Traffic is life: The death of WIF reveals the cruel survival rules of meme coins.

Written by: June, Deep Tide TechFlow

Original Title: The Forgotten WIF, The Life and Death Rules of Meme Coins in Attention Economy

On August 5, 2025, a pink knitted hat will be auctioned.

This is not a designer brand nor a historical artifact - it is the hat of Dogwifhat (WIF), the iconic hat once popular in the crypto world that sits atop a Shiba Inu. As of November 2024, this hat symbolizes a meme coin with a market value of over $4 billion, and the community even raised nearly $700,000 to project the image of the Shiba Inu wearing it onto the massive screen of The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Earlier, on March 18, 2024, this "Shiba Inu with a Hat" was minted as an NFT and auctioned on the Foundation platform. Ultimately, it was purchased for a high price of 1210.759 ETH (approximately $4.3 million) by one of the most famous traders in the cryptocurrency field, GCR, making it the second highest auction item sold on Foundation at that time.

At that moment, no one would have thought that this hat would walk into another auction less than a year later, and this time it attracted little interest. Against the backdrop of the NFT narrative collapsing and the market falling silent, the once-popular Meme faced a silent disregard. Meanwhile, WIF, as a representative old Meme, was in an even worse situation. After the auction news was announced on August 1, it didn't even stir a ripple on Twitter.

From being the center of attention to being ignored, the story of WIF reveals a harsh truth: in the world of Web3, being forgotten is the true death.

The hat is about to be auctioned, and perhaps this is the last mark WIF will leave in the history of crypto. But its story is worth pondering for every project fighting on this battlefield of attention.

The Rise of WIF

At the end of 2023, a simple photo began circulating on crypto Twitter: a Shiba Inu wearing a pink knitted hat. No one could have predicted that this seemingly random combination would create billions of dollars in market value in the following months.

The explosion of WIF cannot be separated from a key figure—Ansem. As one of the most influential KOLs in the crypto space, a miracle happened when he started frequently mentioning this "hat dog" on Twitter. Every tweet he posted acted like a stimulant injected into the market, propelling WIF from an obscure meme coin to the center stage of the crypto world.

The rise of WIF is astonishing - it took only 81 days for its market capitalization to surpass $1 billion. The enthusiasm of the community has exceeded everyone's imagination. They are not satisfied with merely spreading the image of Doge on the internet; they want to do something unprecedented - projecting WIF onto The Sphere in Las Vegas. This is the largest spherical LED screen in the world, with millions of people passing by every day. If Doge could appear on it, it would be the most iconic moment in the history of meme coins.

In March 2024, the crowdfunding originally aimed at $650,000 was achieved in just a few days, ultimately exceeding the goal with nearly $700,000. Community members generously contributed, believing that this was not just a marketing campaign, but a key step for WIF towards mainstream adoption. Excited discussions filled Twitter, with everyone counting down to the moment when the hat dog would illuminate the Las Vegas night sky.

On March 31, 2024, after the crowdfunding of The Sphere plan ended, market sentiment peaked, and WIF reached an all-time high of $4.83. During that crazy period, WIF seemed unstoppable. Almost every crypto community was discussing this Shiba Inu wearing a pink hat. Ansem's influence, the community's enthusiasm, and the market's FOMO sentiment combined perfectly, driving WIF to its peak.

It was the golden age of WIF, where every holder believed they were witnessing the birth of a new Doge. The hat was not just a hat; it became a cultural symbol, an identity, and a belief in the infinite possibilities of the crypto world.

WIF's Las Vegas Nightmare

The turning point of fate came so quickly. In January 2025, the Trump meme emerged, sucking liquidity out of the crypto market like a black hole. Shortly after, in February, the tariff policy announced by President Trump triggered macroeconomic uncertainty, leading to a significant correction in the crypto market. Among them, the decline of meme coins was particularly severe. To this day, although mainstream coins like BTC, ETH, and SOL have returned to high levels, most meme coins are still struggling in the quagmire of deep corrections.

The deadliest blow came in April 2025. It all started with false hopes at the beginning of the year—on January 29, the official X account of Dogwifhat released a long-awaited teaser for the Las Vegas Sphere project, instantly igniting excitement within the community, and WIF surged 34% within a week. However, the good times didn't last long; the official department of Las Vegas Sphere quickly issued a statement, clearly stating that "there had never been any commercial cooperation discussions with any cryptocurrency project." This cold water completely extinguished the enthusiasm, and after the denial statement was released, WIF plummeted nearly 10% within an hour.

Worse still, serious divisions began to emerge within the community. Some members questioned the project's transparency and strongly demanded a detailed disclosure of the use of the raised funds. The trust crisis spread like a virus.

After nearly a year of agonizing wait, on April 1, 2025, Edward, one of the initiators of The Sphere project, finally announced the official abandonment of the project and the commencement of refunds. Nearly $700,000 in fundraising and countless days and nights of anticipation ultimately turned into a bubble. At this time, the WIF price had fallen to a low of $0.42, and after the news of the project's abandonment broke, WIF plummeted again, setting a new low of $0.3 for the year. This last straw completely crushed the community's confidence. Even the planning team behind WIF seems to have chosen to give up.

