The New Youth Consensus: Labubu, CSGO, and Meme Coins

“You might not believe it when I say this, but it's all because I love Labubu that I became the top in-store sales this month,” Jenny, a Sales Associate at a luxury handbag brand and a fervent collector of designer toys, shared unabashedly in an interview with BlockBeats. She revealed her sales secret:

“Instead of complimenting customers on how nice their handbag is, it's more effective to praise the Labubu hanging on their bag. The customer will feel like you really understand them.”

This marks the sixth year of collaboration between Labubu and Pop Mart. Back in 2020, Labubu had already caused a craze in the Chinese market. However, what truly propelled this trendy toy internationally was when BLACKPINK member Lisa started showcasing it in a series of street style photos with LV, Hermes, and other top luxury bags last year.

Foreign Fashion Media: Is LABUBU the Hottest Bag Accessory of 2025?

Subsequently, more and more A-list celebrities began showing off their Labubu. Five years later, this IP has swept through the entire fashion scenes of Southeast Asia and Europe, even gracing the cover of foreign fashion media: “Is LABUBU the Hottest Bag Accessory of 2025?”

Global fashion icon Rihanna was spotted at the airport with a pink Labubu hanging on her Louis Vuitton tote bag; music award magnet and the new darling of international fashion, Dua Lipa, shared on her IG two Labubu hanging on her orange handbag, causing a trending topic; Lisa’s name is no stranger to Chinese youngsters, and this A-list K-pop group member often showcases her extensive collection of Labubu on her Instagram Story, making her a Labubu unofficial brand ambassador.

For the average person, if they can't afford Hermes, that's okay. With less than 200 RMB, they can get a celebrity-endorsed Labubu, even participating in the social consensus of the top-tier fashion circles.

If lucky enough to win the less than 1% chance of a rare edition, the price can increase by more than tenfold; and even if you just get a regular edition, hanging it on your bag, posting it on your Moments, sharing it on Xiaohongshu, you can still gain emotional value and social validation.

「There are actually many tricks to buying different exclusive editions. For example, listening for a rustling sound, feeling for a harder texture on the side, and noticing subtle weight differences」, Jenny relies on her ability to identify exclusive editions. When everyone else can't buy or win one through luck, she manages to secure them for her clients.

Left to right: Thai actress Hargate, Blackpink member Rose, Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim's heiress Kim Lim

Labubu's "Men's Belt, Women's Bag" has become the new trend in the fashion world

In fact, this is not Labubu's first moment in the spotlight. Around 2020, Labubu had its first moment of fame. The blind box culture quickly swept through Generation Z, satisfying both personal expression and triggering a game of "scarcity." The joy of receiving an exclusive edition is like hitting the jackpot. On the secondary market, certain Labubu products have surged from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Unboxing videos of "hidden edition" on social media have become viral content.

In a sense, Labubu is no longer just a toy but a financial product that can be priced, speculated on, and circulated.

Interestingly, around 2020, during Labubu's initial peak, another financial product associated with trendy culture was extremely hot in a more virtual space—NFTs, which might be familiar to cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

The climax of NFTs arrived during an auction on March 11, 2021, when the NFT artwork by the renowned artist Beeple was hammered down at Christie's with a final price tag of $69.34 million. This NFT artwork became the 53rd most expensive artwork in the world, and Beeple entered the top three in terms of artwork value among living artists.

Beeple's artwork "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" sold for over $69 million, making it look like a colorful pixel collage but is actually composed of 5,000 unique images. These 5,000 images represent Beeple's daily creation over more than 13 years of hard work.

Moreover, the Internet has also given NFT a perfect boost. The world's two largest social media platforms, Tencent and Facebook, paying simultaneous attention to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) is by no means a coincidence. They envision the future of the Internet as the Metaverse, a world where virtuality seamlessly connects with reality. The term NFT has been repeatedly discussed in the context of the Metaverse, representing NFTs of ownership that fit perfectly within the Metaverse.

In just a few short months, the term "NFT" has made its way around the world.

