Behind Labubu’s Popularity: The Story of the Rise and Fall from Physical Blind Boxes to Crypto Assets

Labubu’s parent company saw its stock price soar 10 times in 2024, with an annual increase of over 200% so far, and its market capitalization has surpassed HK$350 billion, making the founder the new richest person in Henan. By the end of last year, the company had 401 stores in mainland China, with 130 stores in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and overseas, covering more than 30 countries and regions, and overseas revenue accounting for over 38%. In stark contrast, the eponymous meme coin LABUBU has plummeted significantly, with a market cap dropping below $28 million and a 24-hour decline of as much as 20.4%.

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What exactly is Labubu? What is its connection to the encryption industry? Why has it stirred up a frenzy in the market? Why has its eponymous Meme coin ultimately been unable to escape the fate of decline? Let’s find out.

1. The Past and Present of Labubu and Its Encryption Connection

Labubu is a plush toy with an elf-like appearance, characterized by a round, fluffy body, large round eyes, pointy ears, and a mischievous smile made up of nine sharp teeth, giving it an overall image that is both cute and slightly fierce.

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This character was designed and created by artist Long Jia Sheng, who was born in Hong Kong and grew up in the Netherlands. His story series “The Monsters” is inspired by Nordic folklore and mythology. According to media reports in 2024, Long Jia Sheng initially used a fountain pen to draw design sketches, and his love for fairy tales ultimately gave birth to the image of Labubu and his friends.

Labubu first made its debut in 2015, but it truly rose to fame after collaborating with a toy company in 2019. According to the interim report published by the company in August 2024, the “The Monsters” series generated sales of 6.3 billion RMB in the first half of the year.

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In April 2025, the third generation of Labubu rubber plush products sparked a consumer queue-buying frenzy in stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, while a phenomenon of high-priced reselling emerged in mainland China.

Subsequently, on May 29, 2025, the namesake Meme coin LABUBU was launched. Although it briefly sparked speculation, it ultimately could not escape the fate of a market correction.

On June 10, 2025, Beijing Yongle Auction held a Labubu art auction, where a life-sized Labubu was sold for 1.08 million yuan, and the total transaction amount of the auction reached 3.73 million yuan.

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2. The Driving Force Behind the Labubu Craze

Firstly, Labubu’s rise to fame is inseparable from its unique sales method - the mystery box model. Buyers can only know the specific style they have received after opening the packaging. This sales model increases the excitement and uncertainty of the purchasing process, encouraging consumers to repeatedly buy in pursuit of rare styles, thereby driving up the prices of popular styles in the secondary market.

A seasoned mystery box collector shared that the element of surprise is the main attraction of mystery boxes. He shakes the mystery box before purchasing it, trying to sense the weight difference to find a special edition. According to him, on average, for every 10 boxes purchased, one “chaser” special edition ( can be found, which is much higher than the usual one percent.

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Secondly, Labubu as a cultural and creative IP demonstrates exceptional value. According to financial analysis reports, few IPs can simultaneously break cultural barriers, being embraced by Asian culture while also favored by Western pop music and sports stars.

Official media analyzed the three main reasons for Labubu’s popularity: cross-cultural global consumer product positioning; patient accumulation and innovative breakthroughs in product creation and promotion; and the support of China’s complete industrial chain and mature industrial ecosystem.

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3. The Decline Patterns of Meme Coins Related to Physical Toys

The notable characteristics of Meme coins are high entertainment value, viral spread, and community-driven. These types of tokens often lack practical application scenarios and technical support, with price fluctuations primarily influenced by market sentiment and community hype, resulting in extremely high volatility.

Although LABUBU leverages the popularity of physical mystery boxes and differs from traditional Meme coins, it still cannot escape the fate of a significant correction.

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In fact, LABUBU is not the first case. The “Fat Penguin” project, which is very similar, also issued NFTs, Meme coins, and physical toys.

In July 2021, a group of university students founded the Pudgy Penguins) project. In April 2022, the project was acquired by the current CEO Luca Netz. In May 2023, after completing a $9 million financing round, Pudgy Penguins began online sales of the Pudgy Toy.

By the end of September 2023, Pudgy Toy successfully entered 2,000 large retail stores in the United States, expanding its NFT IP into a broader consumer market. According to industry media reports, the Pudgy Toys series achieved $10 million in sales in less than a year, with sales exceeding 750,000 units.

However, the Pudgy Penguins project also failed to maintain its brilliance. On December 16, 2024, Pudgy Penguins NFT set a historic high price of 34.8 ETH, but the current price is only 8.9 ETH. Its meme coin PENGU peaked at $0.0428 on January 7, 2025, and has fallen to $0.009369 in less than six months, a decline of 78%.

Similar cases include the Bored Ape series, among others. In 2021, NBA star spent $180,000 (, about 55 Ethereum ), to purchase a BAYC NFT dressed in a floral suit. In the same year, a payment giant acquired a CryptoPunk avatar with a Mohawk hairstyle, green eyes, and lipstick for 49.50 Ethereum (, which was approximately $150,000 ) at the time.

However, the Bored Ape has fallen from its peak price of 153.7 ETH in May 2022 to the current 11.55 ETH. CryptoPunks has also dropped from its high of over 125 ETH in 2021 to the current 41 ETH.

Whether it’s the chubby penguin supported by physical toys or the bored apes and CryptoPunks in the pure digital asset domain, they are all experiencing a significant correction after a brief period of glory. And the Meme coin LABUBU, which merely relies on the popularity of physical toys, naturally cannot escape this fate.

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The rapid rise and subsequent fall of LABUBU prices reflect its high speculative nature and lack of practical value. Even though the physical Labubu toys were once popular, when the market frenzy subsides, the false prosperity sustained only by hype, without actual value support, will ultimately collapse. This is a true depiction of the essence of Meme coins, which “are born from speculation and die from the burst of value bubbles.”