere, and stories of getting rich are flooding the screens every day. Buy one casually before bed, and wake up to find several more zeros in your account—screenshots like this are everywhere in the group, and the illusion of picking up money all over the place has led countless people to abandon fundamental research, no longer paying attention to the Secondary Market, with their minds filled only with thoughts of mining the next 100x coin.
But have you ever thought about a question: the money you earn, who exactly is losing it?
This market has always followed the 80/20 rule. Those screenshots of sudden wealth you see are either from pre-positioning by insiders or selective displays that only show profits and not losses. Institutions need these myths; they need to attract retail investors to take the bait.
Smart money has already retreated.
When everyone is still fantasizing about "someone's life", the truly smart money has already quietly exited. They are not continuing to chase after memecoins, but are instead flowing most of their funds back into the Secondary Market — to position themselves in assets with deeper liquidity and higher certainty.

One weekend in May 2021, a coin with a Shiba Inu avatar suddenly surged into the top ten by market capitalization.
Many people are confused: isn't this just an emoji?
Yes. But this "meme" has reached a market capitalization of over 85 billion dollars.
This event has overturned the understanding of many people—apparently cryptocurrency can be worth so much money without relying on technology, without relying on a white paper, but just on a cute dog picture. Today we will dissect the seemingly absurd phenomenon and uncover what kind of value code lies behind it.
An Unexpected Social Experiment
The story begins in 2013.
In that year, programmers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer could no longer stand the crazy speculative atmosphere of the coin circle, so they decided to create some parody. They spent a few hours copying Bitcoin's code, changing the logo to the most popular Shiba Inu meme at the time, and setting the issuance to unlimited—this was simply a challenge to the essence of cryptocurrency at that time.

How much is a meme worth?
This question always has new answers in the crypto market. No technology, no white paper, no roadmap, just an emoji can move hundreds of millions of dollars - this is simply a fantasy in traditional finance, but on-chain? It's completely normal.
In October 2025, a spectacular event unfolded on BSC. Unlike the previous wild Meme coin crazes, this time, top trading platforms got directly involved. From He Yi's Chinese internet flavored blessing to CZ's frequent interactions, and then to the official launch of the "Meme Rush" platform, the top-level design met grassroots enthusiasm, resulting in a fierce and rapid chemical reaction.
When the four words "Binance Life" emerged, the on-chain daily trading volume surged to 6 billion USD in a matter of days, with tens of thousands of new players pouring in — what we see is not just another round of speculative bubble, but rather a trio of resonance between power, capital, and culture.
Everything starts from that sentence