American rapper Soulja Boy, with 5 million followers on Twitter, released his own NFT; Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA championship team Dallas Mavericks, released an NFT; a dunk by superstar LeBron James was turned into an NFT and sold for $250,000; top football clubs such as FC Barcelona and AC Milan also have their own NFTs.

Amidst the frenzy of that NFT wave, undoubtedly the most representative IP was Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

This avatar-based NFT project, launched by Yuga Labs in the spring of 2021, was initially priced at only 0.08 ETH (about $200) and sold out within 24 hours. It quickly became popular as a social avatar on platforms like Twitter and Instagram.

Jimmy Fallon showcased his ape on a talk show, calling it the "symbol of the next era of identity"; Snoop Dogg and Eminem performed on stage at the MTV Awards as BAYC characters; Justin Bieber spent $1.3 million to acquire a rare ape; top stars like Steph Curry and Neymar endorsed it; artists like Jay Chou and JJ Lin have also flaunted BAYC avatars; even the traditional finance sector got caught up in this trend: Meitu Group Chairman Cai Wensheng and Shunwei Capital partner Zhu Xiaohu are also holders.

A small image can now represent identity labels and "social assets."

On the trading front, BAYC has truly pioneered the peak paradigm of NFT assetization: at its peak, a single ape sold for as much as $400,000 (about 150 ETH), the floor price exceeded 100 ETH, and the total network transaction volume surpassed $1.5 billion.

NFT and Pop Mart actually do the same thing: through a seemingly toy-like medium, they mobilize a layer's desire to participate, express themselves, and identify.

Their "financial productization" processes are also strikingly similar: both have significant avatar/image recognition; both emphasize scarcity: rare editions, limited editions; both are tied to the celebrity effect, triggering best-selling phenomena; both have formed a market structure from "original price purchase" to "secondary speculation."

Labubu is a materialized NFT, and NFT is a more virtual Labubu.

However, after all, there is only one Wang Ning, and the NFT circle is still not mainstream enough. Starting from 2022, the destinies of Labubu and NFT gradually diverged.

In the second year of BAYC's peak, the overall crypto market entered a downturn, and the myth of NFT began to gradually cool off. BAYC, as a former leader in NFTs, also became a laggard—its floor price dropped from 150 ETH to below 20 ETH, now only 13 ETH, equivalent to one-tenth of its peak value. Holders have successively "dismounted their avatars," and the once bustling community gradually fell silent. The avatar that used to be the "entry badge" of the crypto circle has also begun to be mocked as the "online ceiling lockup symbol," all experiencing unrealized losses of at least $300,000.

Meanwhile, the fire of Labubu burns brighter and brighter, firmly seated at the forefront of the trend.

"The audience of Labubu overlaps surprisingly high with those who buy luxury handbags," Jiani said. "Some customers originally just browse around casually, but as soon as I see Labubu on their bag, the conversation and rapport open up, and we can chat for a long time, eventually making the customer happily buy a bag."

However, Jiani revealed that in fact, some girls are looking for a more suitable "bag carrier" for their beloved Labubu, stepping into a luxury store for the first time and buying their first branded bag. With the Labubu IP, in its 15th year of establishment, Pop Mart unexpectedly began to reverse influence the sales logic of luxury goods.

Even in the capital market, there has been a somewhat magical moment: Pop Mart's stock price soared, with the past few years' K-line growth almost resembling Bitcoin's 20-fold surge in 2017, and its market value even surpassed that of the luxury powerhouse Gucci's parent company at one point.

Looking back, Long Ka Shing, the Hong Kong artist who created the Labubu character just 10 years ago, probably also finds it hard to imagine that this somewhat "ominous" and fluffy elf has now rightfully become Pop Mart's highest-earning IP, surpassing the veteran IP MOLLY, and indisputably becoming the flagship character.

