Meme Watchlist: Who is nurturing genuine fans, and who is boosting the data

Source: The DeFi Report

Author: Michael Nadeau

Translation and Editing: BitpushNews

Whether you like it or not, we believe meme coins will exist long-term. This article shares our macro perspective on the industry and takes a closer look at the meme coins we are monitoring.

Let’s get started.

Why Focus on Meme Coins

Our Approach

Some people love meme coins, others despise them. We try to step outside this debate and simply observe the market. From our observations, meme coins have taken root. From a “product-market fit” perspective, they seem to be the ultimate crypto “game.” People enjoy trading, gambling, social aspects, and the risk-reward dynamics. We also believe participants are very clear about the game they are playing.

After witnessing PEPE’s success within the Ethereum ecosystem, we seized the opportunity at the end of 2023 to explore BONK and Solana. This led us to deeper research, including on-chain data and additional investments like GIGA, PEPE, and SPX6900. Our goal is to identify unique properties in holder data that indicate a token’s staying power and the conviction of its holders.

Why Choose BONK, PEPE, SPX6900, PENGU, and USELESS?

1. Liquidity: Each token has sufficient liquidity and can be traded on mainstream exchanges and retail channels.
2. Audience: Each token appeals to a global audience (not limited to niche memes like specific politics).
3. Leadership/Embedded Culture: Each token is supported by at least one of the following: 1) highly influential leaders/holder groups; 2) established internet memes/cultures; or 3) existing popular brands.
4. Historical Performance: Each token has experienced multiple sharp rallies followed by significant corrections. This price pattern reflects broad market interest and helps diversify holder structures, laying the groundwork for future expansion.
5. No Unlocks, No Venture Capital: Only transparent on-chain data.
6. High Beta: Each token exhibits high beta relative to BTC and its L1 ecosystem assets. With proper allocation (target 3-5%), selection, and entry points, this can significantly enhance risk-adjusted returns.

Now, let’s dive into on-chain data to separate the signal from the noise.

Total Number of Token Holders

BONK: 985,900 current holders (at peak holding levels). Launched in December 2022, BONK is the largest meme coin within the Solana ecosystem, deeply integrated into various applications and wallets. Note that BONK has conducted community-driven airdrops, distributing tokens widely across many wallets, as reflected in the data below.

PENGU: 534,100 holders (down 14% from peak). Launched in December 2024, PENGU represents social interest in the popular brand Pudgy Penguin. Currently, the Pudgy Penguin NFT collection has a market cap of about $78.5 million, while its meme coin market cap is $454 million (5.7 times the NFT series, down from a peak of $2.7 billion). We believe the value of the Pudgy Penguin brand—an established mainstream crypto brand—may continue to flow into this meme coin.

PEPE: 505,700 current holders (down 1.51% from peak). Launched in April 2023, PEPE is arguably the purest expression of internet meme culture within crypto (especially on Ethereum). It is based on the globally recognized “Pepe the Frog,” which has maintained a strong internet presence since the late 2010s.

SPX6900: 113,000 current holders (down 0.33% from peak). Launched in September 2023, SPX6900 has fostered a passionate online community led by Murad, centered around the idea of “flipping the stock market.” The brand appears to combine financial satire with a “BTC-like” holder base, with very serious attitudes (as shown below). We successfully traded SPX6900 during the last bull run and have been analyzing its community and on-chain data since August 2024.

USELESS: 38,600 current holders (down 5.2% from peak). Launched in May 2025, USELESS is a satirical “anti-utility” meme coin. After launching LetsBONK last year (which captured market share from Pump Fun), it attracted a dedicated and seemingly loyal community. Its current market cap is $44 million, with daily liquidity exceeding $10 million (during bear markets). We believe, under suitable market conditions, USELESS could present interesting opportunities.

Holders with Less Than $100

Conclusion:

BONK, PENGU, and PEPE already have very mature holder bases. SPX6900 shows a more committed and loyal holder base (despite smaller scale).

Holders with Over $1,000

Note: The $1,000 wallet category is based on the number of tokens held at their all-time high (ATH) value, divided accordingly.

We normalize each token’s ATH data to analyze how many tokens are needed to reach a $1,000 holding at that peak. Then, we track how these wallets’ holdings (in units) change over time. This approach aims to strip out price volatility noise and better understand holder retention.

Our findings:

Conclusion:

In terms of “$1,000 holder” retention (measured in units to remove price effects), SPX6900 stands out among its peers.

Holders with Over $100,000

$100,000 wallet category: divided based on the number of tokens held at their ATH.

Retention Rate

Similar to the $1,000 holder data, we categorize wallets by their holdings at ATH and track how the total number of “$100,000 wallets” (in token units) changes over time.

Our findings:

Conclusion:

Again, SPX6900 leads in the retention of $100,000-level token holders.

Whale Retention Rate

Another way to monitor whale retention is to count all wallets that have ever held over $100,000 worth of tokens, then compare this to the number of wallets still holding at least 50% of their peak holdings (in units).

Our findings:

Momentum and 50-Week Moving Average (WMA)

Relative Strength

When buying meme coins, we look for entry points where the 14-day RSI is at or near oversold levels (30).

50-Week Moving Average

• SPX6900: trading 64% below the 50 WMA.
• BONK: trading 62% below the 50 WMA.
• PENGU: trading 58% below the 50 WMA.
• PEPE: trading 57% below the 50 WMA.

Drawdown from All-Time High

Given SPX6900’s superior on-chain data, it’s not surprising that it performs relatively stronger than other tokens.

Conclusion

Given the industry’s attention, we believe crypto investors are wise to focus on meme coins. We find that monitoring broad risk appetite (risk-on/off) and liquidity conditions in the crypto market makes meme coins highly valuable as reference points.

Moreover, with appropriate position sizing and entry timing, the right assets can serve as powerful catalysts for a portfolio.

In the last bull cycle, we successfully captured gains from BONK and SPX6900 with minimal position sizes, achieving over 10x returns. We will continue to seek similar entry opportunities in the future.