GuShiio.com It won 186,000 SOL pieces in 48 hours, making it one of the largest Meme coin pre-sales in history.
Written by Alex Liu, Foresight News
Pre-sale timeline: $38 million in 48 hours, 80% refund triggered market controversy
On February 2, 2025, a pre-sale of Meme coins that attracted the attention of the encryption community kicked off. The PAIN project incubated by Memeland won 186,000 SOL (approximately US$38 million) in 48 hours, making it one of the largest Meme coin pre-sales in history. However, the project party then announced a disruptive decision:Refund 80% of the raised funds and retain only 20% for start-up and liquidity.This operation not only triggered a discussion of the “sincerity” of the project party, but also quickly made PAIN the focus of traffic.
Origin: From “forced smile” to encryption symbols
PAIN is inspired by the classic online meme “Hide the Pain Harold”, based on Hungarian photographer Andrs Arat.áó In the early s,The “pain behind the smile” expression he showed in a photographic equipment advertisement has become a cultural symbol on the Internet due to his strong sense of contrast.For more than ten years since then, Harold’s image was widely used to express helplessness and support in life. Even Arat himself accepted his identity with a humorous attitude and became a “living meme.”
Memeland’s “campaign”: Celebrity endorsements and community disintegration
As a project incubated by Memeland, the outbreak of PAIN is inseparable from the resource tilt of the parent platform. At the end of October 2024, after PAIN’s official Twitter account was established, Memeland quickly paved the way for it:
Celebrity effect:
At Binance Blockchain Week in October of the same year,A photo of Harold prototype Arat and Binance founder CZ was widely circulated。Memeland token MEME has long been launched on Binance, and the photo taking takes place without Memeland’s efforts behind it.
Community Linkage:
Memeland official accountReposted PAIN updates multiple times, including pre-sale tweets, forming flow resonance. (Currently, the pre-sale has ended, please do not send funds to the address in the picture)
The founder of Memeland and Harold prototype Arat attended the offline blockchain event together.
Refund Event: Good faith marketing or risk transfer?
After the pre-sale, the project party announced that it would refund 80% of the funds and reserve only 20%(approximately US$7.6 million) for start-up, providing liquidity, and paying CEX currency fees (if any). The official explanation called the move “reducing the burden on investors and demonstrating long-term commitment,” but controversy ensued:Proponents believe that the refund reflects the “anti-leek cutting” attitude, which is in contrast to most Meme projects that “raise money and run away”; while skeptics point out that the refunded SOL has depreciated due to market fluctuations, and 20% of the retained funds still far exceeds the start-up demand of similar projects.
Rational analysis shows that the 80% refund amount is the largest for similar projects, and this part of the funds can be regarded as potential buying after the token is launched, which can indeed be regarded as protecting the income of existing investors.
Regardless of the motive, this incident objectively created secondary spread for PAIN,It can be said to be a big victory in terms of traffic.
Future challenges: Meme coin’s “breaking circle” paradox
PAIN’s short-term success relies on Memeland’s community potential and the natural spread of Meme culture (of course, it is also inseparable from the hype of Meme traders), but its long-term development faces challenges:If Harold’s “pain” core is over-commercialized, it may dissipate its original charm.; and Meme coins rely on market heat and will bear the brunt of the bear market.
The specific launch time of PAIN tokens is not clear yet. Let’s quietly observe the performance of the market outlook before making a judgment.
conclusion
From Harold’s wry smile to the success of PAIN token pre-sales, this experiment confirms the absurdity and creativity of the crypto world.When “pain” becomes a tradable consensus, perhaps the real memes have long transcended the screen and become embedded in the collective emotions of this era.
Welcome to join the official social community of Shenchao TechFlow
Telegram subscription group: www.gushiio.com/TechFlowDaily
Official Twitter account: www.gushiio.com/TechFlowPost
Twitter英文账号：https://www.gushiio.com/DeFlow_Intern
