From "I'm coming" to "I'm the boss" skyrocketing, how did Chinese memes become so popular?

At the beginning of 2026, the cryptocurrency market seems to have been awakened overnight by a series of loud Chinese slogans, with the whole world speaking Chinese. While people’s attention is still focused on the grand narratives of Bitcoin and Ethereum, a wave filled with the cultural heritage of the East and grassroots deconstruction spirit is sweeping in at lightning speed. From the highly viral “我踏马来了” (WTMLL) to “老子” (LAOZI), which contains Taoist philosophy and local dialects, Chinese Memes have sparked a carnival on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC), becoming the absolute focus of market attention and capital competition.

Chinese Meme

To understand the rise of Chinese Meme, we must first examine the macro environment of the entire Meme coin sector. 2025 was the “most deadly year” for cryptocurrencies, with over 11.6 million crypto projects falling silent, setting a new record. Behind this staggering number, Meme coins were the biggest “contributors.”

With the proliferation of one-click Meme coin issuance platforms like pump.fun on Solana, the barrier to creating a new token has been lowered to an extremely low level. This led to the market being flooded with millions of “low-quality,” “low-effort” Meme coins in 2025. Compared to the total of 3 million tokens at the end of 2024, this number skyrocketed to 20 million by the end of 2025. Most tokens quickly lost liquidity after brief hype, turning into neglected “zombie coins.” The fourth quarter of 2025 was particularly brutal, with 7.7 million tokens ceasing trading in that quarter alone.

It is clear that the Meme coin market is an extremely crowded and highly淘汰 (elimination) arena. Success or failure often depends on whether a project can stand out among countless competitors and continuously capture investors’ attention. It is on this soil of frenzy and ruins that Chinese Meme has found a way to break through, thanks to its unique cultural identity and community cohesion.

When technical barriers are flattened, culture and narrative become the core competitive advantages of Meme coins. The current wave of Chinese Meme on BSC is a perfect embodiment of this logic:

“我踏马来了” (WTMLL) – The emotional outlet of a rising leader: As the trigger of this round of hype, “我踏马来了” quickly spread among Chinese crypto communities with its rough, direct, and emotionally infectious slogan. It is not just a token name but also an emotional vent, representing the determination and momentum of investors returning to the market after a long bear market. The project rapidly launched on Binance Alpha, injecting a strong boost into the Chinese Meme sector, with its market cap once soaring to $52 million, establishing its leading position.

“人生K线” (RENSHENG) – The fusion of AI metaphysics and official narrative: This project cleverly combines the popular crypto saying “life is like K-line, ups and downs” with “cyber metaphysics,” an AI fortune-telling product. More importantly, it was covered by CCTV.com and received support from key Binance figures, adding an “official endorsement” halo. This “product + narrative + celebrity effect” combo helped its market cap surge from $2 million to $42 million, demonstrating a powerful narrative-driven momentum.

“老子” (LAOZI) and “川普” (CHUANPU) – The collision of dialect culture and celebrity IP: The popularity of these two Meme coins is closely linked to Binance co-founder He Yi’s Sichuan background. “老子” is a common first-person pronoun in Sichuan dialect and shares its name with the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi, combining local特色 (characteristics) and cultural depth. “川普” is shorthand for “Sichuan Mandarin” and also the Chinese name of US President Trump, creating an interesting cross-cultural Meme effect. This “inside joke” rooted in specific cultural circles greatly enhances community identity and cohesion.

“超级周期” (CHAOPJI) – Instant monetization of KOL statements: Binance CEO CZ (Zhao Changpeng) made a comment on social media about the “super cycle” approaching due to regulatory developments. Almost instantly, the “super cycle” Meme coin emerged and surged in value. This fully demonstrates the Meme market’s high sensitivity to industry leader comments and its astonishing efficiency in turning attention into market cap.

All these successful Chinese Memes have found unique entry points across multiple dimensions—culture, emotion, celebrity effects—allowing them to successfully capture community attention amid information overload.

BNB Chain

If cultural narrative is the spark that ignites the flame, then the active involvement and technological upgrades of the BNB Chain ecosystem are the key fuel adding to this blaze.

On January 11, the BNB Foundation announced a $50,000 investment in each of four Chinese Meme coins ($币安人生, $哈基米, $我踏马来了, $老子). While the total of $200,000 may seem modest, the signal significance is extremely high. It marks official recognition and support for this emerging sector, greatly boosting market confidence and granting these projects unprecedented legitimacy. Following the announcement, tokens like $币安人生 surged over 26% within 24 hours, demonstrating the leverage effect of the investment.

More fundamentally, BNB Chain will undergo the “Fermi” hard fork upgrade on January 14. The core goal of this upgrade is to reduce block time from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds, significantly improving network transaction speed and scalability. For Meme coins with high transaction frequency and user engagement, faster confirmation speeds and lower network congestion are vital for survival and growth. Through this upgrade, BNB Chain explicitly positions itself as a robust infrastructure to handle Meme coin traffic, directly competing with Solana, Ethereum, and other public chains.

The strategic investment by the BNB Foundation combined with the technical empowerment of the Fermi hard fork forms a “market + technology” combo. This not only explains why this round of Chinese Meme hype exploded on BSC but also indicates BNB Chain’s intention to regard Meme coins as a key strategic direction for ecosystem growth in 2026.

Cultural Carnival

In summary, the Chinese Meme feast from “我踏马来了” to “老子” is far from simple market hype. It results from the resonance of multiple factors: Market level: In the brutal competition of high failure rates among Meme coins, unique cultural narratives become a scarce moat. Cultural level: Elements like Chinese language, dialects, and celebrity memes precisely touch on the cultural identity and emotional resonance of Chinese communities, forming strong community cohesion. Ecosystem level: The official investment from the BNB Foundation sends a strong positive signal, while the upcoming Fermi hard fork provides solid technical support for high-frequency Meme coin trading. Opinion leader (KOL) level: Industry giants like CZ and He Yi act as catalysts, constantly influencing market nerves and capable of instantly igniting new hotspots.

However, beneath the carnival, risks coexist. Market data warns us that the vast majority of Meme coins will ultimately fall silent. This Chinese Meme wave is essentially a game of attention, liquidity, and market sentiment. Its sustainability heavily depends on subsequent “cooperation” from Binance and whether new, more attractive narratives emerge.

For investors, understanding the logic behind its popularity is far more important than blindly chasing highs. Because in this dream woven by culture, capital, and code, opportunities and traps are often separated by only a fine line.

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