As silly season engulfed the crypto space and creators of memecoins netted over $100 million in presales, $WIF, a Solana memecoin, notched a particularly big moment: the iconic image of its mascot, Achi, sold as an Ethereum NFT for $4.3 million.
The buyer was infamous crypto trader Gigantic Rebirth Ventures, known as GCR, who is known for accurately predicting the market, including the collapse of $LUNA in 2022. They battled against Memeland, a Web3 project from the creators of 9GAG, leading to a bidding frenzy that culminated with GCR’s winning 1,210.8 ETH bid.
According to crypto publication Decrypt, it is the highest-selling meme NFT of all time in USD, surpassing, however slightly, a Doge NFT which sold in 2021 for 1,696.9 ETH or $4.2 million at the time. On the news of the sale, $WIF rose 25%, though it has since fallen during the correction of the broader crypto market.
The two owners of Achi, who was previously named Chi-Chi, will receive $4.1 million of the sale, while Foundation, where the auction took place, will receive its 5% platform cut. The owners worked with Feisty DAO, a group of Feisty Doge NFT holders, to facilitate the sale.
Smoke, who worked with the Japanese kindergarten teacher who sold the Doge photo, said the Achi auction highlights the power of the blockchain. Now, according to Smoke, the people who provided the photo of Achi, leading to the meme, are rightfully compensated.
Achi, with its pink, woven beanie, became a meme in 2019 when issa, a Fortnite player, switched his profile picture to the image. Soon, other esports players changed their pics to the same image, leading to the meme.
Solana Memecoins Lead to Trading Frenzy
The sale of the original photo of the DogWifHat meme is exciting news, and it was indicative of another big movement in Web3: the return of memecoin season. But unlike the 2023 version, which took place on Ethereum and Bitcoin, this one occurred in the ecosystem that’s been at the forefront of price action this year: Solana.
Some of the memecoins that have taken off on that blockchain this year are Book of Meme ($BOME), Bonk ($BONK), and Slerf ($SLERF). There was even a period where political-themed memecoins took center stage with Doland Tremp ($TREMP) and Jeo Boden ($BODEN) rising in value.
But, according to CryptoGecko, $WIF is still the biggest Solana memecoin by market cap, sitting at $2.2 billion and a trading price of $2.22. It is the 55th largest cryptocurrency altogether and has risen 466% in the last 30 days.
The WIF community is so strong that it scored another win a week ago, raising over $700,000 to put the Achi image on the Las Vegas sphere for a week.
Not all market observers are happy about the memecoin meta, however. Some say that it distracts from the mission of crypto, while others believe sending money to presales (or random wallets posted on X) in the hope of big returns is bad for the space.
We’ll keep an eye on the story and provide any updates if needed.
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