A new wave of memecoins inspired by Studio Ghibli has taken over the Solana blockchain, following a viral social media trend of AI-generated anime-style images.
The surge comes after OpenAI enabled image generation in its ChatGPT-4o model, allowing users to create detailed visuals reminiscent of the Japanese animation studio’s signature style.
OpenAI’s latest feature quickly gained traction, with users sharing Ghibli-style portraits online.
Even high-profile figures joined in, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who updated his profile picture to an AI-generated Ghibli-style image.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk also shared a similar portrait with his 219.7 million followers on X, captioning it:
"Theme of the day"
Although neither Altman nor Musk referenced any Ghibli-themed cryptocurrency, the online frenzy appears to have fueled a new memecoin rally.
The largest among them, Ghiblification (GHIBLI), skyrocketed to a $20.8 million market cap just 19 hours after launch, according to DEX Screener.
GHIBLI is currently trading at $0.02023, reflecting an extraordinary 32,931% surge in value.
At least 20 other Ghibli-inspired tokens have emerged, reflecting the broader trend of memecoins capitalising on internet culture.
Some traders believe this could signal renewed interest in the memecoin market, which has declined by 57% since 8 December 2024—shortly after Bitcoin crossed the $100,000 mark.
Crypto trader Sachs expressed optimism about the sudden surge, writing in a 26 March X post,
“Praying the memecoin runs to $100M to bring some hopes into these markets. Severely needed.”
This isn’t the first time a viral trend has fueled a memecoin boom.
In November 2024, the CHILLGUY token gained momentum after the "Just a chill guy" meme exploded online.
Launched on the Solana blockchain on 15 November, CHILLGUY soared to a $643 million market cap by 27 November.
However, like many trend-driven tokens, its value has since plummeted by 95%, according to CoinMarketCap.
Despite the excitement around Ghibli-themed memecoins, the rapid rise and fall of similar tokens serve as a cautionary tale for investors.
The memecoin market remains highly speculative, with prices often driven by short-lived internet trends rather than long-term fundamentals.
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Alex