The Labubu collaboration, originally priced at 599 yuan, can now be flipped on the secondary market for up to 14,000 yuan, representing a more than 20-fold increase. The trendy shoe collaboration with Vans has seen overseas market transactions reach 2,000-3,000 USD, competing with limited edition Yeezys. Specific limited series (such as "Big Into Energy" or the "Wings of Fortune" collaboration with Pronounce) due to their bold design and restricted regional release (e.g., limited to Thailand and Singapore) have seen prices skyrocket.

We have witnessed a generation redefine "ownership" in two parallel universes.

Beyond "on-chain avatars" and "offline figurines," in a larger virtual space, there exists a more secretive, enduring, and more actively traded "consensus asset market" — game skins.

Although CSGO has been remade and renamed CS2, prior to this, CSGO had been in existence for over 10 years. Therefore, when discussing the cosmetic items in this game, people still tend to habitually use the name CSGO.

A half month ago, the CS property market experienced a "collapse." According to SteamDT's CS property section index data, following a bull run of about six months, the CS property market plummeted by 30% in a week from its all-time high, roughly equivalent to a "312" major crash in the cryptocurrency world.

According to Dexerto, by the end of April this year, the total market value of the CS property market exceeded $4.5 billion. According to CS2 Case Tracker data, in the first four months of 2025, over 113 million property crates were opened in the CS game. Calculating based on a $2.49 cost per property box key, players contributed nearly $300 million to Valve (the company behind Steam and CS) just from opening CS properties in the first four months of 2025.

Similar to Beanie Babies, the CS property market took a decade to enter the public eye.

"When CSGO was first released, there was no introduction of in-game properties and property market mechanisms, so it can be said that the skins saved this game." Cookie is both an NFT and CSGO veteran player: "Although this may sound like hindsight bias, because it is true that many people who do not play CS now know this game because of the surge in property prices, this game, which has been popular since the Internet cafe era, still remains popular."

In August 2013, CSGO introduced the skin mechanism for the first time, and the Steam Market also supported the trading of CS skins. During the later NFT craze, the CS skin market also received attention and popularity due to its similarity to NFTs. Looking back at the design of the skin mechanism at that time, one cannot help but admire Valve as the grandfather of rarity design in a sense.

CS skins not only have rarity level distinctions but also exhibit wear levels and pattern templates' randomness. This combination results in certain skins, even if they do not have the highest rarity probability, being able to sell for the top price in the entire market due to their wear levels and pattern templates.

“Wear level does not refer to the player's skin being worn out through in-game use but rather to the integrity or glossiness of the skin.” Cookie explained.

The difference in wear level of the same weapon skin

Pattern template, in simple terms, can be understood as a situation where a gun may not always display a complete “artwork.” This is because the skin's coverage area is limited, and depending on which part of the “artwork” is taken to display on the weapon, the effect can be vastly different.

By analogy to NFTs, a very similar example is Dmitri Cherniak's generative art project called Ringers, which in 2021 produced the image of Ringers #879, resembling a goose, and was sold to 3AC for 1800 ETH (approximately $5.6 million), making it one of the most expensive generative art pieces on the market at the time.

This AK-47 features a case-hardened surface. Although both are of “Factory New” wear level, the one on the left has a standard pattern template, with fewer and unevenly distributed blue parts on the weapon. The one on the right, however, has the top-tier #661 pattern template, with a large and concentrated blue distribution at the muzzle and the top of the gun. As a result, the left one's resale price on the BUFF market is only around 2500 RMB, while the latter is in the million RMB range, despite the AK-47 case-hardened not being the highest rarity level skin.

Furthermore, CS's sticker system and esports events have given skins additional narrative value. In 2014, the sticker skin mechanism was launched in CS. This mechanism seemed simple, allowing players to put some decals on weapon skins. It went from being unnoticed to becoming another important pillar category of skins in CS. Team disbandment and player retirement can make related sticker prices soar.

The stickers of teams like Titan and iBUYPOWER released during the 2014 Katowice Major (Majors are the top-tier tournaments in the CS esports system, and the official stickers are issued to teams and players who successfully qualify for the Major) later skyrocketed in value due to their scarcity and aesthetic appeal.

