The Meme Coin Kingmakers This Cycle: Keanu, Pepe, and ACT

The markets have spoken, and the kingmaker trade this cycle is the meme trade. Meme coins have outperformed every crypto sector by a country mile in YTD

Meme coins have outperformed every other crypto sector by a significant margin in YTD performance. Everyone knows that in the later stages of a cycle, the initial trend tends to accelerate. Therefore, meme coin investors will likely see substantial gains this cycle.

The returns are like the crypto gods rolled the layer one and NFT trade into a single vehicle. Traders are turning hundreds into millions, and nowhere else are these returns possible.

But what is the best meme coin to buy before the absolute madness of 2025 kicks off? Investors want to target three major zones: celebrity tokens, blue-chip memes, and the new AI meme coin sector. Keanu, Pepe, and ACT are the perfect trifecta; these are undoubtedly the top memes to buy and hold before 2025. Here’s why.

Introducing the Keanu cult

Keanu has come out of nowhere, listing on Pump.fun and putting the crypto market in a chokehold with its branding: ‘Keanu Makes Bank, Keanu Gives Back.’ In the daggers-drawn, greed-infested world of the trenches, a token with a wholesome, charitable angle has quickly risen to the top—underscored by a near-40,000% opening-day charge to well over $1 million.

Helping is Keanu Reeve’s massive popularity, and everyone knows the underlying meme audience drives success—hence why cat and dog coins have always been popular. Keanu’s massive popularity gave this token the initial bump it needed, and since bonding in mere minutes and launching on Raydium, it has been lights out for bears.

KNU keeps on ripping, and a cult has formed around this token. Murad was right when he said to bet on cults, and there are few tokens with a holder base as dedicated and deranged as the KNU holders. With ridiculous motion ongoing in the charts and growing memetic strength, rumors are already flying that this could be the first celebrity meta coin to crack a billion-dollar valuation.

Pepe surges post Coinbase listing

Pepe snagged the Coinbase listing and shortly set a new ATH afterward. All meme coins dream of a tier-1 exchange listing, and now that bullish fever has taken over markets, instead of selling the listing, investors are doubling down at listing. Pepe’s order books have just been opened to a mass of retail capital, and the frog shows every sign that it wants to keep hopping.

Launched in the depths of the bear market, Coinbase listing PEPE signals that tier 1s will soon be listing a slew of newer meme coins and that they plan on participating in the memecoin supercycle.

Binance lists an AI coin: ACT

Binance caused some controversy by listing ACT, which at the time only had a market cap of $20 million. People don’t understand how bullish this is. The gloves are off, and Binance is listing tokens from the trenches. ACT is part of the new cohort of AI tokens. Its full name is Act 1: The AI Prophecy, and it is a Discord-based platform that allows users to chat and interact with AI bots.

It aims to push the understanding and use cases of AI and stands out primarily because in the new bullish regime, longing the tier-1 listings has been free money.

Why Keanu has an edge over its competitors

Picking the best meme coin to buy is more of an art than a science, and something is electrifying about the Keanu community. Never before has a meme coin been based around someone as iconic as Keanu Reeves, and it is the first non-grifty token to come out of the the celebrity meta.

What matters now is the coins that normies will like and buy. And Keanu ticks these boxes excellently. It has a smaller market cap and has been touted as the first potential celeb coin to genuinely rival the blue chips. And with Binance listing any old token, there is always a chance it lists out of the blue and delivers a god candle, instantly vaporizing all bears. Welcome to the bull market.