Section 2 · The lifecycle of a meme coin

The lifecycle of a meme coin — phase 5 of 5

Phase 5 of 5

Launch / stealth

Dev, insiders, sniper bots buy first

→

Discovery

Early degens, alpha groups buy in

→

Pump / FOMO

Retail crowd arrives — peak volume, peak risk

→

Distribution

Insiders scale out into late retail

→

Decline / survival

90–99% bleed to zero; a few survive

THE KEY INSIGHT. The crowd is buying exactly when the informed money is selling. The structural advantage goes to whoever is earliest — and the earliest participant is almost always the person who created the token.