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IntermediateLesson 6 of 7 · 4 min read

A short history of metas, 2024 to 2026

Real metas with real dates: animals, AI bots, TikTok memes, politics, launchpad and chain wars, and what each one taught traders.

On this page
  1. What the animal metas taught
  2. What the AI meta taught
  3. What the celebrity and political coins taught
  4. What the launchpad and chain wars taught
  5. Quiz

The best way to understand metas is to look at real ones. Here is a short timeline of some of the biggest since 2024. The numbers are market caps as reported at the time, rounded. Most of these coins later fell a long way from their tops.

WhenMetaLeading coinWhat happened
Jun 2024Community takeoversBILLYDev sold within 20 minutes. Holders took over. Peaked near $215 million.
Sep 2024Viral animalsMOODENGLaunched on pump.fun around September 10 after a baby hippo went viral. About $70 million in two weeks, roughly $680 million at its November top.
Oct 2024AI agentsGOATLaunched October 10, named after an AI bot's posts. About $611 million by October 23, over $1 billion by mid-November.
Nov 2024News animalsPNUTSquirrel story on October 30. About $1.3 billion by November 13, after a Binance listing.
Nov 2024TikTok memesCHILLGUYFrom about $10 million to about $488 million in two days.
Dec 2024Celebrity coinsHAWKLaunched December 4, fronted by an internet celebrity. Reports put its top between about $400 million and $500 million. It fell more than 90% within hours.
Jan 2025PolitiFiTRUMPLaunched January 17, three days before the inauguration. Peaked at about $73 to $75 a token, depending on the tracker. About $1.64 in late October 2026.
Feb 2025PolitiFiLIBRAPromoted by Argentina's president on February 14. About $4.5 billion at the top, crashed within hours.
Jul 2025Launchpad warUSELESSLetsBONK passed pump.fun in daily launches. Its top coin passed $260 million.
Oct 2025BNB Chain seasonBinance LifeAbout $524 million on October 8. Within about a day, many BNB memecoins lost 60% to 95%.
Jul 2026Trenches revivalANSEMCredited with driving pump.fun's busiest launch day in 80 days on July 1. About $173 million a week later.
Jul 2026New chainCASHCATThe first memecoin on Robinhood Chain to make headlines. About $100 million on July 8, a week after the chain launched.
Market caps as reported at the time by news sites and trackers. Rounded; sources often disagree.

What the animal metas taught

Moo Deng and Peanut showed that a story people outside crypto already love can carry a coin a long way. The zoo kept posting the baby hippo and even gave her a 24-hour livestream. The news kept covering the squirrel for days. Coins tied to a story that keeps producing new content tend to hold attention longer than coins tied to one post.

What the AI meta taught

GOAT showed that a brand-new kind of story can start a whole meta in a day. It also showed how fast the copies arrive and how hard the fall can be. GOAT passed $1 billion in November 2024. In late October 2026 it was worth about $14 million.

What the celebrity and political coins taught

HAWK, TRUMP and LIBRA all had huge attention from the first minute. They also had the worst setup for ordinary buyers, because insiders held most of the supply or knew about the launch in advance.

  • HAWK: on-chain researchers found about 96% of the supply sat in one cluster of linked wallets at launch.
  • TRUMP: two companies tied to Trump held 80% of the supply, and only 20% was released at launch.
  • LIBRA: the coin was created three minutes before the president's post, and nine early accounts took out about $87 million within roughly three hours.
Example

What buying the top of TRUMP cost

Simple maths on one of the most famous coins ever launched.

  1. Step 1: Someone puts $1,000 into TRUMP near its top, at about $75 a token. They get about 13.3 tokens.
  2. Step 2: In late October 2026 the price is about $1.64. Their 13.3 tokens are worth about $22.
  3. Step 3: That is a loss of about 98%.
  4. Step 4: Fame decides how many people see a coin. It does not decide who ends up selling to whom.

What the launchpad and chain wars taught

In July 2025 LetsBONK briefly passed pump.fun. In October 2025 the crowd ran to BNB Chain. In July 2026 a new chain from Robinhood pulled traders in. Each time, the first coins on the new venue got the most attention, and each time the activity cooled within days, weeks or months. The crowd goes wherever things feel new.

Next: timing, early, late and too late

Check what you learned

0 of 4 answered

  1. Question 1Which meta did GOAT lead in October 2024?
  2. Question 2What did HAWK, TRUMP and LIBRA have in common?
  3. Question 3Why did MOODENG and PNUT hold attention longer than a coin built on one viral post?
  4. Question 4TrickyYou put $1,000 into a coin at $75 a token. It falls to $2. Roughly what is left?

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This guide is for learning. It is not financial advice. Most memecoins go to zero and most people who trade them lose money. Only ever trade what you can afford to lose.