The initial development of the CS skin market bears some similarity to Bitcoin, as both had their roots in "gray areas." Bitcoin in the dark web, and CS skins in virtual gambling sites.

Before 2016, a large number of skins were used as gambling chips, with bets placed on esports match outcomes on platforms like CSGOLounge, even participating in roulette. This gameplay quickly drove up skin prices, attracted minors to participate, and led to issues such as match-fixing, ultimately prompting official intervention. Authorities issued cease and desist letters to several skin gambling websites, including CSGOLounge, demanding they cease unauthorized gambling activities through the Steam API.

While the CS skin market experienced a brief cooldown, it did not disappear entirely. The symbolic significance of high-end skins as a representation of a player's identity has become deeply ingrained.

Similar to a Labubu enthusiast, Jiāní enjoys watching "trendy toy unboxing videos, especially those revealing hidden editions." In CS, owning one's dream knife is the aspiration of every long-time viewer and player, leading to numerous CS unboxing videos and live streams, experiencing the thrill of going from a bicycle to a motorcycle.

"One of the most typical examples is the CS streamer Eggplant, who rose to fame around 2018 and fueled the popularity of CSGO in China," Cookie recalled. Meanwhile, Netease's CS skin trading platform BUFF went live, third-party skin trading platforms partnered with Steam entered a stable phase, some third-party platforms allowing fiat settlements drove the emergence of systematic arbitrage mechanisms like hoarding and bricklaying, clarifying the financial characteristics of CS skins.

During the pandemic, Steam user numbers hit a historic high, global gamers flooded in, and unboxing volumes surged. Coupled with the rise of NFT concepts, the label of "off-chain NFT" also transformed CS skins from in-game items to members of the "digital collectible" ecosystem—possessing an independent pricing system and a consensus on scarcity.

"At this stage, CS skins also have 'opinion leaders,' and the independent pricing system is largely complete. There are opinions on how much a particular gun's wear level and pattern index are worth. On platforms like Bilibili, there are already many CS skin guide videos, and new content is still emerging," Cookie said.

One can also see many similarities between the CS skins market and the NFT market in the crypto world: random minting, rarity creating differentiation in value and liquidity. Rarity makes items valuable but hard to sell, while common items are cheaper and easier to trade. Even in the CS skins market, there are original skins like the Karambit and Butterfly Knife that serve as price benchmarks, similar to Bitcoin in the overall cryptocurrency market.

"However, since CS itself is truly an excellent game, unparalleled in the FPS track, the CS skins market is very active, with liquidity far better than that of NFTs," Cookie added. "Rather than saying that these items popular among young people have developed an undeserved hype, I prefer to say that this is a form of collective consciousness among the youth, giving them a unique asset pricing power."

Such examples appear in CS skins, in NFTs, and continue to emerge within various communities.

Let's talk about sneakers. Over the past 10 years, Nike and Adidas may not have introduced much technological innovation, but they have turned "sneakers" into financial products: a pair of AJ1 "Chicago" originally priced at 1299 RMB can now be resold for 4000 RMB on platforms like Poizon; Yeezys have skyrocketed in price after being discontinued, with some colorways doubling in value; collaborative series from Solomon and Asics, once part of the running scene, are now the new favorites among sneakerheads.

Now onto bags. From beloved Porter collaborations for women, Jacquemus mini bags, to sought-after Supreme toolboxes for men, and LV's collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, each item could potentially be a chip to cash out on second-hand platforms.

In the hierarchy of fashion trends, carrying a limited edition item is akin to having a string of rare NFTs in your wallet address.

Flipping sneakers, bags, and NFTs may seem a bit of a "middle-class attribute," but what about cigarette cards?

Don't laugh, cigarette cards have become a spiritual totem for post-2010s kids on Little Red Book and Douyin.

Behind this, there is a wave of "collectible card" crazes in elementary school communities. From Ultraman cards in the past to the My Little Pony cards that gained popularity in 2023, and this year's Nezha card series, individual card prices vary from 2 RMB, 5 RMB to 10 RMB, but the companies behind the card games have a gross profit margin as high as 71%, earning more than Pop Mart by 2024.

