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2022 in Review: the Top 10 Crypto Memes of the Year

Key Takeaways

  • Regardless of the bear market, it was one other massive 12 months for memes in crypto.
  • A few of the most enduring memes of the 12 months have been born out of the largest catastrophes within the house.
  • Crypto Twitter served as an entertaining hub for memes to go viral inside the neighborhood.

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It seems that crypto bear markets present fertile floor for memes to flourish.

The Crypto Memes of the 12 months

2022 has been a brutal 12 months. It began on a downward pattern as markets corrected from their astronomical 2021 highs. That was no massive deal; it was to be anticipated that such a surge as we noticed final autumn would cool off ultimately. 

Nevertheless it was solely the start; quickly, dangerous bets made on the top of mass euphoric insanity began to fall in on themselves. One failure led to a different, after which one other, after which one other. If one have been to compile an in memoriam section on the businesses and tasks that folded in 2022, it might run till the peak of the subsequent bull market after which some.

However these of us who’ve been right here some time know that participating with crypto and blockchain ecosystems—whereas enjoyable, thought-provoking, and doubtlessly very rewarding in any variety of methods—is just not for the faint of coronary heart. You’ve bought to have long-term confidence and immense endurance to achieve success, and within the meantime, you’ve bought to have the ability to snort.

The depth of 2022’s bearishness was arguably matched solely by the choiceness of its memes. Regardless of all of the trade’s sorrows—certainly, maybe due to them—Crypto Twitter got here by way of to present us the laughs all of us so desperately wanted. Listed below are 10 of our favorites of 2022.

“Deploying extra capital – regular lads” (Do Kwon) 

“Deploying extra capital – regular lads” 

Have there ever been a much less convincing 5 phrases uttered on Crypto Twitter? When Do Kwon posted this message in a historic tweet on Could 9, the crypto house was solely simply coming into certainly one of its most disastrous weeks ever. Terra, the stablecoin-based blockchain Kwon had spent the previous couple of months hyping to a loyal military of followers often called “the Lunatics,” was within the midst of a financial institution run that may wipe out life financial savings and spoil a number of the largest gamers within the trade. UST had already misplaced its peg to the greenback, and LUNA had suffered a steep drop to $50 as buyers rushed for the exit. By the top of the week, UST was price lower than a dime and LUNA was just about nugatory. 

If you’re going through a financial institution run, the worst factor you are able to do is let everybody know you’re going through a financial institution run (that’s why we noticed different unhealthy actors like Alex Mashinsky, Caroline Ellison, and Sam Bankman-Fried echo Kwon’s message as their respective worlds began to implode later within the 12 months). Kwon stated that he was “deploying extra capital” as a result of he wished to persuade the Lunatics that issues can be OK, however to anybody paying shut consideration, it was apparent the sport was up. Kwon didn’t say a lot throughout Terra’s catastrophe week, however he adopted up a few days later with a last-ditch attempt to maintain the neighborhood onside: “Getting shut … keep robust, lunatics”

Kwon quickly went silent and conceded that UST had failed in a tweet storm that appeared prefer it had been written by a lawyer, however his legendary “regular lads” line instantly gained a spot in crypto folklore. It turned crypto’s go-to meme for when shit was properly and really hitting the fan, broadly circulated throughout the neighborhood as different massive dominoes began to fall in Terra’s wake. 

In a manner, Kwon’s most well-known tweet can also be his most quintessential. It’s loaded with Kwon’s hallmark vanity, as if capital was one thing that flowed like water at Terraform Labs HQ (and to be truthful, Kwon’s convincing frontman act meant that for some time it did). It’s as misleading as his lengthy checklist of bullish tweets that helped LUNA soar. And most significantly of all, it reveals that Kwon couldn’t resist one other quarter-hour of Web fame whilst he knew he was going through the largest disaster of his life. 

Now that Terra is useless and giants like 3AC, Celsius, and FTX have fallen, crypto sentiment is the worst it’s been in years. However regular lads—even when winter continues, it’s going to be exhausting for something to prime Terra’s spectacular loss of life spiral. Chris Williams 

“We’re within the strategy of speaking with related events and totally dedicated to working this out” (Su Zhu) 

2022 was like watching a hearth unfold all through a metropolis—some buildings could not but be ablaze, nevertheless it’s not exhausting to identify which of them shall be subsequent. UST’s collapse lit the match in Could, and by that summer time, a number of company entities that had guess on Terra have been beginning to fold. We knew there was actual bother when Celsius paused withdrawals on June 12.

