Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Wenser (@wenser 2010 )
Another 20x opportunity at the beginning of 2026, and I missed it again!
Just yesterday, Binance Alpha listed the Chinese Meme 'I'm Coming on the Horse.' This concept originally came from a New Year tweet by Binance Co-CEO and Co-Founder He Yi. The meme coin quickly surged, growing from a market cap of around $4 million to over $16 million in just half a day, once again showcasing the wealth creation effect of 'Binance-related Memes.'
What pains me even more is that on January 1st, I saw a group member share the contract address (CA) when the meme coin's market cap was less than $800,000, but I didn't act on it! I can only say the market gave me a chance...
At the same time, opinions on this matter have become sharply divided: negative views argue that the meme coin's listing on Alpha is a product of Binance's listing team's 'Shandong School Guiding Ideology,' representing a sycophantic move that is disgraceful'; positive views, however, believe that although the meme coin is slightly vulgar, it carries meme attributes given the upcoming Year of the Horse, making it acceptable. Is it another glorious creation of Chinese memes or a disgraceful BSC meme meant to flatter He Yi? Odaily Planet Daily will analyze this in the article.
'I'm Coming on the Horse' Becomes a Market Focus: Celebrity Remarks Are an Endless Source of Meme Coins
Similar to other celebrity meme coins, 'I'm Coming on the Horse' also had a coincidental yet intriguing beginning.
On January 1st, at the start of the new year, Binance Co-CEO and Co-Founder He Yi posted a message celebrating the new year, with the caption: '2026, a new beginning; 2026, I'm coming on the horse.' The accompanying photo showed her riding a white horse by the sea, exuding a sense of renewal, and the comments were filled with praise and shared celebrations.
The meme coin of the same name was already launched on December 30th of last year, and some comments even directly 'hinted' at the contract address (CA).
Thus, a phrase that sounds slightly vulgar but also carries a hint of good wishes for the Year of the Horse began its spread and rise in the form of a meme and a meme coin.
What truly made 'I'm Coming on the Horse' a hot topic within the circle and a popular speculative target was the 'universe's largest exchange' Binance officially announcing the listing of this meme coin on Alpha yesterday. This led to the classic meme image—'Crypto Circle Shandong School.'
In this image, He Yi俨然 becomes the 'guest of honor at the Shandong dining table,' while the listing team and KOLs become the hosts and secondary hosts, all following He Yi's lead and sharing a piece of the pie in the 'feast' of market liquidity and meme coin wealth creation.
Some made huge profits, some feasted greedily, while others missed the opportunity and failed to get rich. As a result, the market has developed both positive and negative views on the listing of 'I'm Coming on the Horse' on Binance Alpha. Here, we’ll highlight a representative tweet to illustrate.
The Debate Over 'I'm Coming on the Horse': A Disgrace to Chinese or a New Meme Trend?
Regarding this matter, crypto KOL Diving Observer commented from the perspective of Chinese language purity, saying, 'Ridiculous. In the future, won't BNB Chain even qualify as a state-owned enterprise chain? At least state-owned enterprises have cultural aesthetics. What kind of things are being listed here? Pure illiteracy? The depth and beauty of the Chinese language are lost. Does the Alpha listing team even understand Chinese?'
Subsequently, someone countered in the comments: 'Haven’t you bought enough of the various shit, balls, X, condoms, cats, and dogs on SOL? When it comes to Chinese people having their own memes, you suddenly become picky? (Several uncivil remarks omitted below).' This response garnered many likes from 'nationalist fans' who found it reasonable.
Later, Diving Observer clarified that the above remarks were not targeted at traders but at those who believe that shitty memes can reflect national confidence.
Crypto KOL @0xyukaz also posted, 'The listing strategy of Binance's listing team will only lead to the decline of BSC, severely打击 the true memecoin culture of Chinese.' The criticism was directed at the Binance listing team for overly relying on CZ and He Yi's meme creation to artificially boost meme coin launches and rises. This view also received a comment from OKX CEO Star, who stated that 'compared to 'I'm Coming on the Horse,' 'I'm Coming on the Snow' is more civilized and better.'
After this not-so-intense debate over whether 'I'm Coming on the Horse' is good or bad, the market saw a surge of Chinese memes with a distinct 'Binance leadership主义 color,' such as 'Mom,' 'Dad,' 'Son,' 'Grandson,' etc. We won’t judge the merits and demerits here but will delve into more fundamental topics below.