Even during their Series A funding round, the card game company boldly signed a bet agreement with their investors (Sequoia and Tencent). It stipulated that the company must go public by the fifth anniversary of the preferred stock issuance date (i.e., by 2026), or else trigger a buyback clause with an 8% annualized interest rate.

The Main Form of Card-Based Gaming

You may think that young people are wasting money, but in reality, they are establishing a new form of pricing: emotions, community, culture, aesthetics, discourse power, and traffic can all be priced.

Everything can be speculated upon, but it's just each generation's "magic bead" in the end.

In the theory of "value investing," MEME coins and dog coins have always been marginalized, even in the midst of a bubble in the coin circle. But seeing this, I think many people who couldn't understand dog coins and meme coins in the coin circle before should now understand why young people are so enthusiastic about speculation.

They are more like participating in a decentralized youth culture investment—except that the target is not a company or project, but a joke, an image, or even a sentence.

PEPE, originally just a character in cartoonist Matt Furie's online comic in 2005, evolved into a widely recognized MEME symbol on the Internet. Behind it is a community composed of countless anonymous artists who have created a variety of Pepe images playing diverse roles in different cultural contexts and social media platforms.

And this PEPE meme coin quietly launched in the spring of 2023. No whitepaper, no team introduction, not even a practical use case—just an image. But within three days of its launch, its price surged by 7000%, surpassing a market cap of 1 billion USD. Even BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes referred to himself as a "frog disciple," and PEPE became the iconic sample of the new generation of meme coins.

In fact, all cryptocurrencies have meme properties, just in varying degrees, including Bitcoin.

As the first successful cryptocurrency, Bitcoin's philosophical implications, its anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, and the spirit of challenging the traditional financial system have bestowed upon it a meaning beyond technology.

Therefore, from this perspective, Bitcoin itself is the earliest MEME, representing the pursuit of power, freedom, and systemic change. This symbolic meaning transcends its function as a currency and has become a symbol of a cultural and social movement. What followed later are various meme trends that you can hardly name them all.

At the peak of this movement was the personal meme coin issued by U.S. President Trump, and young people from China earned unimaginable wealth in a two-day period. A Chinese young person born after 1995, with the alias "0xSun," became the champion of this 48-hour movement, making tens of millions of dollars in profit.

Today's meme coins are more like filling the gap in the traditional coin circle, pursuing global hot topics. The Thai internet celebrity hippo, the squirrel killed by the Democratic Party, and the meme that suddenly went viral on TikTok all have their own meme coins.

Behind each meme coin is also young capital using real money to chase the most trending topics of the moment. Of course, Labubu is also not left out.

This phenomenon-level IP also had a meme coin launched by the community on the chain, creating a frenzy, skyrocketing a hundredfold in a month. In terms of returns, it outperformed any financial product related to any POP MART (泡泡玛特) merchandise.

The gameplay of meme coins is almost identical to CS skins, NFTs, and designer toys: initial low price + random wealth explosion, triggering collective FOMO; strong visual memory points (Shiba Inu, frog, anime avatars); community-driven, not relying on official announcements; emotion-driven, focusing on "consensus before value."

You will find that this generation of young people may be using different media to do the same thing: in an era of information explosion, blurred identities, and a sense of bleak future, they use an irrational passion to establish their own "pricing rules" in their world.

It is worth remembering what Yuval Noah Harari once said in his book "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind." Initially, humans communicated interpersonal information through "gossip" and stories, getting to the root of things by discussing others, thus forming stable and close interpersonal organizations. Later, people used "storytelling" to create shared imagination, building more universal trust in concepts like religion, nation, currency, and companies. Add some scarcity and limited editions on this foundation, and the narrative becomes top-notch.

So whether it's Labubu, NFTs, meme coins, or CS skins, as long as it is something that can form a strong group identity, it is what this generation of young people are enthusiastic about promoting.

After finishing this article, the rhythmical editor with hands full of meme coins also purchased the first Labubu and mass-shared it with eight friends...

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