In the current consumption and investment fields, Pop Mart and meme coins have become phenomenal entities that have attracted much attention. The former, with trendy toys as a carrier, has set off a collection craze around the world and shaped a unique trend culture; the latter has continued to stand out in the cryptocurrency market and attracted the attention of a large number of investors with its unique value logic.
Although the two seem to be in different tracks, they actually have many commonalities in value logic, and transforming hot events into cultural symbols is the key to their continued value.
1. Hot events: Internet communication and attention boom
In 2025, Labubu, the trendy IP from Pop Mart, has undoubtedly become a shining star in the global cultural and commercial fields. Labubu is not the sweet and cute image in the traditional sense. Its grotesque Nordic elf style accurately hits the inner needs of Generation Z in pursuit of individual expression.
Since 2024, Labubu has frequently appeared in the social media dynamics of major stars around the world. The Labubu pendant shared by Blackpink's Lisa on Instagram has triggered a frenzy among fans; the Thai princess used Labubu as a fashionable match for her Hermès bag, which made it famous in the fashion circle; Rihanna appeared at the Los Angeles airport carrying a pink Labubu, and her every move attracted the media and fans' cameras. These star effects are like sparks, quickly igniting the popularity of Labubu around the world, making it gradually move from the trendy toy circle to the public's vision and become a global social currency.
In terms of product sales, Labubu's third-generation vinyl plush series "High Energy Ahead" triggered a buying frenzy as soon as it was launched. On domestic e-commerce platforms, the products were sold out instantly; and in overseas stores, fans were even more enthusiastic and started queuing in the early morning. At the door of Pop Mart in cities such as Chicago, London, and Tokyo, fans lined up all night in sleeping bags just to be able to buy their favorite Labubu blind boxes as soon as possible. The original price of the blind box is 99 yuan, but the price of the hidden version in the second-hand market has been hyped up to several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan, and the price surge is staggering.
It not only dominates the trendy toy market, but also successfully crosses the border and extends its influence to the crypto world. At the same time, in the currency circle, the L-coin ABUBU coin based on the image of Labubu also performed amazingly. In just a few days from May 14 to 19, its market value soared from hundreds of thousands of US dollars to 18 million, with a 24-hour trading volume of 9.5 million, and the number of currency holding addresses also showed a surge. This rapid growth in market value and trading volume is also extremely rare in the cryptocurrency market.
2. Emotional expression: Personality expression and identity needs
Whether it is Pop Mart's trendy toys or meme coins, an important reason why they are so popular is that they meet the emotional expression needs of consumers and investors.
For Generation Z, they grew up in an era of information explosion and cultural diversity. They pay more attention to the display of their own personality and are eager to stand out from the group and have a unique identity. Labubu's weird and unique shape seems to be loudly declaring "I am a unique existence". This distinctive personality trait is highly consistent with the inner demands of Generation Z. At the same time, the purchase form of blind boxes is full of unknowns and surprises. The "gambling" stimulation hidden behind it greatly satisfies young people's curiosity about new things and their pursuit of scarcity. When they draw the hidden version, what they get is not just a toy, but also a capital to show their unique taste and luck in the social circle, so as to gain a strong sense of circle identity.
Take the Thai market as an example, Labubu is more popular than you can imagine in Thailand. From celebrities to ordinary young people, Labubu has become an iconic symbol of street fashion, and even the Tourism Authority of Thailand has awarded it the title of "Magical Thailand Experience Officer". Here, Labubu is no longer just a toy, it has evolved into a kind of social capital, and has become an important carrier for people to show themselves and gain recognition in social interactions.
In the field of meme coins, investors' participation also contains strong emotional factors. The value of meme coins is not based on the fundamentals in the traditional financial sense, such as the company's profitability, asset size, etc., but is more closely linked to the emotions and consensus of community members.
Take LAUBU coin as an example. Its price increase is largely due to the community members' love for the IP Labubu and their optimistic expectations for its future value. In this virtual crypto community, holding LABUBU coins has become a way for investors to express their identification with the Labubu culture. They find a sense of belonging in the community by participating in the transaction of tokens, and also expect to realize wealth appreciation through price increases. This wealth effect further strengthens their enthusiasm for participation and emotional investment.
Third, Speculative Arbitrage: Artificial Scarcity and Financial Design
Speculative arbitrage plays an important role in the value realization process of Pop Mart and meme coins.
In the trendy toy market of Pop Mart, the hidden version mechanism of blind boxes artificially creates the scarcity of products. Due to the extremely low probability of the appearance of hidden versions, they are in short supply in the market, which has led to a sharp rise in prices. This price increase has attracted a large number of speculators to intervene. They buy blind boxes not because they like trendy toys themselves, but because they expect to make profits by drawing hidden versions and reselling them at high prices in the second-hand market. In the second-hand trading market, we can see that the price of Labubu hidden versions far exceeds its original price, with a premium of several times or even dozens of times. For example, the price of the ordinary Labubu, which originally costs 99 yuan, can reach 2,300 yuan in the second-hand market, with a premium of more than 20 times. This huge price difference has attracted many speculators to participate, forming a market atmosphere similar to "gambling".
