The new meme token $LABUBU is exploding in attention from China’s crypto and finance communities—not just for how well the token is doing in the market but also for the stir it’s causing among mainstream media.
The token, which is based on the viral success of a hot toy IP, is doing something quite unexpected in this crypto climate: its price is going up, and its number of listings is rising too. Meanwhile, there’s a huge mainstream media warning going out from China saying to investors that this is a dangerous token.
Specifically, a Chinese business news outlet called YICAI recently published a scathing article about the token known as $LABUBU. YICAI claims that the growth of $LABUBU is emblematic of the “speculative frenzy” that we see in certain corners of the digital asset space. But instead of dressing the market with some negativity that might bring it down, the story seems to have boosted interest in $LABUBU.
Media Spotlight Highlights Risks and Questions Legitimacy
YICAI’s article was very clear and to the point. It described $LABUBU as a cryptocurrency that had “quietly launched” off the popularity of a well-known toy figure. The toy IP, which is closely associated with Pop Mart—a leading Chinese collectibles company—had nothing to do with the token launch. That’s what the YICAI article said, and it was also something confirmed by other reports.
The media outlet cautioned that the first days of $LABUBU followed a familiar path: a sharp price rally driven by excitement and retail speculation that was then followed by a dramatic price drop that left late buyers—those who came on after the hype really hit—really exposed to losses.
YICAI spoke with people in the industry who follow these things.
They called the whole thing a “typical” price formation in crypto for assets that have little or no real value.
Some specialists took the analogy a step further, likening such endeavors to pyramid schemes. “Many of these tokens are essentially worthless,” stated one financial analyst cited in the article. “Their nature borders on fraud, designed to lure in uniformed investors under the guise of a popular trend.”
Market Defies Warnings, $LABUBU Rally Accelerates
$LABUBU has proven resilient in the wake of negative press. When the YICAI article hit, crypto traders didn’t stagger or stop; they surged in, buying up the token and pushing its price up nearly 30% in just an hour. Regarding press, good, bad, or TBA, the show seems likely to go on.
Market capitalization for the token has now shot up over $57 million, thanks to its presence on several exchanges and a swell of interest from individual investors. Trading volume has kept pace and is now well over 24 hours for the token, again mainly due to its presence on several exchanges and what seems to be a developing interest from individual, retail-type investors.
In the crypto world, similar situations are not all that rare. When negative publicity strikes, the potential fallout can sometimes serve as an unexpected marketing opportunity. That seems to be the case with $LABUBU, a new crypto token that went live less than 48 hours ago. Heaven forbid that we here at Decrypt should underrate the natural connection that this crypto token has with a living legend of a college football program. But what sets this token apart, then, from any of the other crypto marketing schemes we’ve seen over the years?
1: Betting on the Success of NFTV LABUBU
Some traders seem to be wagering that NFTV LABUBU will join the ranks of other viral meme tokens, like Dogecoin or PEPE, that have recently achieved enormous short-term gains with, they would argue, little actual utility. This is a bet on a very unserious market finding some very serious gains.
2: Viewing the LABUBU Rally with Skepticism
Other traders are seeing the present rally as a potential exit opportunity. They are wary of the unregulated, unofficial status of LABUBU and are concerned it will go the way of so many other tokens, plummeting back to earth as soon as the rally is over.
Speculation or Scam? Industry Calls for Investor Caution
$LABUBU is not the only token to have experienced this sort of rapid rise and fall. In fact, the case of $LABUBU is a helpful entry point for considering the behavior of speculative tokens in the broader crypto ecosystem. What does it mean for a token to be speculative? And how does this speculation potentially harm investors—especially when those investors are not well protected by the market’s safety nets?
China’s crypto laws remain strict. They are not changing anytime soon. The country exerts control over financial instruments and speculative behavior. The developers behind the $LABUBU token fail to distill their long-term vision and have not yet returned fire on those who have criticized the token’s suspicious trajectory. You have to wonder if the token will amount to anything more than a vehicle for maintaining rate of return for those who hold it.
Caution is being urged by financial experts who are reminding investors that sharp price increases are not indicators of things being viable in the long term. One analyst even went so far as to say, “In crypto, virality can be profitable—but it can also be devastating. Know what you’re buying.”
Conclusion
$LABUBU’s swift ascent and the media-driven dispute surrounding it spotlight the unremitting liaison between crypto invention and safeguarding investors. The token’s ability to maintain its present head of steam is an open question—but in the here and now, it stands as a stark signifier of the both the potential upside and huge downside of digital-asset gambling.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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