Within the following days, rumors that Three Arrows Capital might be subsequent to go underneath raged on Crypto Twitter. Till then, 3AC had been certainly one of crypto’s most revered funds, so the options of a blowup appeared inconceivable. 3AC co-founder Su Zhu finally surfaced on Twitter with a soothing, if imprecise, assertion on the matter that’s now the stuff of legend: “We’re within the strategy of speaking with related events and totally dedicated to working this out”

Then he and Davies vanished like a breath within the wind. 

Over the next weeks, 3AC filed for Chapter 15 chapter, defaulted on a collection of loans and obligations over $3.5 billion, locked up the workplace, and stopped answering the telephone. Attorneys for the collectors and liquidators attested in court docket paperwork that neither Zhu nor Davies had responded to any makes an attempt at communication. On a Zoom name with collectors, Zhu and Davies made an look, however “their video was turned off and so they have been on mute always with neither of them talking regardless of questions being posed to them instantly,” per a court docket submitting. 

In an area that likes to play with language and context, Zhu’s tweet right here seemingly goes down as certainly one of his most notorious. I wouldn’t be stunned to see “the method of speaking with related events and [being] totally dedicated to working this out” change into Web slang for “taking the cash and operating away.” Jacob Oliver

“First off: we did certainly purchase all of the tokens.” (Sam Trabucco) 

This unassuming phrase was first posted in a March 22 tweet from then-Alameda Analysis co-CEO Sam Trabucco. The collapsed hedge fund used what was seemingly FTX prospects’ money to purchase out the whole public providing of Stargate Finance’s STG token. 

Within the lead-up to the token providing, Stargate Finance had acquired consideration as a consequence of its revolutionary resolution to bridging tokens between Layer 1 networks. The market had hopes that Stargate can be massive sooner or later, so buyers have been lining up across the block to get in on the sale.

However when on-chain knowledge revealed a single whale had swept the whole token provide, DeFi fanatics have been understandably rattled. Earlier than Trabucco posted his meme-worthy tweet, many predicted Alameda was concerned because of the fund’s observe report of shopping for up tokens from promising tasks, capitalizing on the hype, after which dumping them into oblivion whereas hedging by way of perpetual futures contracts on FTX. 

Trabucco’s jovial admission to monopolizing one of many few good DeFi tasks to launch this 12 months felt like a kick within the face to the crypto neighborhood. As has change into customary, these on Crypto Twitter molded their misfortune into one thing to sardonically mock Alameda and different unhealthy apples. You’ll see Trabucco’s put up echoing by way of Twitter threads as a cynical technique to criticize nefarious actors who attempt to play off their exploitation of the crypto house as virtuous. Tim Craig 

“Yeah however your measurement is just not measurement” (Do Kwon) 

Terra’s native token, LUNA, confirmed shocking energy on the onset of the bear market, thanks partly because of the recognition of Terra’s stablecoin, UST, and the 20% yield supplied on Anchor Protocol. Nonetheless, many astute crypto observers identified that the LUNA rally was unsustainable as a consequence of UST’s algorithmic design. Certainly one of these critics was Algod, a dealer identified for managing a multi-million greenback portfolio, who acknowledged on March 9 that he’d brief LUNA “with measurement” if the token ever broke its all-time excessive once more. His tweet prompted a legendary comeback from Terra’s controversial frontman Do Kwon, who commented: “Yeah however your measurement is just not measurement” earlier than instantly adding “$10 brief incoming, everybody take cowl.”

Though Algod was finally proved proper (he even gained one million greenback guess towards Kwon about LUNA’s value efficiency), Kwon’s brutal response is now etched perpetually in Crypto Twitter lore and is usually quoted and alluded to. Of all of Kwon’s bombastic tweets, that is the one which greatest captures his smug persona within the lead-up to the Terra ecosystem’s collapse. Although, to be completely trustworthy, he hasn’t changed all that a lot since. Tom Carreras

“I’ll purchase the whole lot you could have, proper now, at $3.” (CoinMamba)

On January 9, 2021, pseudonymous crypto dealer CoinMamba after which FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried went viral on Crypto Twitter after arguing in regards to the truthful value of Solana’s SOL token, which was buying and selling for roughly $3.20 on the time. CoinMamba insisted SOL was overvalued, Bankman-Fried disagreed, and so they tried to arrange a guess about its market path—however CoinMamba was nitpicky in regards to the parameters of the guess, so ultimately, Bankman-Fried misplaced endurance and ended the dialog with an outrageous tweet: “I’ll purchase as a lot SOL has you could have, proper now, at $3. Promote me all you need. Then go fuck off.” 

