CZ slams meme frenzy: "Memecoins are getting a little weird now"

CZ criticizes meme coins, urging a focus on real-world blockchain applications over speculative tokens.
Meme coin market cap reaches $123 billion, despite concerns over utility and market volatility.

The memecoin frenzy of 2024 has drawn sharp criticism from Binance founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, who recently labeled the current memecoin ecosystem as “weird.”

Advocating for a shift in focus, Zhao urged the blockchain community to prioritize building real-world applications rather than indulging in speculative tokens.

CZ took to X and noted,

“I am not against memes, but meme coins are getting “a little” weird now. Let’s build real applications using blockchain.”

Strangely, this triggered a ripple effect in the market, intensifying selling pressure on popular meme cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin [DOGE], Shiba Inu [SHIB], Pepe [PEPE], and Bonk [BONK], which saw declines.

Community reacts to CZ’s memecoin’s criticism

That being said, CZ’s recent comments about meme cryptocurrencies came just a day after Binance launched futures for two new meme tokens, WHY and CHEEMS, on the BNB Chain.

However, the timing of the launch proved to be less than ideal, as both tokens experienced a notable price drop shortly afterward.

Remarking on the same, Dan Crypto Larp, a user on the X platform, noted,

Source: Dark Crypto Larp/X

Echoing Changpeng Zhao’s concerns, well-known crypto investor Nagato also voiced his opinion, advocating for “a big cleanse” within the memecoin space.

He emphasized the stark contrast between a select few memecoins that offer genuine humor or enjoyment and the overwhelming majority that lack any substantial purpose or utility.

Nagato said,

“Couldn’t agree more. Some top-tier memes are funny as hell and actually give people good vibes. But the remaining 99% are weird crap. Can’t wait for a big cleanse.”

The rise of memecoins

Well, the memecoin craze, starting with DOGE, has expanded to multiple blockchains, including Ethereum [ETH] and Solana [SOL].

Platforms like Solana’s Pump Fun and Tron’s Sun Pump are making memecoin creation easier.

Consequnetky, this surge has boosted Solana’s transaction volumes, even surpassing Ethereum in some milestones, underlining the growing influence of memecoins in the crypto space.

In fact, a recent CoinWire report reveals troubling statistics about influencer-promoted memecoins, with 76% of them backing tokens that are essentially dead.

Additioanlly, two-thirds of these memecoins promoted by influencers fail to show any long-term potential, with 86% losing 90% of their value within just three months.

Only a rare 1% of promoted coins manage to deliver a 10x return.

However, despite these alarming figures, memecoins remain popular among a large portion of the crypto community, as noted by memecoin enthusiast Ramonos,