Written by: June, TechFlow
Original Title: The Forgotten WIF, The Life and Death Rule in the Attention Economy of Meme Coins
On August 5, 2025, a pink knitted hat will be auctioned.
This is not a designer brand or a historical artifact—it is the symbol of Dogwifhat (WIF), the hat on the head of a Shiba Inu that once swept through the crypto world. In November 2024, this hat was still the symbol of 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 giant spherical screen of The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Earlier, on March 18, 2024, this "Shiba Inu with a hat" was minted as a Non-Fungible Token and listed for auction on the Foundation platform. Ultimately, it was purchased by one of the most famous traders in the cryptocurrency field, GCR, for 1210.759 ETH (approximately $4.3 million), becoming the second-highest selling auction item on Foundation at the time.
At that moment, no one would have thought that this hat would enter another auction in less than a year, and this time with little attention. Against the backdrop of a collapsed NFT narrative and a dormant market, the former MEME top performer was experiencing a silent indifference. As a representative of the old MEME, WIF's situation was even worse. After the auction news was announced on August 1st, it didn't even create a ripple on Twitter.
From being the center of attention to being ignored, WIF's story reveals a cruel truth: in the Web3 world, being forgotten is the true death.
With the hat about to be auctioned, this might be the last trace WIF leaves in crypto history. But its story is worth deep reflection for every project battling in this attention battlefield.
WIF's Rise
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 casual combination would create billions of dollars in market value in the following months.
WIF's explosion was inseparable from a key figure—Ansem. As one of the most influential KOLs in the crypto field, when he began frequently mentioning this "hat dog" on Twitter, a miracle happened. Each of his tweets was like a stimulant injected into the market, pushing WIF from an obscure meme coin to the center stage of the crypto world.
WIF's rise was astonishing—in just 81 days, its market value broke through the $1 billion mark. The community's enthusiasm exceeded everyone's imagination. They were not satisfied with just spreading the hat dog's image online; they wanted to do something unprecedented—project WIF onto The Sphere in Las Vegas. This largest spherical LED screen in the world, with millions of people passing by daily, would make WIF's appearance a landmark moment in meme coin history.
In March 2024, the crowdfunding campaign originally targeting $650,000 was achieved in just a few days and ultimately exceeded the goal with nearly $700,000. Community members generously contributed, believing this was not just a marketing activity but a key step for WIF to go mainstream. Twitter was filled with excited discussions, with everyone counting down, anticipating the moment the hat dog would illuminate the Las Vegas night sky.
On March 31, 2024, after the crowdfunding for The Sphere plan ended, market sentiment peaked, and WIF hit its all-time high of $4.83. During that crazy period, WIF seemed invincible. Almost every crypto community was discussing this Shiba Inu wearing a pink hat. Ansem's influence, the community's passion, and market FOMO perfectly combined to drive WIF to its peak.
That was WIF's golden age, with every holder believing they were witnessing the birth of a new Doge. The hat was more than just a hat; it became a cultural symbol, an identity, a belief in the infinite possibilities of the crypto world.
WIF's Las Vegas Nightmare
The turning point came so quickly. In January 2025, Trump meme emerged out of nowhere, sucking away the liquidity of the crypto market like a black hole. Immediately in February, the tariff policy announced by President Trump triggered macroeconomic uncertainty, causing a significant crypto market pullback. Among them, meme coins' decline was particularly tragic. Today, although BTC, ETH, and SOL and other mainstream coins have returned to high levels, most meme coins are still struggling in a deep callback quagmire.
The most fatal blow came in April 2025. It all started with the false hope from the beginning of the year—on January 29th, the official Dogwifhat X account released the long-awaited Las Vegas Sphere project preview, instantly igniting community enthusiasm, with WIF surging 34% in a week. However, the Las Vegas Sphere's official department quickly issued a statement, clearly stating that they "had never discussed any commercial cooperation with any cryptocurrency project". This cold water was thoroughly poured, and after the denial statement was released, WIF plummeted nearly 10% within an hour.
Worse, serious divisions began to emerge within the community. Some members questioned the project's transparency, strongly demanding a public disclosure of the crowdfunding fund's use details. The trust crisis spread like a virus.
After nearly a year of torment and waiting, on April 1, 2025, one of The Sphere plan initiators, Edward, finally announced the official abandonment of the project and began refunding. Nearly $700,000 in fundraising and countless nights of anticipation ultimately turned into bubbles. At this point, WIF's price had fallen to a low of $0.42, and after the news of the project's abandonment was released, WIF plummeted again, hitting a new yearly low of $0.3. This final straw completely crushed the community's confidence. Even WIF's planning team seemed to have chosen to give up.
Adding insult to injury, Ansem's voice began to disappear. This KOL, who used to mention WIF every day, gradually shifted his attention to other projects. After months of low tide, WIF seemed to vanish from Twitter. The once ubiquitous hat dog memes disappeared, the heated community discussions fell silent, and even the most loyal supporters began to shift their allegiance.