To make issues worse for CoinMamba, SOL proceeded to rally and ended up reaching an all-time excessive of $259 in November 2021. Each time the coin reached a brand new excessive, swarms of crypto natives would tag CoinMamba and mock him for fumbling on such an enormous alternative. 

2022 turned out very otherwise for each Solana and its predominant cheerleader, Sam Bankman-Fried. SOL at the moment trades at about $13.48, down nearly 95% from its peak, whereas Bankman-Fried has change into crypto’s prime villain after the collapse of his FTX alternate. 

After FTX imploded, Bloomberg downgraded its estimation of Bankman-Fried’s wealth from $16 billion to a mere $3. CoinMamba seized the chance and, 22 months after their preliminary dialog, shot back at his nemesis: “I’ll purchase the whole lot you could have, proper now, at $3. Promote me all you need. Then go fuck off.” Vengeance is certainly a dish greatest served chilly. Tom Carreras 

The Salute Emoji 

Supply: Crypto Twitter

Whether or not you’ve misplaced cash, can’t entry your funds, or gotten hit by one of many numerous CeFi rug pulls this 12 months, giving your fellow bear market dwellers a nod with the salute emoji has change into a staple of Crypto Twitter tradition. 

The salute emoji acknowledges to others that we’re all on this collectively and to hold in there even when the circumstances seem dire. It does the rounds in responses to the whole lot from DeFi exploits and pockets hacks to billion-dollar bankruptcies and, most just lately, rampant monetary fraud. 

The origin of the salute emoji pattern is unclear, however what it signifies is definitely understood, aiding its rise as one of many house’s most viral memes. 2022 has been a darkish 12 months for the crypto house, however the comradery expressed by way of memes just like the salute emoji has helped hold folks sane and generally even discover humor within the chaos. Past merely posting the emoji, different iterations of the meme embody a photoshopped image of disgraced Terra co-founder Do Kwon saluting. The meme is equal components a jab at Kwon as it’s a present of respect to those that misplaced cash from his irresponsible stablecoin scheme. 

Like bull market memes resembling WAGMI (“we’re all going to make it”), which have died a fast loss of life underneath the present bearish situations, the salute emoji will seemingly see much less use if and when the crypto market begins to get better. However for individuals who reside to see the opposite aspect of the downtrend, it’s going to in all probability at all times maintain a particular place of their minds. Tim Craig 

Ledger’s “Like I’m Playin’ Fortnite” Dance Problem 

Certainly one of our most generally praised entries is Ledger’s iconic dance problem video. In March, the UpOnlyTV co-host was pressured by his fellow podcaster Cobie to breed a viral TikTok video of an adolescent confidently breaking it down for the “Like I’m Playin Fortnite Dance Problem” in a faculty hallway. As soon as Cobie’s tweet topped the required 10,000 likes, Ledger agreed to the problem. He wore an FTX t-shirt for the event and called upon Sam Bankman-Fried to donate $200,000 to crypto advocacy group Coin Heart. Whereas Bankman-Fried hardly ever hesitated to spend different folks’s cash this 12 months, he by no means replied. Ledger accomplished the problem anyway and posted the video on UpOnly’s official Twitter account “for the tradition.”

As anticipated, the video was completely hilarious, however the crypto neighborhood reacted in shock and delight upon seeing how stable Ledger’s efficiency turned out to be. Quite a few memes instantly sprouted from it, with a very impressed neighborhood member even photoshopping Ledger’s moves onto one other legendary meme, Bilal Göregen performing Ievan Polkka, after which releasing the template on a inexperienced display screen for anybody to make use of. Ledger’s dance nonetheless pops up on the timeline each now and again, often as a part of a brand new joke—in that sense, it’s not a stretch to say it has change into certainly one of crypto’s best memes. Tom Carreras 

Bitboy Crypto’s Ryan Sean Adams Glasses Rant 

Ben Armstrong, an influencer and marketer higher often called Bitboy Crypto, is the world’s largest crypto YouTuber. He’s constructed a loyal following of wet-behind-the-ears retail buyers over the previous few years, however to crypto’s most lively individuals, he’s broadly seen as a joke determine. That’s as a result of he constructed his model (and financial institution stability) by endorsing illiquid low-cap tokens to his unbeknowning followers, taking hefty funds after which dumping the tokens he acquired on his personal followers. 

