Labubu is sweeping the globe, but the meme coin of the same name is hard to escape the fate of a big dump.

Labubu is a popular plush toy character that attracts many fans with its playful yet slightly fierce appearance. Designed by artist Long Jiasheng, this character has a round, fluffy body, wide-open big eyes, pointy ears, and a mischievous smile made up of nine sharp teeth.

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Long Jiasheng's creative inspiration comes from Nordic folklore and mythology. Labubu made its debut in 2015 and gained wider attention after collaborating with a toy company in 2019. According to the company's mid-2024 report, the "The Monsters" series that Labubu belongs to generated sales of 6.3 billion RMB in the first half of that year.

In April 2025, the third generation of Labubu rubber plush products sparked a buying frenzy in multiple countries. On May 29 of the same year, the eponymous Meme coin LABUBU was launched, which at one point created a hype but ultimately could not escape the fate of a fall. On June 10, at an auction of Labubu artworks, a Labubu that closely resembled a real person was sold for 1.08 million yuan, with the total auction turnover reaching 3.73 million yuan.

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The success of Labubu is closely linked to its sales model. The blind box model increases the excitement and uncertainty of purchasing, encouraging players to buy repeatedly in pursuit of rare items, which drives up the secondary market prices for popular styles. Experienced collectors indicate that the surprise element of blind boxes is a major attraction, with an average of finding a special edition for every 10 boxes purchased.

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Labubu, as an excellent cultural IP, has successfully broken cultural barriers, being accepted by Asian cultures while also loved by Western pop music and sports stars. The reasons for its explosive popularity include: the cross-cultural global consumer goods attributes, the patient accumulation and innovative breakthroughs in creation and promotion, as well as China's complete industrial chain and mature industrial ecosystem.

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However, the Meme coin related to Labubu cannot escape the fate of a big dump. Meme coins usually have high entertainment value, viral spread, and community-driven characteristics, but often lack practical use cases and technical support, with prices heavily influenced by market sentiment and community hype, leading to extreme volatility.

Although LABUBU has leveraged the popularity of physical toys, it still struggles to escape the big dump fate of Meme coins. A similar case is the Fat Penguin series, which has achieved success with its NFTs and physical toys, but the related Meme coin PENGU still experienced a significant fall.

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Famous NFT projects like Bored Apes and CryptoPunks have also experienced a similar fate. Despite being purchased at high prices by celebrities and big companies, the prices of these digital assets have ultimately seen a significant decline.

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These cases indicate that whether it is a project supported by physical toys or pure digital assets, it is difficult to escape the fate of price falls after a brief period of prosperity. The rapid rise and fall of LABUBU's price reflects its high speculation and lack of practicality. Even though the physical Labubu toys were once very popular, when the market frenzy subsides, the false prosperity without actual value support will eventually collapse. This is precisely the essence of Meme coins, which "are born out of speculation and perish due to the bursting of value bubbles."

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