In a post on platform X on November 26, CZ shared his views on the wave of memecoins. According to him, these tokens have strayed far from their original purpose of providing fun and are instead becoming increasingly peculiar.
CZ stepped down as Binance CEO in November 2023 as part of a plea agreement that included a $50 million fine and a ban from managing Binance in the future. Since then, he has focused on supporting the development and education of Web3 technologies.
Some memecoins, like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, have retained their popularity since 2021, largely due to the backing of Elon Musk and the crypto community.
As the market gradually shifts its attention to Bitcoin and projects with real value, memecoins have started to lose their appeal, as they primarily rely on hype. While most of CZ’s followers agree with his stance on prioritizing the development of meaningful decentralized applications (DApps) over chasing trends, others have criticized Binance for listing memecoins with no clear utility.
Binance Futures continues to list memecoin trading pairs to meet market demand. However, the prices of Why (WHY) and Cheems (CHEEMS)—two memecoins newly listed on November 25—plummeted sharply within just one day. Many veteran investors believe Binance bears some responsibility for exposing users to high-risk investments.
Despite this, the memecoin market is at an all-time high. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market capitalization of memecoins is approximately $110 billion, accounting for 3.44% of the global crypto market cap of $3.19 trillion.
On November 25, Pump.fun, a decentralized memecoin creation platform on Solana, faced backlash after a user threatened to commit suicide during a live stream. Although Pump.fun acknowledged community concerns, it defended its moderation measures. Ultimately, the platform decided to suspend its live-streaming feature.
Related: Pump.fun – The Memecoin Platform Turned “Darkweb” Blockchain