In the meme coin market, the characteristics of speculative arbitrage are more obvious. The price fluctuations of meme coins are often extremely violent. Their rise and fall are not dominated by traditional economic factors, but mainly depend on market sentiment and the flow of funds. Take LABUBU coin as an example. Its market value has soared from hundreds of thousands of US dollars to 18 million in a short period of time. Behind it is the influx of a large amount of speculative funds. These funds, fueled by social media, take advantage of investors' fear of missing out and continue to push up its prices. In this process, some early investors have realized huge profits by buying low and selling high. However, this price increase based on emotions and speculation often lacks solid support. Once the market sentiment changes, the price may also plummet rapidly, which makes investors who enter the market later face huge losses.
Fourth, community empowerment: mass communication and value co-creation
The community has played a vital role in the value formation and dissemination of Pop Mart and meme coins.
In Pop Mart's community ecology, social media platforms have become an important front for Labubu's dissemination. On platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, a large number of unboxing videos, outfit sharing, and "baby wall" displays have emerged under the topic #Labubu. These contents have attracted the attention of millions of fans, and some accounts have even accumulated millions of fans in a short period of time. Through the dissemination of these user-generated content (UGC), Labubu's image and culture have been widely spread, attracting the attention of more potential consumers. At the same time, Pop Mart also enhances the interaction and stickiness among community members by holding offline activities and fan gatherings, further consolidating the position of Labubu in the hearts of fans. In these community activities, fans can share their collection experience and exchange their love for Labubu, forming a good community atmosphere and realizing the value co-creation between the brand and consumers. The community of meme coins also has a strong influence. Taking LABUBU coins as an example, the relevant content posted by crypto KOLs on the X platform (formerly Twitter) can quickly trigger heated discussions and attention from community members. Community members continue to expand their popularity and influence through interactions on social media, such as likes, reposts, and comments. At the same time, community members also actively participate in the promotion and operation of LABUBU coins. They attract more investors to join and jointly promote its value growth by creating relevant communities and organizing online activities. This self-propagation and collaboration among community members has formed a strong network effect, which has enabled LABUBU coins to rise rapidly in the crypto market.
V. Value Sustainability: From Emotional Expression to Cultural Symbol
Although Pop Mart and meme coins have achieved rapid growth in value in the short term driven by hot events, relying on emotional expression, speculative arbitrage and community empowerment,to achieve sustainable value, it is crucial to transform hot spots into cultural symbols with lasting influence.
For Pop Mart, Labubu is no longer just a trendy toy image, but has gradually evolved into a cultural symbol. It represents the personality, attitude and lifestyle of Generation Z, and this cultural connotation gives Labubu a unique competitive advantage in the trendy toy market. In order to further consolidate and expand the influence of this cultural symbol, we continue to innovate and expand. On the one hand, in terms of product design, we continue to innovate and combine different cultural elements and trends to inject new vitality into Labubu; on the other hand, we strengthen cross-border cooperation with other fields, such as co-branding with fashion brands, art exhibitions, film and television entertainment, etc. Through diversified cooperation methods, Labubu's cultural symbols are infiltrated into a wider range of fields, attracting more consumers from different circles, so as to achieve continuous growth in value.
In the field of meme coins, converting hot spots into cultural symbols is also the core of achieving sustainable value. In essence, Bitcoin is also a meme coin. It was originally just an experimental project in the geek circle, but over time, Bitcoin has gradually evolved into a cultural symbol representing the concept of decentralization and free finance, attracting the attention of many investors and supporters around the world. Although the price of Bitcoin fluctuates violently, the cultural connotation behind it makes it always occupy an important position in the cryptocurrency market.
For meme coins such as LABUBU coin, in order to achieve long-term value growth, it cannot rely solely on short-term hot hype and speculation, but needs to build a unique cultural value system and cultivate the long-term loyalty of community members. This can be achieved by clarifying the vision and mission of the project, promoting community autonomy, and carrying out activities related to culture and art, so that LABUBU can become a symbol representing specific cultural values and thus gain lasting vitality in the crypto market.
In short, Pop Mart and meme coins have many similarities in value logic.They all use hot events to trigger a craze, attract audiences by satisfying the need for emotional expression, achieve price fluctuations driven by speculative arbitrage, and rely on community empowerment to achieve value dissemination and growth. The key to successfully transforming hot events into cultural symbols with lasting influence is to break through the short-term heat limit and achieve continuous value growth. Whether it is the trendy toy market or the cryptocurrency field, a deep understanding of this value logic has important implications for companies, investors and related practitioners, and helps to grasp market trends and achieve sustainable development and benefits. (Image generated by Doubao)
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