Solana’s on-chain ecosystem is being driven by a new wave of culturally themed meme coins, with a recent focus on Chinese-themed tokens.
The recent run-up in meme coins has taken on a new, and to some developers and traders, deeply uncomfortable, direction. In this latest episode of an increasingly long-running narrative surrounding meme coins, several of Solana’s breakout meme tokens, like $IKUN, have underlined just how speculative and ridiculous the phenomenon can get.
🔥 Chinese-themed MEMEs are exploding on Solana! $IKUN surged 20000%
The meme launchpad https://t.co/R91A4NfrOM — backed by $BONK and top DEX Raydium — is heating up with several breakout tokens:
🐔 $IKUN (inspired by C-pop star Cai Xukun's fandom) surged nearly 20,000% today… https://t.co/dNMoSynvLg
— Followin (@followin_io) May 13, 2025
Supported by the memecoin darling $BONK and decentralized exchange titan Raydium, Letsbonk.fun is now a top launch pad for viral assets. Everything you need is there. Or, rather, anywhere else you might want to go. Over the past 24 hours, the platform has been busy in a way that could only be described as Parrhasiastic. That is to say, it is in your face, and probably an affront to good sense. The memes underpinning the virality of this token almost constitute a performance art piece.
$IKUN Skyrockets on C-Pop Hype
No. 1 on the charts is $IKUN, a token associated with the fandom of Chinese pop star Cai Xukun. The term “Ikun” denotes his enormous following, and that cachet seems to have translated well into Solana’s memecoin mix. After being listed on Moonshot—another of the key players in Solana’s meme ecosystem—$IKUN jumped almost 20,000%, bringing its market cap to around $12 million
How powerful meme narratives can be when they are coupled with the internet culture and a community that is as passionate as the one that backs cryptocurrencies was made evident this week. Traders can’t get enough of it. As soon as the announcement came—Ikon Technologies (IKUN) would be listed on the Huobi exchange—exposure-hungry investors (and potential investors) on platforms like Twitter and various Chinese-language crypto forums started to kick up a virality frenzy.
Even with such a rapid ascent, $IKUN still has a market cap that seems pretty small compared to other memecoins. This could mean it has more upside ahead—if, of course, sustained hype and strong liquidity are behind it.
Hosico’s Top Holders Aren’t Selling
Another standout in the Letsbonk.fun ecosystem is $HOSICO, a meme token that has been plump, Instagram-influenced cat named Hosico. The token has carved a unique niche for itself, surely in no small part thanks to its positive vibes and incredible visuals. $HOSICO looks destined to be part of a cat-radar retail investor portfolio.
The behavior of the token’s top holders is particularly notable. Even after the recent price surge, where we saw a nearly 300 percent rise in the value of the token, nine of the largest $HOSICO holders are still holding. On-chain data shows no signs of distribution from these top holders. If anything, this has only strengthened the community’s belief that the price might be even more undervalued at current levels.
Many are interpreting the long-term conviction of top wallets as a bullish signal, especially since early buyers in this space tend to take profits pretty quickly. Yet the top wallets are behaving like they really believe in $HOSICO’s staying power, which might be a sign that we’re on the very brink of a second wave of upward price action, really. And if demand stays strong, of course, then that’s what we’re in for.
$USELESS Proves to Be Anything But
Even though $IKUN and $HOSICO have made some very impressive headlines, $USELESS may very well be the stealth breakout of the bunch. Made as a parody of sorts, the token is being marketed with the self-deprecating tagline “useless is useful.” Its price has surged 55% recently, pushing its market cap up to an even more ludicrous $323 million. By valuation, then, it’s one of the top memecoins on Solana.
The branding that is laced with irony seems to hit home for degens and veterans of the memecoin who appreciate the random and laughable nature of the industry. In some form, $USELESS is a return to the original ethos of the memecoin: humor, community, utility be damned.
Its swift rise highlights a wider trend in the Solana meme market, where narrative force, online virality, and community feeling are often more robust value drivers than ordinary metrics such as project fundamentals or roadmap clarity.
As trading volume has reached dizzying heights and leading meme coins have reached mind-boggling multi-million price tags, Solana has proven to be a new-ish playground for crypto experimentation and meme magic. New platforms such as Letsbonk.fun continue to serve up new tokens with varying degrees of absurdity and rooted in internet culture. This has left a lot of us wondering whether we are now living in a gainer town where humor and speculation are serious business. One thing is pretty clear, though: when it comes to moving markets, nothing is as powerful as a meme.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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