To make matters worse, Ansem's voice began to fade away. This former KOL who used to mention WIF every day gradually shifted his attention to other projects. After months of stagnation, WIF seemed to have disappeared from Twitter. The once overwhelming presence of doge memes was gone, fervent community discussions fell silent, and even the most loyal supporters began to change sides.

At the same time, other meme coins are making great strides in their respective tracks:

Doge remains the unshakable king. Every new meme aspires to become and surpass Doge. Elon Musk has never stopped interacting with Doge, and he has long been Doge's best spokesperson.

Pepe has occupied another high ground with the classic frog image. Pepe has become a part of online language with its vast ecosystem of memes.

Pengu is backed by the strong NFT community of Pudgy Penguins and has also gained favor from Wall Street institutions such as VanEck. Pengu is committed to expanding the web2 ecosystem and recently announced a partnership with China's Suplay, a trendy IP consumer goods company. At the same time, they are also active on multiple platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and Whatsapp.

These successful meme coins share a common characteristic: multidimensional vitality. They either have support from representative KOLs, possess strong community creativity, or have received institutional recognition. The most critical point is that they have established a diversified communication network that will not collapse due to the disappearance of a single support.

In contrast, the issues with WIF are obvious. It relies too heavily on Ansem's personal influence, has not established its own content ecosystem, lacks an innovation mechanism, and has failed to gain institutional favor. When the initial hype subsided, it had no support system to rely on.

In this era of extreme attention scarcity, once you start to be forgotten, it is almost an impossible task to get back into the spotlight. WIF is experiencing this cruel process - from being the center of attention to being ignored, it only takes a few months.

The Harsh Truth of the Crypto World

"Pulling the market is justice." Although this phrase sounds vulgar, it precisely summarizes the essence of this market. In the traditional financial world, we still discuss fundamentals, value investing, and long-termism. However, in the world of meme coins, all these concepts are simplified into one number: price.

Prices rise, everything is right. The community is active, KOLs are vying to recommend, and new holders keep pouring in, starting a positive cycle. Prices fall, all problems will be exposed. The community begins to fracture, KOLs quietly leave, panic spreads, and the death spiral follows.

For WIF, it is facing two fatal issues:

First, no longer remembered. In the world of cryptocurrency, the flow of time is tenfold, hundredfold compared to the real world. Hot topics from three months ago are already ancient history here. When Ansem no longer mentions WIF, when the community stops creating new content, and when trading volume begins to shrink, WIF transforms from a "present continuous tense" into a "past perfect tense." In this market, which is always pursuing the next opportunity for wealth, no one will be interested in history.

Second, it has lost the attraction of wealth creation effect. The fundraising failure of The Sphere is not just a marketing setback, but reveals a harsh reality: when prices fall, even the most loyal community members become cautious. Without new capital inflows, there is no momentum for price increases; without price increases, it is impossible to attract new funds. This is an unsolvable dilemma.

The deeper truth is that in this era dominated by the attention economy, the life and death of meme coins often hinge on a single thought. A tweet can create a hundredfold coin, while a single failure can destroy all efforts. There is no gradual decline here, only a cliff-like collapse.

The story of WIF is a microcosm of countless meme coins. They streak across the sky of the crypto world like meteors, briefly illuminating a corner before quickly disappearing into the darkness. A few lucky ones can become stars, but most can only accept the fate of being forgotten.

This is the survival rule of the crypto world: stay relevant, or die. There is no middle ground.

Being forgotten is the true death

On August 5th, that pink knitted hat will look for its new owner.

At the moment the auction hammer falls, it may be the last footnote left by WIF in the history of cryptocurrency. In a sense, the fate of this hat is quite ironic – it once represented a market value of billions of dollars, symbolizing the dreams of a community, and now it must be auctioned off to find meaning in its existence.

But this ending precisely confirms our initial viewpoint: in the world of Web3, being forgotten is the true death. Hats can be auctioned, collected, and placed in the display case of some museum. However, WIF, as a meme, a cultural symbol, and a cryptocurrency, has gradually lost its popularity. Not because the code had problems, not because it was hacked, but because people no longer remember it.

This is an era where attention is scarcer than gold. Every day, new projects are born, new stories are told, and new myths of wealth circulate. In this unending cycle, only those projects that can continuously occupy people's minds will survive. The rest, no matter how glorious they once were, will be washed away by the torrent of time.

Interestingly, NFTs, as products of the previous era, have shown stronger vitality in this cycle dominated by meme coins. Even during the NFT winter, BAYC can still generate buzz with occasional IP licensing news, CryptoPunks occasionally makes headlines with astronomical transactions, and Pudgy Penguins returns to the public eye due to the release of physical toys. The teams behind these projects are still working, and the communities remain strong; they have successfully carved out a bloody path, continuously generating actual commercial value and profits.

In contrast, meme coins are mostly products of wild growth. They often lack a clear team structure, have no long-term business planning, and find it more challenging to establish deep collaborations with mainstream brands. The background of small teams makes it harder for meme coin projects to gain recognition in the traditional business world and to resonate widely outside the community. When the hype fades, these projects often lack sufficient resources and capabilities to maintain long-term brand value.

The story of WIF streaks across the sky of the crypto world like a meteor, briefly illuminating a corner before quickly disappearing into the darkness. The only certainty is that in this consensus-driven world, memory is the most valuable asset. When no one remembers your name anymore, you are truly dead.

This is the life and death of a meme coin in the crypto world.