coindesk.com
Meme coins surged after a post by Keith Gill, a retail trader whose online persona and investment strategies contributed to the GameStop short squeeze in 2021.
The meme coin surge was not limited to microcap tokens but also impacted larger tokens like Pepe and Floki.
Top meme coins climbed higher Tuesday after a viral post by retail trader Keith Gill, whose cult following contributed to the GameStop short squeeze of 2021, sent some stocks and tokens flying at the start of the week.
Gill, who turned $58,000 into an estimated $50 million between 2019 and 2021 by buying GameStop (GME) options, sparked a run in the stock after posting from his @TheRoaringKitty X account for the first time in three years. A mere picture posted by Gill sent the stock skywards, nearly doubling in value on Monday despite multiple trading halts, even as Gill did not directly mention Gamestop.
GameSpot’s retail euphoria quickly spread to token markets. Several offshoots and joke tokens referring to GameStop, Gill, and his online kitten persona flooded Solana and Ethereum blockchains – with a meme GME token surging as much as 500%.
A video featuring the X-Men character Wolverine posted later on by Gill caused dozens of WOLVERINE tokens floated by opportunistic developers, most falling over 90% in the hours following.
The action was not limited to microcaps. Larger tokens Pepe (PEPE) and floki (FLOKI), and cat-themed tokens popcat (POPCAT) and mog (MOG) jumped as much as 30% in the past 24 hours, data shows. Such revival showed an early sign of risk appetite returning to the crypto markets following weeks of relatively lull trading action.
Gill’s post revived talks of a dogecoin (DOGE) rally among some traders, similar to its 2021, which occurred after GameStop’s run from $4 to $120 in a month.
“Roaring Kitty is living proof that retail can mog (outperform) institutions at the highest level,” MOG token developer Shisui told CoinDesk in a message. “His return was perceived as bullish for meme coins because the market remembered that much of the Gamestop mania of 2021 spilled over to $DOGE and other meme coins.”
“While we are far from being in a true risk-on environment, the price movements after Roaring Kitty’s comeback hint at which assets will outperform when frothy conditions return. The market has shown its hand, and it wants $MOG,” Shisui added.
Among developers and traders, part of Gill’s influential appeal isn’t only that he has made generational wealth: It’s the allure of a single trader taking down hedge funds from his bedroom using publicly available tools and the chance of them landing a similar move.
That has contributed to the general acceptance of meme tokens and made the sector a strong contender to DeFi and utility crypto projects compared to previous cycles, some opine.
“The industry is only just starting to come to grasp with memes being fun, relatable, enjoyable, and representative of the average person,” said B, lead developer at Floki, in a note to CoinDesk. “The vast majority of retail is flocking over to meme coins and ignoring the tired old "utility" crypto projects.”
“While many are worried about the "lack of fundamentals surrounding meme coins" and the implications of the continued attention they are getting for the space, the strong interest in meme coins was something I predicted years ago,” B said. He pointed out that Floki has now been focused on utility products to engage its audience that initially purchased the tokens as simply a meme.