CHILLGUY Sees Market Cap Rise to Nearly $400M in a Few Days, But Copyright Concerns Emerge

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.

A new meme coin has quickly ascended the ranks to become a top performer in a growing segment of the crypto space. This coin, known as CHILLGUY, has captured the attention of investors and traders, leading to a meteoric rise in its market capitalization.

The origins of CHILLGUY can be traced to a meme created by artist Phillip Banks, featuring a laid-back humanoid character with a dog face. The character, depicted with its hands in its pockets and a carefree demeanor, has resonated with Gen Zers, who claim to embody a similar attitude despite the challenges faced by their generation.

The art style of CHILLGUY also bears a striking resemblance to that of the beloved 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. This combination of a hint of nostalgia with a fun, relatable character seems to have laid the perfect foundation for CHILLGUY.

Countless videos on TikTok have made references to the character, contributing to its growing popularity in the crypto space. This is a notable occurrence as ByteDance's social media platform is not typically regarded as a crypto-native platform.

However, the phenomenon involving CHILLGUY may be altering that perception and could lead other creators to promote their projects through TikTok with the aim of achieving a similar level of virality.

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

The stellar rise of the token prompted MoonPay, a crypto trading platform, to report its highest-ever single-day transaction volumes for Solana tokens, indicating a surge of new investors entering the Solana ecosystem through the proliferation of meme coins like CHILLGUY.

The CHILLGUY token experienced an astonishing 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. This rapid ascent reportedly enabled multiple traders to cash in on the stellar rise that CHILLGUY experienced on short notice.

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

According to CoinGecko, the market capitalization of CHILLGUY stood at $328 million as of this morning, with the token booking gains of 10.1% in the past 24 hours alone. Meanwhile, its 24-hour trading volume approached $900 million, reflecting the keen interest that investors have in the token.

Banks Issues Legal Threats After Copyrighting Chill Guy’s Image

In an unexpected turn of events, Banks, the meme's creator, 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.”

Banks' legal threats swiftly impacted the performance of CHILLGUY, leading to a 67% drop in the token's market capitalization.

However, the decentralized nature of the crypto ecosystem 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 using the popular Solana-based protocol called pump.fun, which allows anonymous individuals to effortlessly create meme coins by simply 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 TikTok Effect: Crypto Adoption and Gen Z Investment Trends

The sudden success of CHILLGUY serves as a reminder of the power that social media platforms and trending topics hold in boosting 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