Author: Chi Anh, Jay Jo, and Elsa
Translated by: Blockchain Plain Language
Key Points
Memecoins have transformed from mere speculative assets to a dominant trading force, attracting significant liquidity and reshaping capital flow patterns in the crypto market.
Platforms like Pump.fun have driven the rise of decentralized exchanges (DEX), attracting liquidity and active traders, thereby weakening centralized exchanges' (CEX) early price discovery capabilities.
- Trading platforms like MEXC that quickly adapt to Memecoins trading have performed strongly, while slower platforms like BN face challenges in liquidity and market influence.
1. A New Battlefield for Trading Platforms
Memecoins are redefining the cryptocurrency market. From initial speculative trends, they have now become important trading assets on major trading platforms, driving massive trading volumes.
To adapt to this trend, trading platforms are adjusting their strategies. Gate.io and MEXC have captured market share by quickly listing Memecoins, while BN launched "BN Alpha" focusing on early Memecoins listings and providing smooth transitions. In the DEX market, Solana-based Raydium successfully surpassed Ethereum-based Uniswap, becoming the market leader. This change demonstrates the powerful driving force of Memecoins in the market.
As the importance of Memecoins on trading platforms continues to increase, their broader implications are worth noting. Will Memecoins trading lead to a lasting market transformation, or is it merely a temporary cycle? Additionally, how will changes in regulatory policies affect the sustainability of Memecoins as mainstream assets? These questions will determine the future development of retail trading and trading platforms.
2. DEX Breaking the Status Quo: Raydium Overtakes Uniswap
Meanwhile, Uniswap's market share dropped from 34.5% in December 2024 to 22% in January 2025, losing its DEX market dominance. High Ethereum gas fees have become a major obstacle for Memecoins traders, driving cost-sensitive retail investors to alternative platforms. If Ethereum-based DEXs fail to innovate promptly, they will face greater pressure of liquidity migration.
Although Memecoins trading has clearly driven Raydium's growth, the sustainability of this trend requires further observation. Some analysts believe that the Memecoins trading boom may gradually subside as speculative demand decreases. However, Raydium has already become a familiar platform to users through Memecoins trading. By strengthening liquidity pools, optimizing user experience, and building an efficient trading system, Raydium can potentially consolidate its market position. These efforts will help Raydium maintain a long-term advantage in the competition between DEX and CEX.
3. CEX's Response: Can They Keep Up with DEX's Rise?
Gate.io and MEXC have successfully attracted numerous retail investors interested in speculative assets by focusing on Memecoins listings. Among them, MEXC has become a trend leader with its rapid Memecoins listing policy. For example, they opened trading on Memecoins Official Trump ($TRUMP) on the day of listing, directly bringing record trading volumes and rapid user growth.
These strategies have produced significant effects. MEXC's daily Memecoins trading volume surged from 5.9% in the first quarter of 2024 to 25.9% in January 2025. Simultaneously, the proportion of Memecoins traders increased from 18.7% to 37.1%. 
As the world's largest cryptocurrency trading platform, BN is also actively expanding its Memecoins listing range to attract retail liquidity. Recently, BN has focused more on speculative assets, attempting to capture the "attention economy" market opportunity. However, as a centralized exchange (CEX), BN is inevitably constrained by internal review processes. These processes typically result in Memecoins being listed after market heat has already declined or shifted to new trends.
While BN provides ample liquidity to protect investors, this liquidity becomes an exit for early holders to sell Memecoins. Due to the minimal impact on market prices, many newly listed Memecoins generally drop over 75% in the short term, causing significant investor losses. This situation not only damages BN's long-term reputation but also raises questions about its listing review process.
Compared to BN, major centralized exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Upbit have adopted more conservative strategies, focusing on verified cryptocurrencies rather than Memecoins. While this strategy cannot capture short-term high-yield market opportunities, it helps platform stability and reduces regulatory risks.
In recent years, the trend of funds flowing from CEX to DEX has become increasingly apparent, indicating that CEX no longer holds absolute market dominance. Facing this change, CEX needs to re-examine its strategic layout. They can choose the following approaches:
Screen early-stage assets and provide transparent information (like BN Alpha);
Manage risks through selective Memecoins listings;
Introduce hybrid trading modes combining on-chain order books with DeFi elements.
Nevertheless, Memecoins continue to demonstrate their potential in the crypto realm. They are gradually becoming representative assets for certain entities and groups. For instance, Elon Musk's relationship with Dogecoin, Trump's association with Official Trump Token, and some startup and national Memecoins cases indicate that cryptocurrencies are capturing real economic and social value. This trend resembles the securitization process in traditional financial markets and may gradually evolve into a new cultural phenomenon.
Facing this change, CEX must quickly adjust strategies. Investors no longer wait for CEX listings before trading promising assets. To attract more users and maintain competitiveness, trading platforms need to integrate on-chain functions and DeFi elements while ensuring platform stability and compliance. This flexible and innovative strategy will be key to driving the crypto market into its next growth phase.
The core challenge for CEX currently lies in finding a balance between attracting short-term trading activities and maintaining long-term platform stability, while maintaining institutional investor trust and effectively attracting more retail investors.
4. Strategic Summary and Future Prospects
Memecoins have evolved from mere speculative tools to important trading assets in the cryptocurrency market. With the significant growth of Memecoins trading on decentralized exchanges (DEX), this trend brings new opportunities and challenges to the crypto industry.
In the recent bull market, Memecoins on DEX have significantly outperformed assets listed on centralized exchanges (CEX), prompting more investors to turn to DEX. Platforms like Pump.fun have optimized the issuance and trading process of Memecoins, enabling new Tokens to achieve explosive growth even without being listed on CEX.
To adapt to this change, market makers, liquidity providers, and project teams have been adjusting their strategies. They are no longer focusing solely on CEX listings but have begun to value the DEX environment. By establishing liquidity pools across multiple platforms, they have enhanced trading accessibility and flexibility.
However, the Memecoins market still faces numerous risks. Unethical behaviors such as rug pulls, small group manipulation, and malicious trading have severely damaged investors' interests. Due to the lack of effective regulation in the market, these issues are common. For example, the Argentina Libra ($LIBRA) scandal exposed these potential risks, triggering widespread doubts about Memecoins and leading to a significant decline in trading volume on Solana DEX.
Article link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/04/5755.html
Source: https://reports.tiger-research.com/p/untold-story-behind-the-surge-chn
