Today’s meme coin projects typically rely on one of three core strategies during their pre-sale phase. Some pursue content-led visibility by placing stories across indexed media — a method known as Barnacle SEO. Others harness KOL-driven momentum, tapping into meme virality and influencer amplification. A third group leans on private outreach within closed communities.
Each method has its own internal logic. But only Barnacle SEO consistently scales across projects, providing the clearest view of campaigns visible to the broader investor audience. From late 2024 through early 2025, our analytics team tracked 66 meme coin projects that used Barnacle SEO during their pre-sales.
Disclaimer: While this doesn’t capture the full spectrum of pre-sale activity, it represents a statistically meaningful cross-section of the meme coin fundraising landscape.
Key Takeaways
What we found was a striking pattern, particularly evident between February and May 2025: while the average project raised around $34,000 per day, most failed to reach even $1,100 daily – and only the top 5% pulled in more than $85,000 per day.
Originally published by Mike Ermolaev on BeInCrypto and underpinned by proprietary data from Outset PR’s internal monitoring, this report reveals:
– How meme coin fundraising is shifting between 2024 and 2025
– Why a small elite consistently captures the lion’s share while most projects barely register
Finding 1: In 2024, capital waited for permission
Throughout late 2024, meme coin fundraising played it safe. The data sourced from our internal fundraising tracker and Coinrank’s Crypto Fear and Greed Index shows investors followed the mood, not the market.
– Weekly capital flows stayed low when fear dominated, then surging only after optimism took hold.
– Once the Crypto Fear & Greed Index soared past 80, fundraising hit a cycle peak.
But in 2025, that behavior began to break down.
Finding 2: In 2025, money moved long before sentiment did
Between February and May 2025, meme coin fundraising more than doubled, but not because the market was euphoric. In fact, investors were allocating during peak fear – and accelerating their bets well ahead of any sentiment rebound.
– As the Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit multi-month lows, fundraising volumes stayed strong.
– When sentiment finally began to recover, the biggest rounds had already been closed.
This behavioral shift marks a turning point in how meme coin projects raise funds – from reactive hype cycles to strategic early positioning. However, the real concentration of that capital is hard to ignore.
Finding 3: Five projects took two-thirds, the rest watched
Between February and May 2025 – the peak of meme coin fundraising activity – the numbers revealed a stark reality: capital doesn’t spread evenly. It is highly centralized.
– Just five out of all new projects reviewed captured nearly two-thirds of all funds raised.
– The next five claimed another chunk while the remaining 56 were left fighting over scraps.
Full breakdown, full context
Mike’s report suggests meme coin fundraising is evolving into a winner-takes-all arena, where visibility, timing, and strategy determine who walks away with the capital. Built on Outset PR’s internal tracking from real-world meme coin launches, it is the first public look at what actually works in pre-sale fundraising – before the sentiment shifts, and before the charts tell the story.
