Recently, meme coins have gained popularity again, from the abstract carnival of Solana to the hot rotation of BSC, with controversies never ceasing: some criticize it as air, a game of passing the parcel, pure gambling; others say it tarnishes the 'technical ideal' of blockchain. But you cannot deny—during the dullness of a bear market, when technical narratives become numbing, meme coins burst forth like a suddenly exploded colorful candy, tearing open the obscure and complex world of crypto, spilling in absurdity, satire, and pure joy. It doesn't need a white paper; it just needs you to laugh, FOMO, and shout 'to the moon.' It brings crypto back from serious experimentation to the internet carnival, allowing ordinary people to truly participate—not as investors, but as players and accomplices. Meme is not a bug; it is a feature—so long as humanity still seeks fun in the darkness, it will never die.
I've wanted to write an article about memes for a long time but haven't had a good idea. Today, while on a business trip on a plane, I suddenly got inspired. Let's talk about Solana memes today. In the past few days, BSC memes have also started to heat up, but there are still significant differences between the two. I hope to chat with everyone about it later when I have the chance. Let's get straight to the point today.
I wonder if everyone has noticed that the memes on Solana are becoming harder to understand. A meme can suddenly become popular for no reason. The cute animals from the end of 2024 to the first half of 2025 were easy for everyone to understand, but now many memes are increasingly abstract, exceeding 99% of the cognitive range. Many people, even if they participate, do not know what they are participating in.
In fact, this transformation fundamentally stems from the explosive issuance of coins on Pump.fun (over 13 million new coins born in 2025), an 85%+ trading volume pullback after market saturation, and the on-chain collision of global subcultures (East Asian low culture, American brainrot slang, literary reversals).
I will showcase four of the most representative projects from 2025-2026—67, 114514, Kabuto, and WhiteWhale—where we see the evolution of Solana memes from 'whoever is cute gets popular' to 'whoever is abstract is cool, whoever has a story survives.'
From the end of 2024 to the first half of 2025: animal kingdom + viral carnival (peak period)
During this phase (Q4 2024 to Q2 2025), Solana memes will be dominated by instant comprehensibility and animal themes, with the total market cap of global meme sectors peaking at nearly 150 billion dollars (end of 2024, driven by Trump's re-election). Pump.fun will have thousands of new coins daily, with the DEX market share reaching 94%, but most will drop to zero within hours. Representative projects (mostly old coins from 2023-2024 experiencing a peak revival during this period): Bonk (BONK): Launched in December 2022, with a market cap nearing 4 billion dollars by the end of 2024 to Q1 2025, continuing to thrive due to DeFi integration and airdrops.
Dogwifhat (WIF): Launched in November 2023, peaking at 3-4 billion dollars in market cap by the end of 2024 to the first half of 2025, the Shiba Inu in a hat becomes an absurd symbol.
Popcat (POPCAT): Launching in December 2023, with a market cap exceeding 500 million dollars in the first half of 2025, driven by the social appeal of bouncing cat memes.
Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT): Launching in November 2024, with a market cap exceeding 1 billion dollars in the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025, based on real squirrel events and social outrage.
Fartcoin (FARTCOIN): Launched in October 2024, peaking at 2.5 billion dollars in early 2025, reaching the pinnacle of toxic humor through fart sound effects.
Goatseus Maximus (GOAT): Launched in October 2024, peaking in the first half of 2025 amidst the AI + election frenzy, with a market cap exceeding 1 billion dollars.
Official Trump (TRUMP): Launched in January 2025 (before Trump's inauguration), it experienced a brief explosive surge, peaking at over 2 billion dollars (then crashing), a political-themed marker.
Cultural atmosphere: dominated by Western degens, chaotic, fun, and fleeting. However, January 2025's controversial events like TRUMP triggered pullbacks, causing the sector's market cap to shrink to 47 billion dollars (November 2025), with trading volume plummeting by 85%, forcing survivors to innovate.
From the second half of 2025 to early 2026: abstract narratives + cultural depth rise
After a pullback in Q3-Q4 2025, Solana memes will shift towards complex narratives, cultural references, and community resilience, with the sector's market cap stabilizing around 20 billion dollars (data from the end of 2025). Survivors will rely on AI integration, governance/staking, and cross-cultural collisions to extend their lifecycle. Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) native token will launch in December 2024, peaking at 2.88 billion dollars in August 2025, becoming a turning point in the second half of the year.
Four typical projects (mostly launched in the second half of 2025 or end of the year, extending into early 2026):
67: From American slang to a global phenomenon, The Official 67 Coin (67) perfectly embodies the transformation of Solana memes from absurd animal antics to the integration of viral slang.
