Airdrop farming made early participants eye-watering returns.
The first Blur airdrop, for example, netted figures such as Daniel McEvoy $100,000+ returns and jump-started their influencer careers.
That game is now solved.
And you won't make much money playing solved games.
Meme coin trading has yet to become a solved game, given how quickly that space is growing (think of the evolution of Pump.Fun and Moonshot). Largely, it's resolved into 2 main strategies.
Strategy #1 - Screen out likely scams + technical analysis trading
Strategy #2 - Use on-chain data to find pump-groups (cabals) + follow their pumps
Both work, but both have problems.
Strategy #1 used to be much easier. Some 80% of the game was staying out of bad trades. Then you merely had to trade using indicators such as higher highs to log 10x + returns. You could even do this for relatively long holds (see below).
Now the balance has shifted so that set-ups contribute to about 50% of your success and your actual ability to trade contributes the other half. Since only 1/1000 people will ever develop the skills to trade well, this is turning into a "solved game."
Strategy #2 is still relatively unexplored.
DeBank and Cielo are providing the tools for this. DeBank does everything Ethereum Virtual Machine related but not Solana. Cielo is does everything. The trade-off isn't obvious, however.
- To make Cielo useful, you are probably going to end up spending $50 / month.
- DeBank has a better social side than Cielo, however. And it's easier to read.
Our team splits their analysis between DeBank for EVM memes -- typically on Base -- and Cielo for Solana.
In both cases, you can enter the wallets you want to follow into your profile (after you set it up). Then you'll get a feed of their trades. You can configure notifications and set a bot to copy trade or (probably better) just follow what's going on yourself.
Here's an example of my Cielo feed.
There are a few ways to find the wallets. Some exist via public lists.
Of course, these never contain great alpha as older lists (2 weeks +) are unlikely to keep up with changes in meme coin pump groups.
The other thing to do, then, is to use their Wallet Discovery tool, which sorts by PnL.
You'll want to track all the wallets these are related to, as cabals typically move their money from one wallet to another to avoid too many people catching onto what they're doing.
How you trade is simple:
- Find a good wallet -- either a good trader or a known pumper.
- When the wallet enters a new position, screen to make sure the coin isn't a scam (https://rugcheck.xyz/ for Solana coins).
- Buy in using your favorite bot with about 5% - 10% slippage.
- Plan to sell 2 or 3 times (not more because slippage will eat into your returns). Sell when you're up a bit, then sell when the wallet you're tracking sells. If you use Dexscreener, you can see when the wallet sells.
This game hasn't been solved yet because it requires due diligence to find the right people or pumpers to follow. It also requires some relatively high on-chain functional knowledge.
- It shifts the burden from becoming an expert day trader to becoming knowledgable about how to use on-chain tools.
This means that a completely different set of people can win at this game.
Happy Trading!
👉Subscribe to our Free Investment Bulletin.
Finally, if you learned something, hit that UP ARROW ⬆️ and SHARE. 🔁
Disclaimers and Disclosures
This post is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be relied upon for business, investment, taxation, or legal advice. You should consult your own advisors for those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by 1.2 Capital Management. (An offering to invest in a 1.2 Capital Management fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation--all of which should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by 1.2 Capital Management, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results.
The views expressed here are those of the individual author and are not the views of 1.2 Capital Management, 1.2 Labs, or their affiliates. Certain information contained herein has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, 1.2 Labs and affiliates have not independently verified such information and make no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
Finally, as the author of this report, you should recognize that I do actively invest. Many of my trades are quick and I do write about many investment items, whether stocks, digital assets, collectibles, and the like which I do not own. For the purposes of disclosing any conflicts of interest, assume that if it is covered, I own the investment item. Or if my coverage is negative that I am short the investment item.
