The “Ghibli” frenzy has swept the Internet over the past three days. Following Sam Altman’s announcement of an AI image feature for ChatGPT-4o, Studio Ghibli anime-inspired memecoins have flooded the crypto market, according to a CoinMarketCap report on Friday, March 28. Tokens like GhibliCZ, Shibli Inu, and Ghibli Doge have surged this week, amplifying risks of scams and financial losses. So far, Ghiblification (GHIBLI) has generated the most buzz in the memecoin market, as per multiple reports.
Ghibli-Mania, Ghiblification Token: Everything to Know About
On March 25, ChatGPT-4o introduced image generation capabilities for its paid subscribers. Following Altman’s announcement, social media quickly became saturated with images inspired by Studio Ghibli’s iconic animation style.
Studio Ghibli, Inc. is a Tokyo, Japan-based animation studio. Founded in 1985, the studio has been producing anime movies, several of which are highly acclaimed and have won awards in the anime category. As per RottenTomatoes, some famous films by the Ghibli Studios include — Grave of The Fireflies (1998), Spirited Away (2001), and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) among others.
As per CoinDesk, a bunch of Ghibli-themed memecoins erupted on the Solana and Ethereum blockchains in the last three days.
GhibliDoge, Ghibli Rizzler, Ghibli Sigma, Ghibli Mona Lisa are some of the Ghibli-styled tokens that are making the rounds in the market, The Street reported.
Ghiblification (GHIBLI) — a Solana-based token, however, stole the spotlight after its reported launch on March 26.
As per CoinMarketCap, Ghiblification ($GHIBLI) reached a valuation of $31.24 million (roughly Rs. 266 crore) on Friday, March 28. Currently trading at $0.02998 (roughly Rs. 2.5), the token has surged by 46.5 percent in the last 24 hours. According to CoinGecko, over 999 million GHIBLI tokens are in circulation, with a maximum supply capped at one billion. Major exchanges like Kraken, Gate.io, and BingX have listed the token for trading.
:loud_sound: $GHIBLI is now available for trading on Kraken!
:heavy_check_mark:Deposits & withdrawals are enabled
:tada: Trading is now live!
Trade here :arrow_heading_down:https://t.co/TQaUWr0gfy
*Geographic restrictions apply pic.twitter.com/DXAxhhywdL
— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) March 27, 2025
:fire: New Listing: $GHIBLI from #Gateio Pilot Section @ghiblifi
:small_blue_diamond: Trading Pair: $GHIBLI / $USDT
:small_blue_diamond: Trading Starts: 02:00 AM, March 28th (UTC)Trade: https://t.co/HX2QMIYfni
Seize the next potential token: https://t.co/iZdPWzFPNW
More: https://t.co/jKBFLPElc3#MemeBox… pic.twitter.com/WOkx8tRHPm
— Gate.io (@Gate_io) March 28, 2025
The majority of these memecoins are created by unknown developers, making it nearly impossible to verify their legitimacy or safety for investment. The few available vetting methods are primarily accessible to those skilled with advanced Web3 tools. Investors are urged to exercise caution to avoid losses amid the ongoing Ghibli-fuelled hype.
Elon Musk, CZ Join the Craze
While ChatGPT-4o offers Ghibli-style image generation to its paid users, platforms like X’s Grok provide similar features for free. As a result, social media platforms like Instagram and X have transformed into a vibrant anime wonderland. The trend has drawn attention from high-profile figures, further fuelling the hype.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined the craze by sharing a Ghibli-inspired image of himself holding a Shiba Inu dog against a Lion King-themed backdrop. Notably, Shiba Inu dogs are popular mascots for major crypto projects like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).
Theme of the day pic.twitter.com/2ioG0StAxL
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2025
Binance co-founder and former CEO, Changpeng Zhao also joined the trend and re-created his profile picture on X in Ghibli style. White House crypto czar, David Sacks also embraced the craze and posted a Ghibli-style photo of himself with US President Donald Trump working in the office.
I am probably the last guy to try this. Not going to change my pfp, as it will put the bluetick into review mode again. And I quite like my current non-ghibli pfp. pic.twitter.com/QjusBXDQR0
— CZ :large_orange_diamond: BNB (@cz_binance) March 27, 2025
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) March 27, 2025
Reacting to the hyper-buzz of this AI image generation feature on ChatGPT, Altman announced some more details on Friday, March 28.
“It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT, but our GPUs are melting,” the OpenAI chief posted on X. “We are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. hopefully won’t be long! ChatGPT free tier will get three generations per day soon.”
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