From Meme Coins to Ecological Niche: Binance's Dilemma and the Inevitable Path
To discuss the present, we must first talk about the past.
In September 2024, we explored the changing trends in the meme coin赛道 in 'Neiro and NEIRO Listed on Binance: A Turning Point for the Meme Coin赛道?' At that time, Binance simultaneously listed the uppercase and lowercase NEIRO/Neiro meme coins, sparking market discussions. From then on, or even earlier, starting with the meme coin frenzy triggered by BOME's 'listed on Binance in 3 days' in March 2024, the trend became unstoppable.
Faced with such a market environment, regardless of意愿, Binance seemingly had many choices, but in reality, there was only one path—join the meme coin热潮, promote platform trading activity, attract new users, and encourage高频 trading. This is determined by Binance's industry ecological niche as the largest CEX.
Just as internet platforms need three key elements (Odaily Planet Daily Note: new users, usage duration tied to advertising resources, and conversion rates tied to user consumption), CEXs also need a continuous influx of new users (i.e., liquidity), more platform fees through高频 trading (i.e., platform business model), and project supply based on the first two (i.e., newly listed tokens). Meme coins, which are numerous,更新超快, and highly liquid, naturally take center stage.
Thus, the question becomes: For Binance, is it better to list meme coins from its internal ecosystem or provide a 'stage for pouring' and liquidity for harvesting to meme coins from external ecosystems or even competitors? The answer is self-evident.
Perhaps, since then, Binance has been subtly laying out its 'meme coin blueprint'—from Binance Wallet to Binance Alpha; from cooperation with the Four.meme platform to last year's Meme Rush list. Since then, through a series of functional updates and ecological布局, Binance has gradually built a complete chain of 'coin issuance-listing-Alpha-contracts-spot trading' for itself, injecting new blood into its platform profitability and CEX development.
Therefore, starting with the listing of the two NEIRO/Neiro meme coins under the guise of supporting the community, frequent remarks by CZ and He Yi regarding meme coins, Binance's development, and BNB price were inevitably destined to happen.
As the saying goes, 'If you don’t occupy the舆论阵地, the enemy will,' and in the liquidity-driven crypto market, 'if you don’t compete for meme coin liquidity, it will naturally flow into the pockets of competitors.'
Of course, the flip side is that every word and action of CZ and He Yi will be放大 by the market and distorted attention, and amidst the noise and widespread flattery, it is难以避免 for them to或多或少 'enjoy being at the center of the stage and wielding the power of life and death.'
In this regard, what sets Binance apart from生态位更偏向于 infrastructure建设的 L1 and L2公链 like Solana, Base, and Sui is that Binance is not just a CEX but also, together with BNB Chain (BSC ecosystem), BNB token, and the community, forms a商业综合体 that highly relies on CZ and He Yi's external communications to achieve '只能增长、不能停滞' growth. The inherently profit-driven nature of CEXs further放大 the market influence and meme effect of CZ and He Yi.
After all, compared to Solana's ecosystem—a 'open hotbed' teeming with developers, filled with various memes, and naturally encouraging meme coin development—Binance and the BSC ecosystem are a relatively畸形, highly concentrated 'platform-based ecosystem' in terms of attention and liquidity. Therefore, BSC's evolution to today's '唯二圣论' stage is both accidental and inevitable.
Conclusion: Heavy Is the Head That Wears the Crown; Every Gain Comes with a Cost
For Binance and BNB Chain (BSC ecosystem), having chosen this 'individualistic' development path, they must naturally bear the accompanying criticism and centralization. The pressure ultimately falls on Binance's listing team and the Binance exchange itself, as this is where liquidity ends. If they want more trading fees and more casino players, they cannot avoid the association.
How to find a balance between market reputation and commercial interests, ensuring that the frequent remarks and actions of CZ and He Yi do not negatively impact Binance Exchange itself, the restart of Binance US operations, or the normal development of BSC ecosystem meme coins and projects in other sectors, will depend on the communication, negotiation, and compromise between the organization and its core figures.
Otherwise, if those who flatter always reap more rewards than those who work diligently, morale will inevitably涣散.
And when morale涣散, the team becomes hard to lead.
