The popular TikTok meme has a value of 600 million dollars in the cryptocurrency world, reviewing Chillguy's rapid rise to fame
"That year I had my hands in my pockets, not knowing what a rival was."
Author: Deep Tide TechFlow
In today's widespread Meme pullback, who is the hottest contrarian? No need to think, it must be the expressionless ChillGuy with his hands in his pockets.
The guy in the picture above, who became popular on the overseas version of TikTok, "TikTok," stirred up a storm in just 24 hours: the market cap once surpassed 600 million USD, with a 24-hour increase of several times, and the trading volume exceeded 700 million USD, with the trading volume in the last hour also surpassing 100 million USD.
Just a few days ago, it was merely spreading on TikTok.
Interestingly, while we were still sighing over the phrase "Just Chill," crypto players had already demonstrated what "true Chill" means: from the Salvadoran president's post to Musk's retweet, everything can become the focus of attention and hype.
ChillGuy, with his "lying flat" posture, has staged a perfect "lying win."
If you still don't understand how an expression can stir up waves, here’s a quick recap of the storyline.
At first, I was just a calm guy
ChillGuy is actually a character created by artist Phillip Banks in 2023 . This anthropomorphized character wears a sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, with his hands in his pockets—just a guy who looks really cool.
The artist's simple character setting is: "He is just a calm guy who doesn't care about anything." Meanwhile, this post sparked a widespread imitation trend on social media.
Subsequently, this "Chill Guy" image gained explosive popularity on TikTok. People were attracted to this expressionless figure with hands in pockets, who seemed indifferent to everything. It perfectly embodies the attitude of young people facing life's pressures: rather than being anxious, it's better to chill.
Users began to imitate this posture, pairing it with various scenarios: failed an exam? Just Chillin. Under pressure at work? Just Chillin. Life isn't going well? Still Just Chillin.
This contrasting sense of humor and "laid-back" lifestyle unexpectedly struck a chord with Generation Z. Related videos garnered over 20 million views in just two months, spawning countless imitation videos and memes.
These videos should have been drowned out in the vast content of TikTok, but netizens were drawn to his "life doesn't have to be taken too seriously" attitude. Especially in this anxiety-filled era, people seemed to find a resonance in this meme: life is about learning to Chill.
The ignition point, from meme to speed master
Five days ago, when the $CHILLGUY token was born on the Solana chain, even the issuer probably didn't expect what would happen next.
Initially, the price of CHILLGUY remained lukewarm, but yesterday it suddenly surged, with a market cap exceeding 200 million USD, and the price peaking around 0.23, with trading volume also above 100 million USD.
Clearly, a TikTok popular meme has its reasons for trending, and in the context of attention assetization in the crypto space, it is naturally what smart money refers to as a "good angle."
Data doesn't lie. Compared to the squirrel PNUT, which surged in popularity during the previous election hot topics and took 11 days to accumulate 60,000 holders, ChillGuy only took 4 days to amass 80,000 holders.
You can't help but marvel at the power of attention economy and trending events.
Of course, the meme Chill's angle is just the foundation; what truly catalyzed it must be a combination of several factors.
Here, I must reiterate the well-known theory from the classic communication book "The Tipping Point": for an event to become popular, three key elements are indispensable:
First is the Law of Key People — Influential individuals in dissemination and interpretation
The second law is the Stickiness Factor — Trendy things should possess characteristics that leave a deep impression
The third law is the Power of Context — The environment that produces the trend phenomenon is crucial, affecting the spread and acceptance of the trend
Regarding the last two laws, it is evident that the calm expression with hands in pockets aligns with the fashion of young people, while the overseas version of TikTok and the current super cycle of memes provided ample contextual power.
Everything was in place, except for the key figures to ignite the fire.
First, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted a ChillGuy meme on Twitter, without even a caption. This tweet garnered nearly 80,000 likes in just a few hours.
Then, Musk arrived, albeit late.
A tech blogger posted a review and introduction of Grok's AI performance, and the test result image included elements of "CHILLGUY." Musk retweeted to show his interest.
Although it wasn't a clear endorsement, the law that memes related to Musk tend to go viral was still in effect.
Today (21st), after a series of events, CHILLGUY began its speed journey, with the market cap soaring from 200 million to over 600 million USD; as of the time of writing, the price has slightly retreated, but the market cap remains around 300 million USD.
Meme tokens that quickly rise above 100 million USD are rare, and ChillGuy stood out in today's general Meme pullback, successfully achieving a rapid market cap increase and a "lying win."
What's even more noteworthy is that Google Trends shows that in the last 24 hours, the search volume for "how to buy ChillGuy" has skyrocketed in the US, with the first result for "how to buy" being Bitcoin, and the second being ChillGuy, while corresponding tutorials have surged on YouTube and forums.
Combined with the news of the Phantom wallet topping the Google Store download charts a few days ago, it seems that more young players outside the crypto space are really rushing in.
Some exchanges also reacted quickly; for example, crypto.com has announced the listing of CHILLGUY.
However, the original creator of the ChillGuy image, the artist, does not wish to gain fame in this way.
He expressed his stance in a tweet:
"I have been overwhelmed by the terrible information related to crypto, and I have decided to take a break from Twitter for a while."
There have also been reports indicating that Philb holds the copyright to ChillGuy and is considering suing the similarly named meme coin. This caused the CHILLGUY token to drop over 50% at one point, but it has since rebounded.
Ten bets, nine losses, and one Chill
In this round of ChillGuy's frenzy, some are happy while others are worried. On-chain data shows that some early players indeed achieved a "lying win":
According to AI Aunt's monitoring, smart money spent 22,134 USDC to buy 5.01 million $CHILLGUY tokens from November 17 to 19, with a cost as low as $0.0044;
Currently, this smart money has sold 60% of its position, with 2 million tokens still distributed to two new addresses, realizing a profit of 760,000 USD.
Original address of smart money:
28MyYrYpRwAwiACFwKQbzJ7LXAq3tSBPTJzrmG6ep1Fi
Post-profit transfer addresses:
DiJA72nChAfqbwbqBpmFdEk7gBFT97JZSBx7faArjGYe
28MyYrYpRwAwiACFwKQbzJ7LXAq3tSBPTJzrmG6ep1Fi
(Deep Tide TechFlow Note: The above information is for data display only and not investment advice.)
What’s even more thought-provoking is that some Twitter users further analyzed this address and found that it was heavily involved in on-chain dog fighting PVP, being a veritable "P rookie"; however, the record was also nine losses out of ten bets, resulting in overall losses.
Yet a single CHILLGUY turned his losses into gains, a critical hit that allowed him to laugh at all the pain.
On the other hand, some people got up early, chasing dreams with 1 SOL, but arrived late.
According to Lookonchain data , a trader bought over 30 million CHILLGUY with 1 SOL shortly after the opening, which is now worth 10 million USD.
But he sold early, ultimately making only a profit of 0.6 SOL.
What can we learn from these comparisons?
Energy, luck, timing, and mindset are all indispensable, but even when combined, success is not guaranteed.
With hands in pockets, you find the Meme market full of competitors; the only thing you can do is to truly be a calm guy, lower your expectations, and take it as it comes.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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