Meanwhile, other meme coins were forging ahead on their respective tracks:
Doge remains an unshakable king. Every new meme wants to become and surpass Doge. Elon Musk has never stopped interacting with Doge; he has long been Doge's best spokesperson.
Pepe has occupied another high ground with its classic frog image. Pepe has become part of internet language through its massive meme ecosystem.
Pengu, backed by the powerful Non-Fungible Token community of Pudgy Penguins, has also gained favor from Wall Street institutions like VanEck. Pengu is committed to expanding the web2 ecosystem and recently announced a collaboration with Suplay, a Chinese trendy IP consumer goods company. They are also active on multiple platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and Whatsapp.
These successful meme coins share a common characteristic: multi-dimensional vitality. They either have representative KOL support, strong community creative capabilities, or institutional recognition. Most critically, they have established diverse communication networks that won't collapse due to the disappearance of a single support.
In contrast, WIF's problems are obvious. It overly relies on Ansem's personal influence, hasn't established its own content ecosystem, lacks innovation mechanisms, and failed to gain institutional favor. Once the initial hype fades, it has no supporting system to rely on.
In this era of extremely scarce attention, once you start being forgotten, returning to the spotlight becomes almost an impossible task. WIF is experiencing this cruel process - from being the center of attention to being completely ignored, in just a few months.
The Brutal Truth of the Crypto World
Pumping is justice. This phrase might sound crude, but it precisely summarizes the essence of this market. In the traditional financial world, we still discuss fundamentals, value investing, and long-termism. But in the meme coin world, all these concepts are simplified to one number: price.
When the price rises, everything is right. The community is active, KOLs compete to recommend, new holders continuously pour in, and a positive cycle begins. When the price drops, all problems are exposed. The community starts internal conflicts, KOLs quietly exit, panic spreads, and a death spiral follows.
For WIF, it faces two fatal problems:
First, it is no longer remembered. The time flow in the crypto world is ten or hundred times faster than in the real world. A hot topic from three months ago is already ancient history here. When Ansem no longer mentions WIF, when the community stops creating new content, when trading volume begins to shrink, WIF transforms from a "present continuous" to a "past perfect". In a market that always chases the next opportunity for sudden wealth, no one is interested in history.
Second, it has lost the attraction of wealth creation. The fundraising failure of The Sphere is not just a marketing setback but exposes a cruel reality: when prices drop, even the most loyal community members become cautious. Without new capital inflow, there's no momentum for price increase; without price increase, it cannot attract new funds. This is an unsolvable dilemma.
The deeper truth is that in an era dominated by attention economy, the life and death of meme coins often hang by a thread. A tweet can create a hundred-fold coin, and one failure can destroy all efforts. There's no gradual decline here, only cliff-like collapse.
WIF's story is a microcosm of countless meme coins. They streak across the crypto world's sky like meteors, briefly illuminating a corner before quickly disappearing into darkness. A few lucky ones become stars, but most must accept the fate of being forgotten.
This is the survival rule of the crypto world: maintain relevance, or die. There's no middle option.
Being Forgotten is True Death
On August 5th, that pink knitted hat will find its new owner.
The moment the auction hammer falls might be the last footnote WIF leaves in crypto history. In a sense, the fate of this hat is quite ironic - it once represented billions of dollars in market value, symbolizing a community's dream, and now must find its meaning of existence through an auction.
But this ending precisely confirms our initial point: in the Web3 world, being forgotten is true death. The hat can be auctioned, collected, placed in a museum display case. But WIF as a meme, a cultural symbol, a cryptocurrency, its heat has gradually faded. Not because of code issues, not because of a hacker attack, 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, new wealth myths are circulated. In this never-ending cycle, only projects that can continuously occupy people's minds can survive. Others, no matter how glorious they once were, will be washed away by the flood of time.
Interestingly, as a product of the previous era, Non-Fungible Tokens have shown more vitality in this cycle dominated by meme coins. Even during the NFT winter, BAYC can still create topics through occasional IP licensing news, CryptoPunks occasionally make headlines with sky-high transactions, and Pudgy Penguins return to public view due to physical toy releases. These project teams are still working, communities remain strong, and they have successfully carved out a path, continuously generating actual commercial value and profits.
In comparison, meme coins are mostly products of wild growth. They often lack clear team structures, long-term business plans, and find it harder to establish deep collaborations with mainstream brands. The small team background makes meme coin projects more difficult to gain recognition in the traditional business world and harder to resonate broadly beyond their communities. When the heat fades, these projects often lack sufficient resources and capabilities to maintain long-term brand value.
WIF's story streaks across the crypto world's sky like a meteor, briefly illuminating a corner before quickly disappearing into darkness. The only certainty is that in a world driven by consensus, 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.
