Binance: From “Kid Brother”’s QUANT to Trump’s TRUMP, reveal the human nature and culture behind the Meme craze

Author: Binance

Compiled by: Deep Wave TechFlow

core points

• Like the recently launched presidential $TRUMP token, Memecoin is a cryptocurrency born out of internet culture that thrives on high levels of community participation and often gains attention through humor and rapid virality.
• This article will delve into the recent QUANT Memecoin incident and combine it with some other well-known cases to analyze the human nature and cultural logic behind the Memecoin phenomenon.
• The peculiarity and high volatility of Memecoin actually reflect the wonderful irrational side of human behavior.

If there's anything that feels like it's been lifted straight out of satirical journalism, it's President Trump launching his own Memecoin - $TRUMP. The coin, which went live just three days before his inauguration, promises “huge” gains and a “bright” future — after all, everything he touches is “the best” in his vocabulary. With a series of patriotic-themed memes, NFTs of his iconic expressions, and the slogan “the most stable coin ever,” $TRUMP has sent the cryptocurrency community into a frenzy. Currently, the price of this token has soared by more than 10,000%, with its fully diluted valuation reaching $71 billion. This astonishing achievement even confused Binance co-founder CZ. Just two days later, Trump’s wife Melania also launched her own $MELANIA Memecoin.

The jury is still out on whether these tokens will become the next financial phenomenon or simply become a joke. But one thing is for sure: when the first couple of a superpower is involved, Memecoin is clearly no longer a niche curiosity but a full-blown cultural phenomenon.

 Memecoin of the 45th President of the United States  
  
 Source:X

Today is the perfect time to learn more about Memecoin. This article will take QUANT Memecoin as an example to explore the successful logic and cultural significance behind it.

QUANT: How a 13-year-old started a mini-financial revolution online

The beginning of the story, like the origin of most Memecoins, stems from a joke.

On an ordinary night in November 2024, a 13-year-old Gen Z anchor sat at his desk and broadcast live to a small but loyal audience. His "weapons" include: a sarcastic sense of humor, a keen eye for crypto trends, and a keen interest in memes. His "big plan"? Using Pump.fun, a platform based on Solana, a Memecoin called QUANT was launched. On this platform, the process of creating cryptocurrency is almost as easy as signing up for an Instagram account.

In just a few minutes, QUANT was officially live. The young creator shows off all his talents as a savvy crypto prankster. When a group of token holders were attracted by the gimmick of "the next hot Memecoin project" and rushed to buy QUANT, he quickly performed a classic operation in the cryptocurrency field - "Rug Pull". He sold 51 million Tokens for $30,000 worth of SOL. Then, smiling triumphantly in front of the audience, he closed his laptop with the grace of a villain in a low-budget heist movie.

 Source: Chaincatcher.com 

 This little guy even raised his middle finger provocatively before doing the Rug Pull  
  
 Source: Chaincatcher.com

In the world of Memecoin, Rug Pull is nothing new. However, what happened next turned QUANT from a short-lived joke into an unprecedented mini-financial and cultural revolution.

Rather than being quietly accepted, as the teenager might have expected, this time the Rug Pull sparked outrage from the community. Angry traders decided to take revenge in typical Memecoin fashion: they worked together to push the token's value to new highs.

Through collective action, the QUANT community pushed the token's market value to $22.6 million in just 15 hours. The Token that the teenager sold for US$30,000 instantly rose to a value of nearly US$4 million. Ironically, the teenager who planned the Rug Pull could only watch his token become the most popular Memecoin, but he was unable to profit from it.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency social circles — Twitter, Reddit and Telegram — were instantly flooded with jokes, memes and conspiracy theories. On this day, #QUANT became a trending hashtag, perfectly embodying all the qualities of the Memecoin market: absurd, community-driven, and utterly unpredictable.

As the buzz around QUANT continued to grow, cryptocurrency enthusiasts moved quickly to do what the internet does best: they revealed the teen's true identity. His personal information, even that of his family, was leaked online. What started out as a financial prank turned into a cautionary tale about the dark side of Memecoin’s reputation.

However, even in the face of such fierce counterattack, the 13-year-old boy is undaunted. Not only did he not stop, but he intensified his efforts and launched subsequent tokens, such as $Lucy named after his dog and a token named $Sorry, continuing to profit from the speculative craze of Memecoin. By the end of 2024, the teenager had become a classic antihero in the world of Memecoin: both clever and adventurous, both admired and hated.

For a brief moment in November 2024, QUANT looked unstoppable. But like all Memecoins, its value fluctuations are as unpredictable as the enthusiasm of the community behind it. After a brief period of glory, the price of QUANT began to plummet. From the all-time high of $0.0633 to today’s $0.00075, the value has shrunk by an astonishing 98.8%.

At the end of the day, Memecoin will rise or fall entirely on the attention of the community. Once the anger and buzz surrounding the Rug Pull subsided, so did the market's interest. Those traders who cashed out in time during the QUANT craze made huge profits, while latecomers had to suffer the consequences of the plunge. Today, QUANT is a piece of digital history—one that illustrates both Memecoin’s potential and its risks.

Travel through the psychedelic jungle of Memecoin

In this Internet world full of chaos and Meme, Memecoin has become one of the most fascinating social phenomena. Unlike traditional currencies that symbolize economics, stability, and rules, Memecoin thrives on humor, virality, and community-driven chaos.

