In the wake of the previous surge of Catcoin replacing Dogecoin in the market, the Meme coin market recently witnessed a "Cat King Battle." Initially, POPCAT and Shark Cat (token SC) faced FUD from Catcoin users due to IP copyright issues with their logos. However, with legal assistance, the Shark Cat team obtained the copyright from the cat owner, leading to a rebound in the Shark Cat (SC) token price. Currently, POPCAT has yet to resolve the related issue, prompting some users to shift part of their holdings to SC.

Simultaneously, the recent anti-VC trend has also impacted the meme coin sector, particularly in the cat-themed token subfield. Users are showing support for community-based meme coins in their own ways. Some users believe that POPCAT, MICHI, and Shark Cat represent community meme coins, while projects like MEW and MANEKI are suspected to have VC support, indicating internal conflicts within the cat-themed Memecoin sector.

Looking at the current market value rankings, POPCAT holds the top spot in market value with over 45,000 holders, demonstrating a strong community presence. Since its deployment on April 8th, MICHI has experienced rapid market value growth, catching the eye of many.

POPCAT, SC Face FUD Due to Copyright Issues

POPCAT is currently the highest-valued cat coin, with a market value exceeding $440 million as of May 9th, according to CoinGecko data. From late March to mid-April, its market value dropped from $356 million to $120 million, but then rose by around $480 million from mid-April onwards.

Shark Cat is also one of the standout and mature cat-themed meme coins. A significant growth occurred on the evening of May 1st, with SC rising from $0.045 to $0.1245 by the evening of May 2nd, marking a 176.7% increase.

Shark Cat's growth is mainly attributed to the team securing the rights to use their logo. Many FUD and dramatic events emerged around this issue, with Shark Cat's owner (real name Nala) demanding payment for the IP rights and control over the use of her cat image.

Shortly after, the team resolved the FUD issue by obtaining Nala's intellectual property rights. This also indicates that Shark Cat may show greater growth potential and move further ahead.

Meanwhile, POPCAT also faced FUD due to lack of IP rights. The original owner of this meme cat even expressed opposition to cryptocurrencies.

Popcat's owner Xavier stated on platform X: "My cat is my cat, and I am absolutely against cryptocurrency."

However, some users continue to show unwavering support for POPCAT: "It's obvious that these people are from other cat communities, hoping for a rotation."

POPCAT's popularity has not waned despite the FUD. From April 21st to April 27th, Google Trends showed a record high interest index for Popcat, surpassing historical peaks.

However, some users chose to transfer assets from POPCAT to SC amid the copyright controversy. One user stated: "$POPCAT was fudded, similar IP issues as $SC, reportedly fud by MewsWorld (MEW), unfortunately, the money eventually flowed to $SC. $SC is currently the only meme that has resolved the issue of real cat IP, so I moved some of my $POPCAT positions to $SC."

Anti-VC Trend Hits Cat Coins, Long Suffering of VC?

In the meme coin market, a discussion thread on the value of Meme coins by A16Z's CTO Eddy Lazzarin on Twitter sparked controversy. Eddy stated: "Memecoin is changing the public's, regulators', and entrepreneurs' perception of cryptocurrencies. At best, it looks like a risky casino or a series of false promises masking a casino. This deeply affects the adoption of crypto tech, regulations, and the behavior of builders. I see this destruction every day."

Many community users immediately expressed opposition, stating, "Meme is our chance to overturn big institutions. I like Meme, although most Memes will make me spend money, I only need to catch one to significantly improve my life. But investing in projects backed by large institutions, I have to wait several days to get meager returns."

This discussion has also impacted the cat coin sector. In the dispute between VC cats and community memes, it appears that pure community memes have achieved a temporary victory.

User @free_electron0 stated: "Now every time you tweet $POPCAT, you will receive a large group of bots replying with the same FUD messages and telling you to buy maneki or mew. Imagine being so afraid of a token that you have to resort to such lazy tactics. VCs are in trouble, Degens win again."

From discussions on Twitter, users believe that POPCAT, MICHI, Shark Cat, and similar coins are considered community meme coins, while many users oppose MEW and MANEKI, believing they represent VC involvement with large token holdings. Although the extent of VC involvement in meme coins is not easily confirmed, the battle for dominance in the cat coin sector continues to heat up, constantly affecting their rankings and rotations.

As of May 7th, over the past two weeks, the top 3 tokens with the largest market value increases based on trading pairs with SOL are Michi (+547%), SC (+216%), POPCAT (+81%). Among the top five tokens with the highest wallet percentage increase in the past two weeks, Michi (+97%) ranks first, POPCAT (+21%) second, and SC fourth (+7%).

Notably, MICHI has performed well, with its market value rising from $3 million since deployment on April 8th to $110 million on May 8th. At the time of writing, Popcat still boasts an impressive 45,000 token holders, a number that continues to grow.

As of 9 am on May 9th, the overall prices of cat-themed meme coins have experienced a slight pullback. According to CoinGecko data, the top 10 cat coins by market value are POPCAT ($442 million), MEW ($318 million), MOG ($177 million), WEN ($125 million), TOSHI ($120 million), MANEKI ($54.16 million), MEOW ($35.51 million), CAT ($34.60 million), $CWIF ($28.13 million), and PAJAMAS CAT ($21.09 million).

As of 9 am on May 9th, on the Dexscreener homepage, many of the popular tokens in the last 6 hours are also cat-themed or cat-related tokens, such as CATGPT, CRODIE, PUSS, CATZILLA, etc.

From IP disputes to anti-VC sentiments, the narrative in the cat coin community has clearly entered the next stage. In the midst of the "Cat King Battle," users will choose which targets to support and what exciting stories will continue to unfold. We eagerly await.

Related reading: "Cat Meme Battle," who will be the first cat coin to emerge?