As the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve, different cycles of bull markets are driven by different innovations. The ICO boom in 2017, the DeFi and NFT explosions in 2021 each led to the rise of the cryptocurrency market. Looking back at the bull market concepts in 2017 and 2021, 2025 will definitely be the era of MEME tokens.
2017 Bull Run: ICO Boom and Smart Contracts
1. ICO (Initial Coin Offering) boom:
• Driving factors: In 2017, ICO became the main way of project financing. Many new projects issued tokens through ICO, attracting a lot of funds and speculators. Different from traditional financing methods, ICO allows projects to raise funds directly through cryptocurrencies. This form of financing not only attracts the attention of blockchain projects, but also investors.
• Landmark event: The rise of Ethereum has largely driven this trend. A large number of Ethereum-based projects use ERC-20 standard tokens, allowing projects to raise funds more quickly.
• Impact: The ICO craze brought about a huge market boom, but due to imperfect supervision, a large number of fraudulent projects also emerged. With the intervention of regulatory agencies such as the SEC, the ICO craze gradually subsided.
2. Smart Contracts and the Rise of Ethereum:
• Driving factors: The smart contract function introduced by Ethereum allows decentralized applications (DApps) to be executed directly on the blockchain. In 2017, many ICO projects were built based on Ethereum smart contracts, thus driving the demand for Ethereum.
• Impact: The use of smart contracts has opened up application scenarios for blockchain, promoted the development of many innovative projects, and further increased market attention to cryptocurrencies.
3. Bitcoin futures listing:
• Driving factors: In December 2017, CME and CBOE successively launched Bitcoin futures, allowing Bitcoin to enter the traditional financial market for the first time. The launch of futures provides an entry channel for institutional investors, which improves the liquidity of the Bitcoin market.
• Impact: Bitcoin prices reached an all-time high around the launch of futures, driving the entire market up.
2021 Bull Market: DeFi, NFT, Institutional Entry and Layer 2 Expansion
1. DeFi (decentralized finance) explosion:
• Driving factors: Decentralized financial applications brought about by the "DeFi Summer" in 2020 have made innovative applications such as decentralized lending, liquidity mining and DEX (decentralized exchanges) popular. DeFi projects such as #Uni, #Aave, Compound, etc. attracted a large number of users and funds in 2021.
• Impact: The rapid growth of DeFi has brought about a huge amount of locked funds, driving demand for Ethereum and other DeFi tokens, becoming an important driving force for the 2021 bull market.
2. Popularity of NFT (Non-Fungible Token):
• Driving factors: NFT entered the mainstream in 2021, and NFT projects such as digital artworks, game assets and virtual land attracted a large number of new users. Well-known NFT projects such as CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club have gradually become popular.
• Impact: The popularity of NFT has attracted the participation of artists, athletes and brands, allowing cryptocurrencies to gradually penetrate into mainstream culture. The rise of the NFT concept has also driven the demand for Ethereum and promoted the development of other public chains and Layer 2 expansion solutions.
3. Institutional funds enter the market:
• Driving factors: The large investments in Bitcoin by companies such as MicroStrategy and Tesla indicate the recognition of crypto assets by institutional investors. In addition, the launch of investment products such as Grayscale Trust and ETFs has made it easier for traditional investors to invest in crypto assets such as Bitcoin.
• Impact: The entry of institutions has brought about a large influx of funds, which has improved market recognition and price stability. The market capitalization of Bitcoin and Ethereum has repeatedly hit new highs driven by institutional funds.
4. Layer 2 expansion and multi-chain ecology:
• Driving factors: Ethereum’s network congestion and high gas fees have led to the rapid development of Layer 2 solutions (such as Arbitrum, Optimism) and multi-chain ecosystems (such as Solana, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche). These solutions have increased transaction speeds, reduced fees, and attracted more users and developers to join.
• Impact: Layer 2 and multi-chain ecology bring more liquidity to the market, lower the threshold for using DeFi and NFT, and further promote market growth.
Bull market outlook for 2025: meme coins may become the protagonist
If the bull run in 2025 is led by meme coins, the uniqueness of this bull run will be reflected in the following aspects:
1. Rapid spread driven by social media: The price of meme coins is extremely susceptible to social media hot spots and topics, similar to the early #DOGE and #SHIB . In 2024, more emerging meme projects will use social media to spread virally, relying on community resonance to achieve price increases, such as #PNUT走高 #ACT . Social media may have a more significant impact on the 2025 bull market than technological innovation.
2. Strong community consensus: meme coins tend to rely on community consensus and support rather than unique technological innovations. Community sentiment is the main driver of meme coin growth, for example, the support of the DOGE community in 2021 drove its price surge. In the future, community sentiment and consensus will continue to play a key role in meme coin price growth.
3. High volatility brings short-term opportunities: The price volatility of meme coins is high, and most investors are short-term speculators. Therefore, even in a bull market, the price of meme coins may rise or fall frequently, bringing opportunities for short-term traders. Compared with technology-driven tokens, the market performance of meme coins is more difficult to predict, but it is also more attractive to investors seeking quick returns.
Looking back at the bull markets in 2017 and 2021, we see that each round of blockchain bull markets is driven by unique concepts. Although the arrival of the meme coin bull market in 2025 depends on non-technical factors such as social media and community consensus, the potential of this trend cannot be underestimated. The rapid spread of meme coins and strong community support bring extremely high volatility and short-term profit opportunities to the market. We have already seen the strength of the meme community.
