Author: Nancy, PANews

Labubu, a Nordic forest elf with pointed ears, fangs and a wicked smile, is sweeping the world at an astonishing speed, becoming a fashion item, social currency, and even an alternative financial management tool in the eyes of Generation Z. Recently, the third generation of Labubu's vinyl plush series has made a strong debut, triggering a buying frenzy as soon as it was launched. From being sold out in seconds on domestic e-commerce platforms to queuing up all night at overseas flagship stores, from appearing in the center position in trendy street photos to being swiped on social media in various ways, Labubu is evolving into a cultural meme that transcends national boundaries and is spreading rapidly.

Behind this trend sweeping the world, it not only accurately hits the deep desire of young people for the release of personality and expression of emotions, but also becomes an alternative asset that the capital market is competing for attention. Not only the traditional collection circle is flocking to it, but even the crypto world is also blowing the Labubu wind.

The price of LABUBU, a popular brand in Thailand, has soared dozens of times in a week and returned to a market value of tens of millions of dollars

Recently, the MEME coin $LABUBU has become the focus of market attention again due to the soaring popularity of the new series of products. Including well-known crypto KOL Ansem and other KOLs posted tweets with the image of Labubu, which aroused strong resonance in the community.

According to GMGN data, as of press time, the market value of $LABUBU has soared from hundreds of thousands of dollars to $18 million in the past week, a ten-fold increase, with a trading volume of $9.5 million in the past 24 hours alone. Holderscan data shows that since May 14, the number of $LABUBU holding addresses has increased significantly, indicating that user participation and market enthusiasm continue to heat up.

In fact, this is not the first time that $LABUBU has caused a craze in the market. As early as November 2024, during the outbreak of the MEME coin sector, the market value of $LABUBU exceeded 20 million US dollars. Although this was not an officially released MEME coin, it still became one of the main IP projects that were hyped at the time. The Thai market is an important traffic engine for this round of market.

At that time, Labubu had attracted phenomenal attention in Thailand, and its image frequently appeared on the streets of Bangkok, becoming a representative symbol of trendy culture. From celebrities, such as Blackpink member Lisa who posted a photo with Labubu on Instagram, Thai Princess Sirivannavari used Labubu as a "bag partner" for her daily handbag, and ordinary young people wearing Labubu clothing, and even using its pattern for tattoos. Due to its high popularity, Pop Mart's Labubu-related products in Thailand were once in short supply. The popularity even attracted the attention of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, which awarded Labubu the title of "Magical Thailand Experience Officer" and held a grand welcome ceremony. The Minister of Tourism and Sports even came to the scene in person to help.

According to the 2024 interim financial report released by Pop Mart, its overseas revenue reached 1.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 259.6%. Among them, the Southeast Asian market contributed 560 million yuan in revenue, accounting for more than 40% of the total overseas revenue. Labubu's strong performance in Southeast Asia has also greatly boosted investors' confidence in its related MEME coins.

At the same time, another Thai IP, MOODENG (Little Hippo), has also become popular worldwide, and has derived the MEME coin of the same name, with a market value of hundreds of millions of dollars, driving the market's attention to Thai IP assets. Recently, MOODENG's strong rebound has further boosted the market's attention to Labubu, which may also become an important spillover effect of the $LABUBU market recovery.

Currently, Labubu's global popularity continues to rise. According to Google Trends, in the past 30 days, Labubu's global search popularity far exceeded MOODENG, PEPE, DOGE, Chillguy and other MEME-related IPs. This shows that Labubu's global brand influence and market attention are rapidly rising, far exceeding other similar MEME projects.

From trendy toys to social currency, the rise of the cultural economy behind Generation Z

The goal of "creating another Pop Mart overseas" is being fulfilled step by step by Labubu's astonishing speed of going viral.

From American pop queen Rihanna being photographed with a pink Labubu hanging on her bag at the Los Angeles airport, to veteran Hermès player Bryanboy hanging a Labubu doll on a rare platinum bag... Labubu was nicknamed "successful in the United States" by netizens. Behind this cultural export that has swept the world, Labubu has quietly completed a cultural migration from the trendy toy circle to the global mainstream fashion circle.

Driven by the star effect, Labubu quickly swept the world. At the end of last month, Pop Mart launched the third-generation Labubu vinyl plush product "High Energy Ahead" series worldwide, which once again triggered a new round of buying craze and a clear premium phenomenon in many markets. In addition to the fanatical pursuit of domestic fans, fans even lined up all night in front of Pop Mart stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Milan, New Zealand and Harajuku, Tokyo, just to buy their favorite Labubu, which has become a wonder of contemporary global trend culture.

Not only offline sales are booming, but online sales are also unstoppable. Pop Mart App topped the U.S. App Store shopping list and soared 114 places to fourth place on the free list, showing its huge appeal in the North American market. On the second-hand trading platform, the premium of the "High Energy Ahead" series Labubu is particularly amazing - the blind box, which originally cost only 99 yuan, generally increased by 10%-200% for ordinary models, and the premium for hidden models even reached dozens of times. It can be said to be the gold and Bitcoin of the trendy toy world, and has become a "financial tool" in the eyes of players.

On social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, Labubu is the secret to traffic. Young people are keen on posting short videos such as "unboxing blind boxes", "fashionable outfits with Labubu", "baby wall photos", and even open exclusive content accounts to quickly gather millions of fans, and the topic's popularity and attention continue to rise. This fission-style communication path not only amplifies Labubu's social influence, but also constitutes the core leverage of Pop Mart's content and community operations.

What is more noteworthy is that, unlike in the past when trendy toys were mainly regarded as collections or hobbies, Labubu has been promoted to the "universal currency" in the social scenes of young people around the world. At the midnight market and trendy gatherings in Bangkok, some players exchanged hidden Labubu for luxury bags and concert tickets; in Harrods in London, a collector exchanged a second-hand Hermès Kelly bag for a rare Labubu character; at the Coachella Music Festival in Los Angeles, some fans exchanged limited edition Labubu for festival passes; during the previous Shanghai Trend Show, some players even exchanged three iPhone 14 Pros for a hidden Labubu... This phenomenon of "trendy toys as currency" not only means that Labubu is a kind of social capital, but also becomes a medium symbol for identity recognition and aesthetic resonance among young people.

Today, Labubu has gradually become a global IP with full-link commercial capabilities, and has also leveraged the flywheel effect of Pop Mart's business logic. In 2024, the THE MONSTERS series to which Labubu belongs contributed 3.04 billion in revenue to Pop Mart, a year-on-year increase of 726.6%, accounting for nearly a quarter of the company's annual revenue. Among them, vinyl plush products have become Labubu's annual hit, with sales revenue reaching 2.83 billion yuan, and sales share has jumped from 3.2% to 21.7%, becoming the company's second largest category after hand-made products. At the same time, from the perspective of stock price performance, Pop Mart has set a record high of HK$201.6, with an annual return rate of nearly 121.4%.

In a sense, the path of Labubu's global popularity is quite similar to the logic of the rise of MEME coins. Both are essentially cultural phenomena driven by emotional value, and they quickly broke through the circle with the fission of social media, self-propagation of the community and a strong sense of identity. Whether it is young people queuing up all night to grab hidden Labubu, or investors rushing to buy a token because of a MEME picture, what is reflected behind it is the desire of contemporary young people for self-expression, circle recognition and discourse participation. They are becoming a model for the cultural economy of the new generation.