Memecoin is a unique cryptocurrency that is more a product of Internet culture than a product of technological innovation. Unlike Bitcoin, which is known as "digital gold", or Ethereum, which supports decentralized applications, Memecoin is essentially a digital joke, but it was transformed into a financial Meme due to the power of the community. Its value does not come from practical use or scarcity, but from the community's shared sense of humor and trust in the joke.

The story of QUANT is just a microcosm of this phenomenon. In this phenomenon, tokens are initially created just for fun, but through the magical power of the community, they often transform into popular tools for speculative trading.

At the heart of every Memecoin is its community. From obscurity to price moonshots (and, more often, a fall into the “garbage heap”), Memecoin’s fate rests entirely on the collective enthusiasm of its believers. Platforms like Pump.fun further lower the barrier to entry. Through its easy-to-use interface, anyone can create a Token, customize its brand image, and share it to their social circles.

Meanwhile, the biggest craze is happening on X and Discord. On these platforms, Memecoin enthusiasts come together to swap funny memes, plan their next moonshot, and unabashedly promote their new favorites. It is these platforms and their chaotic communities that have made Memecoin a force that is both absurd and impossible to ignore: it is both a joke, an economic experiment, and a true reflection of Internet culture.

The launch of $TRUMP Memecoin was a textbook exercise in cultural branding, perfectly demonstrating how Donald Trump has established himself as a symbol and phenomenon. He has leveraged his global influence as a politician, celebrity and entrepreneur, demonstrating a unique ability to stay relevant in the age of viral internet. This Memecoin may further cement his status as a cultural disruptor, adding to his legend in an era when influence is traded as currency.

Let’s take a look at another popular Memecoin in 2024: FARTCOIN. What started as a humorous jab at crypto culture has unexpectedly become a real market player. With a hilarious name, FARTCOIN attracted a group of loyal fans, turning the token into a cultural symbol. Its success once again proves the charm of Memecoin: it does not require logic, it just needs to make people laugh.

Another dazzling new star in 2024 is MOODENG. Its rise is inseparable from the large amount of funds donated by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for wildlife conservation. Named after a pygmy hippopotamus that became an Internet sensation in Thailand, the token cleverly capitalizes on the Internet craze and KOL’s philanthropic acts. This powerful alliance has deeply touched the hearts of the crypto community.

When it comes to Memecoin, we have to mention their “originator”: Dogecoin. What started as a humorous tribute to the Shiba Inu meme has grown into a cryptocurrency empire. Dogecoin’s journey from an internet joke to a mainstream currency is the best digital example of the power of community belief.

Elon Musk, Dogecoin's most well-known supporter, has given it his signature unique style. From claiming to use Dogecoin as currency on Mars to proposing the establishment of an agency called the "Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)" to manage the federal budget, Musk's support has transformed Dogecoin from a simple Internet joke into a contemporary digital currency. The cultural symbol of the era has become a symbol of technological dreams.

Memecoin’s Golden Rules

For ordinary users, participating in Memecoin is more like a high-risk experiment in collective psychology. The first principle that users need to keep in mind is that these tokens completely subvert traditional investment logic. Their success does not depend on utility or fundamental value, but on viral popularity. The success or failure of a Memecoin depends entirely on its ability to capture the imagination of the Internet, riding on jokes, trends, and those moments that define Internet culture.

The second principle is that Memecoin is only as valuable as the community that supports it. A group of passionate and loyal supporters can make any Memecoin rise, whether it is a sincere project or a tongue-in-cheek idea. Take QUANT as an example. Its rapid rise is not due to technological innovation, but because of the collective anger of the community. The community's determination drove the token's price after founder Rug Pull, and this shared enthusiasm (and sometimes resentment) highlights the community's central role in Memecoin's valuation. However, as the story of QUANT reveals, this popularity is often fleeting. Once the excitement wears off, the value of the token will also decline.

Finally, this highly volatile ecosystem perfectly illustrates the high-risk, high-return characteristics of Memecoin. Memecoin is known for its wild price swings, which can either double a small investment overnight or cause investors to lose money in an instant. For example, PENGU, as the native token of the Pudgy Penguins NFT series, saw a price surge of 581% within 24 hours of its first listing on the exchange, mainly due to the enthusiastic support of the community and a well-planned airdrop event. However, by mid-January 2025, PENGU was trading at approximately $0.0316, down 54.8% from its all-time high of $0.06845 on December 17, 2024.

The chaotic nature of the Memecoin market inevitably raises some serious ethical questions. What does it really mean for the crypto market when a 13-year-old can issue tokens at will and make a profit? The story of QUANT reveals the urgent need for clearer boundaries in this space, both from a regulatory perspective and from an ethical perspective on who is qualified to create and promote digital assets.

In the Memecoin market, every trader is an observer in a world dominated by virality, humor, and the unpredictable forces of collective action. Here, finance and Internet culture are intertwined, and the value of an asset does not depend on its actual function, but entirely on how strongly the public believes in it.

Through the lens of Memecoin, we can glimpse the power of collective belief, the far-reaching impact of viral culture, and the democratization of financial participation. The essence of these tokens is the epitome of human behavior -full of unknowns, cooperative spirit and endless creativity.