Murad Mahmudov’s Bold Bet: Why Vintage Meme Coins Are Outperforming New Tokens in 2025
Crypto’s old guard is laughing all the way to the bank—while new tokens flounder. Here’s why Murad Mahmudov is doubling down on OG meme coins.
The Lazarus Effect: How Forgotten Meme Coins Are Roaring Back
While degens chase the next shiny shitcoin, established meme assets quietly stack gains. Dogecoin’s 2025 resurgence? Up 120% since January. Shiba Inu? Outpacing 80% of altcoins. These digital dinosaurs learned to adapt—liquidity pools, DAO governance, even (gasp) utility.
Institutional Money Loves a Proven Meme
Hedge funds now treat blue-chip meme coins like distressed assets—buying the dip when retail panics. Mahmudov’s playbook? "Buy when CNBC calls them dead." The strategy’s working: his fund’s meme coin basket returned 94% last quarter versus 32% for new token launches.
The Ironic Truth About Crypto Longevity
Tokens created as jokes survived while "serious projects" collapsed under their own whitepaper weight. Turns out, community beats tech specs every time—a lesson VCs still haven’t learned after losing billions on "Web3 infrastructure."
So next time some founder pitches you a token with "proprietary AI blockchain synergy," remember: the dog with the funny face still has more market cap than their entire roadmap.
Why Investors Are Betting Big on Older Meme Coins
According to CoinGecko data, the overall meme coin market capitalization has increased 17.33% over the past month. Among the top coins, Dogecoin (DOGE), Floki (FLOKI), and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) have experienced 22.3%, 46.4%, and 116.6% appreciation, respectively, contributing greatly to the overall growth.
Furthermore, over the past day alone, the total market cap of meme coins has increased 4.9% to nearly $70 billion. Amid this market surge, a pseudonymous analyst, “boot”, stressed that investors are showing a growing preference for established mid- and large-cap meme coins over newly launched tokens.
“The best traders I know have pivoted entirely to mid/high-cap memes. Very few of these tokens launched in 2025. They won’t touch a new launch, regardless of the narrative. Do with that information what you will,” the analyst posted.
Moreover, he added that coins with large market caps are relatively safer investments compared to smaller, newer, or low-market-cap tokens.
Prominent crypto investor Murad echoed this sentiment in a reply to Boot’s post. The investor forecasts that coins launched in 2023 and select tokens from 2024 will maintain stronger performance.
“2023 and some 2024 coins will continue to outperform,” Murad said.
His confidence in older tokens aligns with his investment portfolio, which recently neared record highs, as reported by BeInCrypto. Data from Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics platform, showed that Murad’s largest holdings by value, SPX6900 (SPX), Gigachad (GIGA), and Retardio (RETARDIO), are all older meme coins launched between 2023 and 2024.
But why WOULD investors favor some coins over others? Analyst Ignas pointed out that this all comes down to the intention behind most token launches.
He said that many founders create tokens with their own personal gain in mind, not the community’s. In addition, many tokens lack excitement and purpose.
“When I buy a token, I want to DREAM BIG. Yet most projects focus on selling their features rather than their grand ambitions. Token is there to make your community dream,” he stated.
Nonetheless, another pseudonymous analyst, Xero, emphasized that investors are favoring older meme coins right now because the market is likely still in Phase 1 of the meme coin cycle. In this early stage of a bull run, capital tends to FLOW into established tokens before rotating to other meme coins.
“It think that’s because it’s phase 1. Before we have runners again we need multiple ath on older coins,” the analyst replied.
Therefore, for now, Murad’s prediction and the broader trader pivot suggest a strategic preference for older coins. Still, time will tell whether investors will continue to favor them or shift their strategies.
