2021: Dogecoin pumps from $0.002 to ATH $0.73. People screaming: ‘DOGE to $1, $5, $10! Elon’s taking us to the moon!’ FOMO at max — folks buying houses on credit, selling cars. Then 2022 crypto winter hits: DOGE crashes to $0.05–$0.06. Same crowd now: ‘Doge is a scam, Elon screwed us, memecoins are dead forever. Never again!’
2023–2024: SHIB burns + PEPE launch + BONK on Solana. 2024 supercycle (Pump.fun madness, thousands launching daily).
PEPE rockets to ATH ~$0.000028: ‘$0.0001 next, $0.001 and I’m a millionaire, bros! Frog season eternal!’
SHIB: ‘SHIBArmy burning trillions, $0.01 incoming!’
BONK: ‘Solana memecoin king, easy 100x!’
FLOKI: ‘Valhalla, metaverse, real utility soon!’
DOGE again: ‘ETF coming, Elon in government, $2 guaranteed!’
Telegram groups exploding, X flooded with ‘diamond hands’ and ‘to the moon’. Dreams of early retirement, paying off mortgages with one good pump, Lambos from profits.
Then reality slams in — 40–90% drops (like right now in January 2026). PEPE down -50%+ from recent highs (currently hovering ~$0.000005 after a short 50–70% YTD pump), SHIB red, BONK losing steam, FLOKI ‘utility’ still unused. Same people now:
‘Pepe is a dead token’
‘Memecoins are a loser’s casino’
‘Everything’s a rug pull, insiders dumping on us’
‘Damn this pump & dump cycle!’ 😡
And the rugs? They prove it’s not random — it’s the norm. Hype → peak → rug → tears. Concrete examples from 2024–2026:
$HAWK (Hawk Tuah Girl, Dec 2024): Viral hype launch, market cap ~$490M, then 90%+ crash in hours. Influencer went silent, investors wrecked for millions.
$LIBRA (Javier Milei tweet, Feb 2025): Argentine president seemingly endorses → cap hits $4.5B → rug pull, losses $100–250M+. Political scandal, calls for impeachment.
$WOLF (Wolf of Wall Street hype, ~2025): Rumors of Jordan Belfort involvement → peak ~$42M → insiders (linked to Hayden Davis from LIBRA) dump 82% supply → total wipeout.
$NYC (Eric Adams, Jan 2026 — literally days ago): Ex-NYC mayor promotes as ‘anti-hate’ token → surges to $600M+ cap in minutes → liquidity pulled (~$3.4M USDC out in 30 mins), 80–82% crash. Community screaming ‘obvious rug’.
BROCCOLI (Sahil Arora, Feb 2025): Serial scammer (100+ rugs claimed) launches for CZ’s dog → pump → dump using same wallet as Caitlyn Jenner scam earlier. Arora brags rug pulls are ‘easiest money’.
These aren’t exceptions — they’re the pattern. 2024: $500M+ lost in memecoin rugs/scams (Merkle Science). 2025: billions in political/celebrity rugs. Thousands of rugs yearly on Solana/Pump.fun/Uniswap.
Lesson after all these years? Memecoins are the best (and worst) casino on Earth: the pump is euphoric fun, but the house (big holders, insiders, market makers, politicians/influencers) always wins long-term. If you play — use money you can burn without crying, take profits at +100–300%, don’t wait for ‘next target’ until it’s -90%.
You still dreaming of 100x and ATHs, or switched to ‘BTC/ETH + stables, sleep peacefully’ mode? 👇 Be honest — how many times have you ‘learned the lesson’ already? 😅
