A new meme coin has rapidly gained popularity on TikTok and has managed to rise from obscurity to the top of the ranks in this growing segment of the crypto space.

The exciting new token is dubbed “Chill Guy” and its origins are traced to a meme created by artist Phillip Banks. Chill Guy is drowning in investors and crypto enthusiasts, which propelled its market cap to $500 million in just a few days, making a handful of millionaires along the way.

just a chill guy CHILLGUY skyrockets after becoming viral on tiktok

The meme coin depicts a laid-back humanoid character with a dog face that “keeps its cool” and has his hands in his pockets. Observers have commented that it illustrates the carefree attitude that Gen Zers claim to adopt despite the many challenges their generation faces.

Chill Guy’s art style is also very similar to that of the PBS show Arthur, which was a staple for millions of Gen Z kids in the 90s and early 2000s, many of whom are now grown up and into crypto. The mix of a hint of nostalgia combined with a fun, relatable character turned out to be the perfect foundation for Chill Guy.

Countless videos have emerged on TikTok that make reference to the character and this has contributed to its growing popularity in the crypto space. This is a rare instance as the social media platform owned by ByteDance is not often seen as a crypto-native platform.

However, the phenomenon involving Chill Guy may be changing that view and could prompt other creators to promote their projects through its platform with the goal of achieving a similar level of virality.

CHILLGUY Sees Market Cap Rise to Nearly $400M in a Few Days

The token’s stellar rise resulted in MoonPay – a crypto trading platform – reporting its large single-day transaction volumes on record for Solana tokens, which suggests that new investors are flooding its ecosystem as a result of the proliferation of meme coins like Chill Guy.

The CHILLGUY token experienced an eye-popping 4,000% surge in just a few hours at the peak of the trend. Overall, the viral meme propelled the coin’s market cap from $11.5 million to $488 million in just a couple of days. As a result, multiple traders have reportedly made bank on the stellar rise that CHILLGUY experienced on short notice.

Also read: Miss Out On the Last 1000x Memecoin? Here’s How Traders Find Them Early

One wallet in particular saw a modest $1,101 investment on the digital asset be transformed into more than $1 million.

Data from CoinGecko indicates that the market cap of CHILLGUY stands at $328 million as of this morning while the token has booked gains of 10.1% in the past 24 hours alone. Meanwhile, its 24-hour trading volume is close to $900 million, reflecting the significant interest that investors have in the token.

However, the plot took an unexpected turn when Banks, the meme’s creator, publicly announced his intention to take legal action against the unauthorized commercial use of his character.

In a post on X, Banks stated: “Chill guy has been copyrighted. Like, legally. I’ll be issuing takedowns on for-profit related things over the next few days.”

https://twitter.com/PhillipBankss/status/1859480173965378010

Banks’ legal threats immediately took a toll on the performance of CHILLGUY and caused a 67% drop in the token’s market capitalization.

However, the crypto ecosystem’s decentralized nature presents significant challenges to Banks’ case and his ability to access traditional legal enforcement. Community members quickly pointed out that it would be nearly impossible for him to take legal action against an anonymously launched, blockchain-based token.

CHILLGUY was minted by using the popular Solana-based protocol called pump.fun. This project allows anonymous individuals to seamlessly create meme coins by just uploading a picture and connecting a crypto wallet.

This is far from the first major example of copyright infringement in the meme coin space. It happens hundreds or potentially thousands of times per day. For example, the creators of the popular Solana meme coin “Shark Cat” used an image of a social media user’s adorable cat without permission and likely made millions of dollars on the coin. The cat’s owner might actually be able to win her lawsuit as the team behind Shark Cat accidentally doxxed themselves to her, but that is the opposite of the norm.

The sudden success of CHILLGUY is a reminder of the power that social media platforms and trending topics have to boost the value of certain financial assets, especially when this content connects with younger generations.

Experts like Suki Yang, the founder of the meme coin platform LMAO noted that the fact that the CHILLGUY hype started on TikTok represents a shift for the sector as typically these trends emerge on the micro-blogging platform X – formerly known as Twitter.

Also read: Best TikTok Crypto Accounts and Influencers

Meanwhile, Nicolai Søndergaard from the blockchain analytics firm Nansen highlighted that Gen Z holds a skeptical view of the traditional financial system. They have found in this kind of asset, which have no practical value and produce zero cash flows, a way to take a stand against the status quo.

Moreover, this generation is also known for its relentless quest for short-term riches. This mindset makes meme coins and similar speculative investments particularly attractive to them, especially as success stories have managed to make their way to the headlines.

Meme Coins Have Become a Micro Cosmos Within the Crypto Space

The CHILLGUY token’s stellar short-term performance is not an isolated phenomenon. Meme coins have progressively become a micro cosmos with its own dynamics and influential players and have gained the status of an investment category within the crypto market.

Platforms like Pump.fun have become breeding grounds for these viral tokens as they have allowed creators to skip the coding part of developing digital assets and just focus on building a fan base or creating instant hype around the tokens they mint.

The Solana blockchain has distinguished itself as the preferred platform for meme coin launches. Its low transaction fees and rapid processing times make it an ideal environment for speculative tokens that rely on quick momentum and viral marketing to succeed.

The CHILLGUY token’s success follows a pattern seen with other Solana-based meme coins like PEPE, PNUT, and BOME, all of which have captured investors’ attention through creative branding and ample social media presence.

The Dark Side of Meme Coin Investing

Despite its overnight success, the volatility of the CHILLGUY token highlights the inherent risks of meme coin investments.

These tokens can experience wild price swings in a relatively short period and their value is driven primarily by social media sentiment and marketing rather than fundamentals. Their rapid rise can be followed by equally unexpected (and commonly disastrous) declines that tend to leave late investors dealing with significant losses.

The token’s market cap fluctuated dramatically in just a few hours, dropping from a peak of nearly $500 million to around $250 million following Banks’ legal threats. This kind of volatility is characteristic of the meme coin space, where hype can evaporate gains as quickly as they came in.