Popcat
“The cat that turned clicking into a national sport.”
This article is about the internet meme. For the original Solana memecoin, see Popcat ($POPCAT).
Popcat is an internet meme built from two photos of a domestic shorthair cat named Oatmeal, one with its mouth closed and one digitally edited into a wide 'O' shape, toggled rapidly to make the cat appear to 'pop.' It originated on social media in October 2020, spawned the viral clicking game popcat.click in December 2020, and later lent its imagery to a high-profile Solana memecoin (POPCAT) during the 2024 crypto cycle.
Origin
The meme originated in October 2020. Twitter/X user @XavierBFB posted two images of his cat Oatmeal to a Discord server, and on October 9, 2020, a friend posted an edited version to the /r/MEOW_IRL subreddit, where it gathered over 100 upvotes within a month. On October 10, 2020, the edit was reposted to Twitter, where it accumulated over a million views, establishing the 'Pop Cat' format in which the open- and closed-mouth frames are alternated, often synced to music so the cat appears to sing or lip-sync.
Spread
Popcat's biggest cultural moment came from popcat.click, a clicker website launched on December 11, 2020 by students associated with the University of Sheffield in the UK. Visitors click an interactive Pop Cat image to make it 'pop,' with clicks tallied per country on a global leaderboard. The site surged in popularity across Europe in April 2021 (with Finland topping the board) and became a nationalistic competition in which countries raced to the top. During the 2020-2021 Thai protests it caught on with Thai youth, propelling Thailand to the number-one spot.
Legacy
Popcat became a durable reaction image and streaming emote symbolizing excitement or rhythmic 'popping.' In the 2024 memecoin boom, the imagery was attached to a Solana-based cryptocurrency, Popcat (POPCAT), which was created in December 2023 and surged through 2024; it reached an all-time high around $2.06-$2.07 on November 17, 2024 and is widely cited as the first cat-themed token to surpass a $1 billion market cap, peaking above $2 billion before declining sharply afterward.
The Chain Trail
The OG token for this meme is Popcat ($POPCAT) on Solana, launched 2023-12.
Key facts
- The cat is a domestic shorthair named Oatmeal, owned by Twitter/X user @XavierBFB.
- The meme uses two frames (mouth closed and an edited open 'O' mouth) toggled to create a 'pop' effect, often synced to music.
- First widely shared via Reddit's /r/MEOW_IRL on October 9, 2020, then Twitter on October 10, 2020.
- popcat.click launched December 11, 2020; it tracks clicks by country on a global leaderboard.
- The game peaked in Europe in April 2021 (Finland led) and became huge in Thailand, which reached number one.
- The Solana memecoin POPCAT was created in December 2023 and surged in 2024.
- POPCAT reached an all-time high of roughly $2.06-$2.07 on November 17, 2024 and peaked above a $2 billion market cap.
- POPCAT is commonly cited as the first cat-themed token to exceed a $1 billion market cap.
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The tokens that claim Popcat
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 |  Popcat $POPCAT | $0.04 | +1.47% | $40.67M | $2.81M | Dec 1, 2023 |
Combined live market cap for Popcat: $40.67M across 1 coin. Market data is live from DexScreener; figures are not investment advice.
The on-chain receipts for $POPCAT (the OG contract), pulled straight from the chain.
On-chain report
via helius · updated 23h agoHeld by the top 10 wallets.
- 1. 4xLp…9Qdg11.40%
- 2. CSSJ…95Jb6.63%
- 3. 51yZ…QU5j5.27%
- 4. 9Zif…oL2x4.15%
- 5. 5Q54…e4j13.46%
- 6. u6PJ…Xq2w2.40%
- 7. Dwdr…Eq1g2.35%
- 8. 6LY1…zkzF1.97%
- 9. 6GTY…8QHe1.91%
- 10. 2Xub…2Frd1.79%
- Top 10 wallets hold 41.3% of supply — moderately concentrated.
- 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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