IP-backed memecoin Simon’s Cat (CAT) surged 50% Monday after becoming the first cat-themed token to get a coveted Binance spot listing — amid some meme tokens taking the plagiarism heat.

CAT zoomed from $0.000039 to a record peak of $0.000067 in early Asian hours Tuesday, data shows, before paring gains. Trading volumes rose tenfold from $55 million to over $500 million.

Open interest in the token’s future products nearly doubled to over $60 million, showing a bump in expectations of further volatility with a bullish bias.

Binance said Monday it would offer airdrops of CAT to users of their Earn products who staked specific amounts of BNB tokens last week. It would then list 1000CAT (where a single token holds a thousand CAT) at 09:00 UTC later on Tuesday.

CAT is the official token of Simon’s Cat, an animated series about a hungry house cat and its adventures, with over 20 million followers across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Comparisons with other cat-themed memecoins like Popcat, MOG, and MEW often place CAT at a perceived undervaluation due to its spot listings and IP backing, among other reasons. Data shows it is the fourth-largest by market cap in that category, one that’s led by MOG at $1.1 billion as of Tuesday.

Well-followed trader @theunipcs — who famously turned $16,000 to $18 million on a BONK trade — is among the most vocal supporters of CAT and expects it to become the largest cat-themed meme token in the coming months.

“A $CAT flippening of $POPCAT to become the top cat memecoin is highly likely,” the trader said in a Monday post. “(It has) the best mainstream recognition for a cat memecoin brand, the best unit bias among major cat memecoins, strong and official IP, 99% of CT is sidelined, so a hated rally is likely”

Are IP memecoins the future?

CAT’s spot listing comes as non-IP memecoins increasingly see legal heat.

IP, or intellectual property, can include characters from memes, video games, or any cultural phenomenon that have officially been trademarked or copyrighted before their tokens were offered to the public.

Tokens backed by IP have a clearer legal standing regarding usage rights. The creators or owners of the IP can legally license the use of their characters or concepts, reducing the risk of legal challenges like cease and desist orders or lawsuits for unauthorized use of copyrighted material, which can abruptly devalue non-IP-backed tokens.

Tokens are starting to face the risk of legal action from IP holders if they do not own or securing rights to the IP they emulate or represent. Non-IP tokens like chillguy (CHILLGUY) and pnut (PNUT) face challenges despite being popular and widely traded.

On Monday, Mark Longo, the owner of Peanut the Squirrel which inspired the PNUT token, issued a cease-and-desist letter to Binance, accusing it of trademark infringement for listing and offering the PNUT memecoin.

Longo claimed Binance used his “Peanut the Squirrel” trademark and mascot likeness without permission, noting he has been using the PNUT brand for educational and animal welfare initiatives since 2017.

The cease-and-desist warning of potential legal action and sought penalties of up to $150,000 per infringement. PNUT’s prices are down 5% in the past 24 hours, in line with a broader market lull.

As such, CAT is officially licensed to the mainstream Simon's Cat brand and is the first major cat memecoin on the BNB Chain, backed by the company's IP which earned $5.8 billion in revenue last year.

That drives the token’s investment thesis for traders such as @theunipcs.

"The reality is that T1 CEXs (Binance/Coinbase/Upbit/etc) and major entitites will not touch memecoins with IP issues with a ten-foot pole,” he noted in a November post. “Because while the memecoin is likely decentralized and launched by an anon, these CEXs are real entities that could be held liable for IP violations and it's just not worth the drama for them.”

“Official Simon's Cat channels have promoted and will continue to promote the $CAT memecoin. This is an advantage no other cat memecoin in the space has right now,” he added at the time.

In the world of memecoins, CAT's IP could prove to be its nine lives.