Binance Chain Sees “Middle Eastern Meme Wave”

Last weekend (March 15-16), led by Mubarak, the MEME coins boosted the revival of sentiment on the BNB Chain, as the previously inactive “P young stars” switched to the Middle Eastern time zone to join in the revelry.

In this wave of MEME speculation, Binance founders CZ and He Yi became the driving forces, personally engaging in meme creation and sharing various MEME promotional materials, pushing this trend to new heights.

Investment Heat from MGX Ignites Middle Eastern MEME Narrative

Recently, Binance announced it secured an investment of up to $2 billion from the UAE Sovereign Fund MGX. This significant news not only attracted widespread attention within and outside the industry but also became the strongest speculation narrative on the BNB Chain.

On March 13, the day Binance officially announced the MGX investment, the official account tweeted a post featuring an image of a “wealthy editor” wearing a Middle Eastern headdress, which sparked interactions from CZ and He Yi.

When CZ retweeted this post, he captioned it with “Mubarak,” a term derived from Arabic meaning “blessing” or “bestow grace.” This culturally rich term was quickly picked up by the market, leading to an influx of MEME coins named Mubarak appearing in the community. Among these MEME tokens, CZ subsequently retweeted a post from a member of the “0x5c…46f6” community, an act that was seen as a “royal endorsement,” rapidly forming a consensus in the market, and the attention on Mubarak soared.

Not slowing down, CZ dropped another bombshell on Binance Square—he posted, “Meeting a friend this weekend,” along with a humorous MEME image themed around Mubarak, which began to spread rapidly in the community.

On March 15, Binance Alpha quickly launched Mubarak, and the next day, CZ spent 1 BNB each to buy 9,161 TST and 20,155 mubarak, later posting on Binance Square seemingly in response, stating, “Doing some tests this weekend.”

This series of actions pushed the speculation around Mubarak to a climax. On March 16, CZ tweeted about “considering a new avatar, soliciting interesting suggestions from the community,” mentioning that his current avatar has been used for 11 years. Coupled with his recent frequent mentions of Mubarak, this statement undoubtedly added more imaginative space for the MEME coin, with some speculating that the new avatar might relate to the wealthy persona of Mubarak. Furthermore, with community support, Mubarak also secured a $4.4 million permanent liquidity pool support from Binance.

In contrast to the on-chain PVP chaos that erupted when CZ announced his pet dog’s name “Broccoli,” this wave of Mubarak operations has been smooth and seamless. “With a cloth on my head, I am the richest in the Middle East,” from the cultural label of Mashallah to the humorous jabs at the Middle Eastern version of CZ, and the launch on Binance Alpha, alongside CZ’s personal purchases, each interaction has propelled Mubarak toward viral spread. It can be said that Mubarak’s rise to fame is a combination of celebrity effect, cultural narrative, and MEME attributes, precisely capturing the hot window for Binance’s expansion into the Middle East.

According to GMGN data, Mubarak’s market cap peaked at nearly $150 million. However, Ai Yi analyzed that Mubarak currently faces issues with insufficient liquidity depth, which may hinder large holders from selling their holdings without significantly impacting the price.

Currently, Mubarak’s market cap is about $134 million, with a 24-hour trading volume reaching $88.1 million, but the liquidity pool depth is only $4.48 million, accounting for only 5% of the daily trading volume. For example, in the top address, the 13 million tokens held are worth about $1.618 million, and attempting to sell at market price would face over $500,000 in slippage losses, as the current liquidity pool’s BNB depth cannot support such a scale of trading.

Besides Mubarak, several other MEME coins related to Middle Eastern narratives are also being actively traded in the market. For instance, a few days ago, CZ retweeted an old post saying “Inshallah,” along with a photo with MGX Board member Tahnoon, captioning it “Mashallah,” which temporarily boosted the popularity of a MEME coin by the same name, but it significantly retraced after the tweet was unpinned.

Interactive Marketing Ignites Community Emotion, Limited Space for MEME Speculation

The explosive rise of Mubarak has ignited sentiment on the BNB Chain, and Binance’s movements have also become material for market speculation, with its interactive marketing creating waves of community excitement.

For example, on March 13, He Yi commented on a tweet about Binance’s organizational structure, asking, “Who is that person in the upper right corner? I’ve never seen them before?” This remark instantly sparked community enthusiasm.

Many members quickly joined in on the joke, placing their avatars into the organizational chart, creating a wave of parody. Binance’s official X account also joined in, replacing the person in the chart with “BNB Holder” and humorously changing it to “Palu”—this name comes from the popular game “Monster Palu,” which the Chinese community often jokingly refers to as “cow and horse workers.” This self-deprecating brand marketing and community interaction spread like wildfire in the crypto circle, not only giving rise to the “Web3 Palu” meme label but also evolving into a MEME coin named Palu, further driving market heat.

Moreover, in recent days, the “answer me” and “look in my eyes” video memes trending on Douyin have also been creatively adapted by the crypto community, featuring CZ and He Yi as the main characters in numerous remix videos. These humorous videos have not only gone viral within the community but also received retweets and likes from CZ and He Yi themselves, with the Binance official account joining the interaction, further amplifying the influence. The resulting MEME coin $Answer has consequently become another market hotspot.

However, overall, the current speculative space for most MEME coins on the BNB Chain shows certain limitations. According to GMGN data, in the past 24 hours, the highest trading volume MEME coin on the BNB Chain was Mubarak, approaching $100 million, while only three projects reached trading volumes in the tens of millions; most others lingered below one million or even tens of thousands of dollars, demonstrating the concentration of market heat and insufficient long-tail effects.

To attract more users, the Binance Wallet has also launched a six-month zero transaction fee trading event. On March 17, Binance announced that starting from March 17, 2025, at 16:00, a zero transaction fee trading event would be launched, applicable to all trading pairs within Binance Wallet. The event will last until September 17, 2025, at 16:00.

During the event, all transactions completed through the exchange and cross-chain bridge features within Binance Wallet or via the rapid purchase feature of Binance Alpha will be exempt from transaction fees, although users will still need to pay network gas fees. Additionally, transactions conducted through third-party dApps are not included in the event.

In summary, in the ecological construction of BNB Chain, the “mutual pursuit” between Binance and the community has become a highlight of its marketing strategy, not only closing the distance to users but also injecting more vitality and topicality into the ecosystem through the light-hearted and humorous approach of MEME.

This article is a collaborative reprint from: PANews