Memes remain honest PvP, not because there are bad actors, but because every new player accepts the rules of the game. They quickly adapt and learn how to swim in this ocean of fear and opportunity. Bundlers, snipers, rugs — you have to detect that and adapt.
It brings back memories of when Gotbit used to publicly push the market and memes, and wipe out degens with retail traders. Back then, everyone was ready for it and adjusted their strategies accordingly. But that story faded into the sunset, and a new one began — a more interesting one.
AI tokens filled with meaning and untouched by cabals, launched by devs — which added trust. People researched GitHubs and dev accounts to understand the potential and legitimacy. There were plenty of opportunities. Then the limit was reached, and the rug pulls started. The narrative around new tokens began to decline.
And then came a new wave — new launches, fresh liquidity into the market. First the Trump token, then Melania, then tokens of various celebrities and even “nations” — everyone traded the attention around launches, and tokens easily hit $500M+ market caps within days. Exciting, but later many blamed Trump for pulling liquidity from the market.
The narrative started to fade again. Then came the Libra situation — public teams and influencers were accused of pulling liquidity and dumping on the community. Many influencers from the LA Vape Cabal suddenly went silent and disappeared.
A new narrative emerged: memes were no longer a “fair game.” But were they ever, really? A calm followed, volumes dropped, and hitting a $1M market cap became an achievement.
When the market starts to rise, new narratives appear. Everything is forgotten, and a new attention game begins.
The market grows, Launchcoin, liquidity wakes up, Letsbonk, Raydium Launchlab — the game gains momentum again. But has anything really changed in this game?
Fundamentally, no. But the level of research, preparation, and tooling has increased. Now, to succeed, you have to stand out and make a loud statement. Build a community, promote a narrative and an idea. Cabals, teams, groups — each with a leader coordinating efforts and trying to grow the project the best they can.
A new type of project has emerged — cults and communities.
By building these, they gain more recognition than yet another DeFi or infrastructure product. Because they evolve together with their community, coordinate actions, and push it to the top. Not by promising to build a revolutionary product, but by doing something every day that people will talk about and enjoy.
They focus on the token’s main goal — managing attention.