POPCAT
 | |
| ticker | POPCAT |
|---|---|
| blockchain | Solana |
| launched | December 2023 |
| peak market cap | about 2 billion dollars (November 2024) |
POPCAT is a Solana meme coin based on the 2020 Popcat internet meme, and it became the first cat coin to reach a one billion dollar market capitalization.
POPCAT is a meme coin on the Solana blockchain based on the Popcat meme, an image pair of a cat named Oatmeal with its mouth closed and then popped open into a wide "O" shape. Launched in December 2023, it led the cat coin counterwave to Solana's dog dominated meme scene.
Origin
The Popcat meme originated in October 2020, when images of Oatmeal, a domestic short haired cat, were edited into a mouth popping animation that spread through gaming and meme communities, later powering the popcat.click clicking game. The token launched anonymously on Solana in December 2023 with a supply of roughly 980 million, riding the same wave of image based coins that produced dogwifhat. It carried no utility and marketed itself purely on the meme's recognizability.
Market history
POPCAT climbed steadily through 2024, outlasting most of its December 2023 cohort. It became the first cat themed meme coin to cross a one billion dollar market capitalization, and printed an all time high of about 2.08 dollars on November 17, 2024, during the post election meme rally, valuing the token at roughly 2 billion dollars. It was subsequently listed on major exchanges and perpetual futures venues. Like the rest of the 2024 class it bled through 2025; by mid 2026 it traded near 0.05 dollars with a market capitalization around 50 million dollars, down about 97 percent from the peak.
Cultural impact
POPCAT's run legitimized the "cat season" narrative in the trenches, opening the door for cat in a dogs world, michi, and dozens of smaller cat coins. Its slow, grinding chart through mid 2024, in contrast to the instant verticals of pump.fun launches, made it a favorite example of a "community coin" that survived multiple drawdowns before its blowoff top. The phrase "pop pop" and the clicking cat remain standard furniture in Solana meme iconography.