The meme originates from the song of Philadelphia rapper Skrilla in early 2025 (Doot Doot (6 7)), where the lyrics repeatedly mention '6-7.' It quickly evolved on TikTok into a brainrot catchphrase for Gen Alpha, often paired with clips of 6'7" (about 2.01 meters) basketball players (like LaMelo Ball). 67 has almost no fixed meaning, representing mindless fun, similarity, and random shouting, even being named the 2025 Word of the Year by Dictionary.com. In September 2025, 14-year-old Maverick Trevillian ('67 Kid') became famous for a video yelling '67!' from the bleachers during an amateur basketball game, and later launched the 67 coin on Pump.fun. The community spread rapidly through X accounts, YouTube, and television exposure, with a market cap exceeding 20 million dollars by early 2026, a daily increase of 22.7%, and trading volume of 2.4 million dollars. Early investors achieved a 21,000-fold return.
This marks the beginning of Solana memes embracing mainstream culture in the second half of 2025—67 is not toxic abstraction, but the approachable American youth culture being tokenized for global degen speculation. 114514: East Asian subtle humor goes global. 114514 is a typical representative of the deepest low culture invasion of Solana from the East Asian internet.
Originating from the early 2000s 'Beast Senpai' meme in Japan (from the AV series (真夏の夜の淫夢)), 114514 is a super vulgar homophone for 'いいよ来いよ' (Alright, come on!). It has been popular in the Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean two-dimensional circles for over 15 years, considered a 'nuclear bomb level' bad meme. Launched in December 2025 (around Christmas), it surged 597%–740% from the end of 2025 to early 2026, with a market cap breaking 50 million dollars (peak at 57 million). One trader turned 321 dollars into 2.18 million dollars in 11 days (6800 times), igniting FOMO as reported by Lookonchain.
The reason for the explosion: cultural collision—East Asian players enjoy the sense of superiority of 'only we understand,' while Western degens rush into the 'I don’t understand but it’s super crazy' abstract. Trading volume peaked at 21 million dollars, marking the transition of Solana memes from simple animals to exclusive narratives that challenge boundaries.
On the surface, it's the first-generation Pokémon Kabuto (fossil armor shark), and the project claims to use transaction fees to purchase real first-edition Kabuto cards, riding the wave of Pokémon's 30th anniversary in 2026.
The real hook lies in the Japanese slang: '兜合わせ（かぶとあわせ）'—male homosexual friction, a highly vulgar meme likened to the collision of two kabuto armor, only understood by a very niche audience of Japanese otaku.
On December 1, 2025, Pump.fun launched, surging 260%–327% within 24 hours, reaching a market cap of 10–13 million dollars, with a trading volume of 8.4 million dollars. The community operated excellently: no rug pulls, clean handovers, and listed on CoinMun. The heat continued into early 2026.
This represents the trend in the second half of 2025: memes become a dual-layer game—mainstream IP attracts global players while subtle references are left for East Asian insiders, extending the lifecycle. WhiteWhale: literary resistance turns into crypto activism, symbolizing the transformation of Solana memes from fleeting fun to resilient narratives.
Originating from Herman Melville's 1851 novel (Moby Dick), the white whale symbolizes Captain Ahab's unattainable obsession and destructive pursuit. In the crypto context, it has been inverted to represent 'the people's white whale'—the retail investors who are the giant beasts that are hard to hunt down and can turn the tables against manipulative whales and CEX. The origin is from mid-2025 when trader @TheWhiteWhaleV2 was frozen with 3 million dollars on MEXC, prompting massive community support and on-chain investigations, resulting in the eventual unfreezing. Fans launched WhiteWhale on Pump.fun in December 2025 as a symbol of anti-manipulation ecology.
From the end of 2025 to early 2026, there was a surge of 41.2%–1 million times, with a market cap surpassing 100 million dollars, multiple 50-fold increases, and over 12,000 holders, with no rug pulls. KOLs and discussions on X positioned it as 'whales vs retail investors.'
This marks the maturity of 2025: a shift from pure speculation to community resistance with some practicality.
Early 2026: signals of mixed revival and recovery
As of January 10, 2026, Pump.fun DEX trading volume has returned to over 2 billion dollars, and Solana has become a global cultural collision point.
As of now, I believe the more difficult to understand areas have more opportunities, but the risks are also high. Playing with Solana memes is not about technology, but about information, speed, cultural understanding, emotional management, and luck. Friends, try to read a little every day; there are treasures in books. I hope my article is helpful to you!