Following US President Donald Trump’s TRUMP memecoin was introduced on January 18, memecoin activity surged, but it slowed down following “Libragate.”
to have waned following a string of poor launches and rug pulls.
In a March 6 report, Ong stated that metrics for the token launchpad Pump.fun fell sharply after the Libra (LIBRA) collapse, with daily graduating tokens and newly produced tokens on the site dropping more than 90% from their February peak.
“The introduction of TRUMP and MELANIA signaled the peak of memecoins, draining all other cryptocurrencies of their liquidity and attention.”
The debut of Libra has caused a significant decline in the memecoin market. CoinGecko is the source.
In sharp contrast, Pump.fun’s use reached an all-time high of $3.3 billion in weekly trade volume following the debut of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin on January 18.
But since then, Pump.fun’s volume has dropped 63% between January and February. Additionally, according to CoinMarketCap statistics, the entire market value of memecoins peaked on December 5 at $124 billion, but has since fallen to $54 billion.The introduction of two coins failed to curb the memecoin frenzy, but Libra’s launch was the decisive blow, exposing the reality that memecoin launches were far from fair. Instead, they benefited insiders and small groups at the expense of the majority, according to Ong.
Libra, a cryptocurrency promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, experienced a dramatic collapse as insiders cashed out more than $107 million, causing the token’s value to plummet by nearly 94% in just hours.
Related: Industry executives suggest that the current retail-driven memecoin craze could follow the same path as ICOs and NFTs, eventually fading away.
Ong notes that memecoins were always expected to be cyclical, with their popularity rising and falling with market trends. However, a few memecoins have managed to persist through these fluctuations.
In February, Santiment, an on-chain analytics platform, observed that the cryptocurrency market might be entering a more stable phase. Interest in memecoins declined, and attention returned to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as other layer-1 altcoins.
Ong predicts the market could move toward an “extreme power law” scenario, where 99.99% of projects fail, and only a handful succeed and endure over time.
He points to memecoins like DOGE, SHIB, and BONK as examples of projects that have survived multiple market cycles. These coins provide valuable lessons for creators aiming to develop memecoins with long-term potential.
“The most successful memecoins are those that have cultivated dedicated, almost cult-like communities. These communities are deeply passionate about the project’s mission, resist selling during downturns, and generate organic content and narratives,” Ong explained.
Magazine: A look into a mysterious celebrity memecoin scam operation and a Hong Kong company divesting from Bitcoin: Asia Express.
