On February 15, LIBRA staged an epic collapse, and as the community delved deeper into the investigation, an institution-controlled meme conspiracy group gradually surfaced, completely overturning the public's original perception of the fair launch of memes. Previously, the Broccoli project had created an atmosphere of conspiracy, and the trust crisis triggered by the insider trading of Meme coins has further undermined market confidence, with the voices of "everything is a scam" resurfacing, shaking the SOL meme faith, and the market further declining as a result.
Crypto market remains sluggish, meme narrative shaken
Since Bitcoin's retreat from its high, the entire crypto market has experienced months of sustained sluggishness and downward volatility. With the significant correction of Altcoins, Bitcoin's market dominance has risen to 60%, showing an increasingly strengthened leading position in the market. In contrast, the Altcoins held by retail investors are facing the dual challenges of insufficient liquidity and declining market capitalization, with widespread bloodshed. Data shows that since the beginning of February, the CMC Fear & Greed Index has fallen below 40, indicating that the market remains in a state of extreme fear.
Bitcoin market share
In the capital-concentrated meme market, the situation is equally gloomy. After the launch of the TRUMP token and the subsequent on-chain fomo, numerous celebrity coins and presidential coins have emerged. However, the launch of these tokens has not attracted outsiders to the crypto world as expected, but has instead become a tool for conspiracy groups to collude and bleed the market. Meme cycles have become increasingly shorter, turning into flash pumps within a few hours or even minutes, with the scythe being quick and sharp.
Memes are increasingly becoming a conspiracy for institutions to precisely harvest, rather than a gold mine for retail investors to change their fortunes, and the market is showing signs of depression. According to defillama data, the protocol fee revenue of pump.fun on February 17 was $2.19 million, a decrease of 85.76% from the historical peak ($15.38 million on January 25).
Macroeconomic factors dominate the crypto market
Previously, the US presidential election had dominated the market sentiment, propelling Bitcoin to new highs, but as the election narrative has gradually settled, the market's frenzy has dissipated. Macroeconomic factors have once again taken the lead in shaping the current crypto market trend.
In early February, after Trump announced tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, the crypto market immediately saw a market cap decline of around 13%, with Bitcoin touching a three-week low of $91K, and Ethereum's decline approaching 30%.
This indicates that with the listing of ETFs, the crypto currency market has become deeply embedded in the macroeconomic market, becoming a part of the traditional financial realm. Under the threat of a global trade war, the market expects tariffs to increase the cost of imported goods, potentially leading to higher inflation. If inflation remains high, the Federal Reserve may delay or cancel the expected rate cuts, tightening the liquidity tap, directly determining the liquidity of the financial markets.
This also means that in the short term, with the prospect of Bitcoin becoming a national reserve asset fading, everything will be more dependent on the off-chain macroeconomic situation, especially the erratic Trump tariff policy.
Increased demand for safe-haven, stable wealth management becomes a "safe haven" for capital
Against the backdrop of heightened uncertainty, investors are shifting from chasing high-volatility assets to seeking stable returns, with holding USDT becoming the mainstream choice.
Unfortunately, the yield rates of most platforms' wealth management products currently seem a bit "loud thunder, small raindrops". For example, the typical annualized yield for USDT spot is 2%-2.3%, and while some claim higher rates, in reality, only the first $500 enjoy the high yield, with the rest calculated at 2%. Apart from spot, the annualized yield of term deposits is generally around 3%, and those touting higher yields often have a cap of $200-$500 for the high-yield portion.
Unsatisfactory wealth management returns have led to the innovation of new wealth management models. For example, the 4E platform has optimized its underlying asset allocation to provide more competitive yield levels while maintaining high liquidity, standing out among the wealth management products.
Compared to the around 2% annualized yield on spot deposits at major platforms, 4E's spot deposit annualized yield reaches 3.5% without any cap on the amount. For term deposits, the 30-day annualized yield is 7%, and the 90-day yield even reaches 8%, again without any amount limits, nearly tripling the market's comparable products. These product series provide a flexible and affordable choice for investors holding USDT and waiting for market changes.
The Meme scandal is digging deeper, SOL has plummeted significantly, and the myth of fair launch has been proven to be a carefully designed liquidity trap, once again proving that the current Meme economy is essentially a on-chain replication of institutional manipulation tactics, and the market may have entered a deep adjustment period of Meme narrative disenchantment.
Meanwhile, as inflation, interest rates, and trade policies dominate the dynamics of the financial markets, this means that in the coming period, with an unclear direction, the market will continue to face volatility. Ordinary investors may need to reconstruct their offensive and defensive strategies, avoiding blind pursuit of high-risk gambles, and choosing wealth management products at this time, where funds are not idle and can wait for market changes, is a good choice.
