The token’s rapid rise is tied to the increasing popularity of the “Chillguy” character, originally introduced by digital artist Phillip Banks in October 2023. In his initial post, Banks described the character as “a chill guy” who remains oblivious to chaotic situations around him.
Although the character was created over a year ago, its popularity skyrocketed recently, with thousands of TikTok videos portraying Chillguy in various scenarios where he remains “chill” and indifferent to the situations around him. The token, currently trading at $0.44, gained unprecedented traction amid the viral trend, surging over 20,000% in value within five days and reaching a peak market cap of $500 million before settling at $440 million.
The token, created two months ago via Pump.fun, already has over 81,000 holders, according to Gecko Terminal data. The distribution among holders is relatively even, with the largest holder owning just 1% of the total supply, according to Bubblemaps data. However, despite this even distribution, the token has a liquidity of only $5 million compared to its $440 million market cap.
The meme coin’s rise has turned several traders into millionaires. On-chain analytics account Lookonchain reported that a trader turned $21,000 into $2.68 million in just four days. The trader purchased 26 million CHILLGUY tokens, selling 23.8 million for $2.24 million while retaining 2.25 million tokens valued at $459,000 in their wallet.
Crypto.com announced it would list CHILLGUY for spot trading on its exchange, marking the token’s first major centralized exchange listing. Many in the community expect additional listings on major centralized exchanges, potentially further boosting its valuation.