So it’s commonplace to see revered trade figures like Bankless co-host Ryan Sean Adams dunking on him on Crypto Twitter. On this occasion, Adams put out a tweet to emphasize to lawmakers that Armstrong “doesn’t signify us” throughout a heated alternate between Armstrong and Sam Bankman-Fried. By no means one to overlook out on a chance for engagement, Armstrong picked up on the dig on his present just a few hours later. He exploded right into a deranged rant of epic proportions, taking photographs at Bankman-Fried, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, “the fits,” and even Adams’ glasses. Screaming into the microphone, he stated: 

“I don’t signify the folks—THE FUCK I DON’T. I’M THE ONE WHO DOES. IT’S ME. I’M THE ONE OUT HERE PUTTING THE WORK IN BEHIND THE SCENES TRYING TO SAVE CRYPTO WHILE THESE DEVILS—SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, BRIAN ARMSTRONG—THEY’RE TRYING TO PERMANENTLY RUIN IT. THIS IS NOT ABOUT MONEY FOR ME. I HOPE YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND THIS.”  

Armstrong went on to counsel that Adams, “along with his frickin’ glasses on,” was deceiving the crypto neighborhood by attempting to divert consideration away from him to “the fits” with cash. “The fits have taken over crypto. And I gained’t stand for it,” he stated in a later tweet. 

Adams served spice again at Armstrong in his response, jesting that the Alex Jones of crypto had attacked his glasses while on a “coke fueled tirade” (Armstrong has been often called the crypto equal of the alt-right commentator for some time now). 

To be truthful to Armstrong, he later apologized to Adams on a Bankless podcast, and he additionally bought the final snort over Bankman-Fried after FTX collapsed. However the Web by no means forgets, so his insane rambling about Adams’ eyewear will seemingly be remembered perpetually as among the finest memes of crypto winter 2022. Chris Williams 

“Ethereum On Steroids” (Vitalik Buterin) 

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has change into extra outspoken on Crypto Twitter in recent times, however he nonetheless catches the crypto neighborhood abruptly along with his witty quips. That’s what occurred on June 27, when he replied to an innocuous query in regards to the EOS blockchain from the Ethereum Basis’s Josh Stark. 

Buterin’s satirical throwback to an early EOS bull put up was an on the spot hit. Whereas most onlookers understood the humor and loved the joke, there have been some who clearly didn’t get it. “V, you OK?,” replied Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, setting off a battle between EOS shills and Cardano followers within the replies. 

EOS was one of many first in a protracted line of so-called “Ethereum Killers” to problem the second-biggest blockchain for the highest spot. However after a record-breaking $4 billion preliminary coin providing in 2017, EOS didn’t ship on a lot of its preliminary guarantees. As a result of a number of setbacks and a schism between the non-profit EOS Basis and ICO issuer Block.one, the community has underperformed and underdelivered in comparison with its opponents—particularly Ethereum. Tim Craig

Randi Zuckerberg’s WAGMI Music 

Mark Zuckerberg has only a few followers in crypto, however the Meta proprietor’s sister Randi Zuckerberg turned much more hated than him within the house when she dropped “WAGMI.” Meant to function “a rallying cry for the ladies of Web3,” the track packs as many crypto colloquialisms and expressions into two minutes as a part of Zuckerberg’s try to attach with the house. However she misses the mark, and it’s one of many largest crypto travesties we’ve ever seen. 

In a single fell swoop, Zuckerberg managed to spoil a powerful variety of iconic memes (together with GM, LFG, and HODL), generally destroying them perpetually (WAGMI appears to have disappeared from Crypto Twitter lingo ever since). In response, the crypto sphere united to denounce the video because the epitome of cringe. “Im in a bunker, and this simply made my day worse,” wrote one Ukrainian neighborhood member.  

Zuckerberg’s flop confirmed that regardless of its quite a few defects, the crypto house remains to be younger and dynamic sufficient to withstand blatant appropriation makes an attempt by non-natives, regardless of how well-known or properly linked they could be. It additionally could have given us a clue as to why her youthful brother is spending billions of {dollars} to construct his personal Metaverse to flee to—you’d do the identical in case your sister was screeching at you to “carpe your crypto diem.” Tom Carreras 

Disclosure: On the time of writing, some authors of this piece owned ETH, SOL, and a number of other different crypto belongings. 

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