Binance Founder Zhao Calls Memecoins “Weird,” Advocates for ‘Real’ Blockchain Apps

Highlights:

• CZ said memecoins are “weird,” emphasizing concerns over the ecosystem.
• Many influencer-promoted memecoins have failed, with many experiencing significant losses.
• Memecoins drop as Bitcoin falls below $94K after Trump’s tariff increase.

Memecoins saw significant attention, and investors earned substantial gains following Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. However, the former CEO of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, raised his concerns about the emergence of memecoins and their popularity. In a Nov. 26 X post, he wrote that memecoins are getting “a little” weird.

I am not against memes, but meme coins are getting "a little" weird now.

Let's build real applications using blockchain.

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) November 26, 2024

Zhao urged the crypto community to focus on developing “real” blockchain apps instead of memecoins. His comments on meme cryptocurrencies came after Binance launched futures for CHEEMS and WHY on the BNB Chain. However, both tokens quickly saw a sharp price drop.

$Cheems and $WHY just got listed on Binance Futures and here are their charts 🚬 pic.twitter.com/BiNGyWKLts

— Levi 🔍 (@Memecoin_Space) November 25, 2024

Zhao resigned as Binance’s CEO in November 2023. This followed a plea deal that included a $50 million fine and a ban on future involvement in managing Binance. Since stepping down, Zhao has concentrated on supporting grassroots development and education in Web3.

76% of Memecoins Promoted by Influencers are Now Dead

Memecoins promoted by influencers have faced significant scrutiny. According to a report from Coinwire, 76% of these coins fail, with only 1% seeing significant growth. Most memecoins see a 70% decline within a week of being endorsed. Interestingly, promoted memecoins tend to perform worse when influencers have larger followings. Users with over 200,000 followers experience average losses of 39% in a week and 89% in three months.

Despite the criticism, influencers are still profiting from promoting meme coins. According to the report, an average promotional tweet generates $399 in earnings and reaches around 15,000 views.

According to a Coinwire research report, 76% of cryptocurrency influencers on the X have promoted Memecoins that have now returned to zero, only 1% of the promoted Memecoins have achieved a tenfold increase, and 80% of the promoted Memecoins have plummeted by 70% in a week.… pic.twitter.com/EWmmymAS2N

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 25, 2024

MemeCoins Struggle as Bitcoin Drops Below $94,000

Top coins from the memecoin sector have faced strong selling pressure. This comes after Bitcoin price dropped below $94,000 following Donald Trump’s tariff increase on Monday. Donald Trump said his first executive order on January 20 would add a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and Canada. He also mentioned that China would impose an extra 10% tariff on its goods imported into the U.S., on top of other existing tariffs.

Breaking news: Donald Trump says he plans to impose tariffs on all US imports from China, Canada and Mexico in retaliation for illegal immigration and drug trafficking https://t.co/ZS5j0qluhe pic.twitter.com/qrA09ZuTCm

— Financial Times (@FT) November 26, 2024

At press time, Dogecoin (DOGE) has plummeted over 9%. Similarly, Pepe Coin (PEPE), Bonk (BONK), and Floki Inu (FLOKI) also saw significant declines. Meanwhile, the memecoin market has reached an all-time high (ATH). Data from CoinMarketCap show the memecoin ecosystem’s market cap is around $106 billion, making up 3.42% of the $3.19 trillion crypto market.

Analysts Speculate Elon Musk May Support Another MemeCoin After Dogecoin

Some crypto analysts have speculated that Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, may be secretly promoting PEPE Coin. Chandler Bing mentioned in an X post that Musk’s social media activity appeared to endorse the coin.

He further noted that Musk’s actions resembled his approach with Dogecoin in 2020 when he began liking and retweeting memes. Subsequently, next year Musk endorsed DOGE, causing its price to reach a record high. The coin surged after Trump appointed Musk head of the Efficiency Department. 

If anyone still has doubts that Elon Musk is discreetly shilling $PEPE, it’s the same as what he did with $DOGE in 2020. 🐸📈 #PEPE https://t.co/GCUkl7Az1f pic.twitter.com/eAtmwniK5i

— Chandler ₿ing (@chandlerbingpl) November 21, 2024