Nyan Cat
This article is about the internet meme. For the original Solana memecoin, see Nyan Cat ($NYAN).
Nyan Cat pixel-art cat with a Pop-Tart body trailing a rainbow as it loops endlessly across a starry sky, scored to a chirpy Japanese pop hook. It is one of the internet's most iconic early-2010s memes.
Origin
Nyan Cat was created by Dallas-based illustrator Christopher Torres, who goes by the handle 'prguitarman', and first posted as an animated GIF on his site LOL-Comics on April 2, 2011. Torres has said the concept came from two suggestions dropped in his channel during a Red Cross donation drive — one person asked for a Pop-Tart, another for a cat — so he fused the two into a single gray tabby with a frosted, sprinkle-topped strawberry Pop-Tart torso. The cat was modeled on his own pet, a Russian Blue named Marty, and drawn on a tiny 70x70 canvas in Macromedia Fireworks.
Spread
The meme exploded three days later, on April 5, 2011, when YouTube user saraj00n (Sara June) paired Torres's looping GIF with a sped-up 'Nyanyanyanya' vocal hook sung by Vocaloid character Hatsune Miku, titling the mashup 'Nyan Cat.' The hypnotic, seemingly infinite loop was tailor-made for the era's 'how long can you watch this' challenge culture, and it racked up tens of millions of views after pickups by outlets like G4 and CollegeHumor, spawning countless remixes, browser games, and fan variants in different color schemes and speeds.
Legacy
Nyan Cat became a defining artifact of 2011 internet culture and a lasting symbol of the rainbow-trail aesthetic, cited alongside Keyboard Cat and early rage comics as a cornerstone cat meme. It endured through merchandise, a Vevo-charting single, cameo appearances in games and shows, and — over a decade later — a landmark 2021 sale of an original remastered GIF as an NFT for roughly 300 ETH, cementing its status as one of the first memes to bridge into the crypto era. Its rainbow-cat imagery remains instantly recognizable and endlessly recycled across new platforms.
The Chain Trail
The OG token for this meme is Nyan Cat ($NYAN) on Solana, launched 2025-11.
Key facts
- Created by Christopher Torres ('prguitarman') and first posted April 2, 2011.
- The character was inspired by and modeled on Torres's real cat, a Russian Blue named Marty, who died in November 2012.
- Went viral after YouTuber saraj00n set it to a sped-up Vocaloid 'Nyanyanya' song on April 5, 2011.
- An original remastered Nyan Cat GIF sold as an NFT for about 300 ETH in February 2021.
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The tokens that claim Nyan Cat
Every token we can tie to this meme, and which contract appeared first. The original is marked OG; the rest arrived to ride the name.
| # | Coin | Price | 24h | Market Cap | Liquidity | Launched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Nyan Cat $NYAN | $0.000323 | -0.52% | $287.04K | $64.64K | Nov 27, 2025 |
Combined live market cap for Nyan Cat: $287.04K across 1 coin. Market data is live from DexScreener; figures are not investment advice.
The on-chain receipts for $NYAN (the OG contract), pulled straight from the chain.
On-chain report
via helius · updated 1d agoHeld by the top 10 wallets.
- 1. EaRq…rdK210.40%
- 2. 2QQF…uBUS3.99%
- 3. GMRX…cJ8Q2.26%
- 4. FLnM…zhts2.13%
- 5. GAD4…Gd7C2.06%
- 6. EJ8W…oUe21.92%
- 7. 53v7…XPjt1.69%
- 8. 2G3r…ZycE1.64%
- 9. 82AW…HVPe1.59%
- 10. 9hE8…NWMf1.58%
- Deployment predates the scanned history — earliest date is a lower bound.
Facts pulled directly from the chain via Solscan-grade data. Not financial advice.
The deep investigation. Deployer and wallet maps, contract migrations, bundles, supply concentration, and every project that falsely claimed to be first, with archived sources and a full chronological record.
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