A little-known Chinese animated film has become the unlikely center of a meme-token frenzy, with online attention pushing its box office from a few thousand yuan to more than 2.5 million yuan in days while a same-name cryptocurrency briefly approached a $30 million market value.
“Niulai,” an animated feature released on Aug. 5, had earned only 342 yuan on its opening day and just over 7,000 yuan during its first nine days in theaters, according to Maoyan Pro. The film’s prospects changed after Aug. 14, when social media users began circulating clips, screenshots and edited posters alongside discussion of a newly launched Niulai meme token.
By 10 a.m. on Aug. 16, the movie’s cumulative box office had reached 2.531 million yuan, Maoyan Pro data showed. The ticketing platform projected final revenue of about 18.376 million yuan, though such forecasts can move sharply as daily sales change.
The episode offers a vivid example of how crypto speculation can redirect online attention toward otherwise obscure cultural products. The token’s rapid rise gave users a new reason to share the film, while the film’s unusual imagery supplied ready-made material for memes, price-chart edits and remixes.
Token surged from about $10,000 to nearly $30 million
The Niulai token launched on Aug. 14 and reportedly rose from a market value of roughly $10,000 to nearly $30 million within three days, a gain commonly described online as about 3,000 times.
Market value, or market capitalization, is calculated by multiplying a token’s quoted price by its circulating supply. It can rise rapidly in thin and highly speculative markets, particularly where online attention brings in a rush of short-term trading activity.
A trader posting under the name Lana said they bought $99 worth of the token when its market value was around $10,000. In a later post on Aug. 15, Lana said the token’s market value had passed $12 million and estimated that a $100 position bought at earlier levels would have been worth more than $120,000.
Blockchain data analyst Ai also identified an address that bought 19 million Niulai tokens for about $120, according to material circulated around the token. Ai estimated that the position had produced gains exceeding $205,000 within two days. Such figures depend on the token’s quoted market price and do not necessarily show how much could be sold without affecting the price.
The token was also reported to have gained 215% in one day, with daily trading volume surpassing $7.3 million. No official connection between the token and the film’s producer was stated in the available information.
A parent-child animation turned into meme material
The film was produced by Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media Co., Ltd., a company established in March 2016. Corporate filings show the business changed its name in July 2021 from Dalian Jingyuan Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd. Its legal representative is listed as Xin.
“Niulai” is set on grassland and follows a calf named Niulai, who encounters a skylark and enters a dreamlike sequence. The film’s official materials classify it as a parent-child animation.
Those details became part of the online appeal. Users created derivative images that placed the calf and other artwork next to cryptocurrency-style price charts. Others edited the original promotional posters to reflect the token’s surge. As clips and screenshots reached audiences outside China, reposts and remixes expanded the conversation beyond the film’s original theatrical campaign.
The humor of the trend partly came from the contrast between the movie’s modest early performance and the extreme financial attention surrounding its name. A children’s animation that had initially attracted minimal ticket sales was suddenly being discussed in the language of token valuations, trading gains and viral speculation.
Screening-permit questions added another layer to the discussion
The film also drew questions online over how it had obtained approval for public theatrical screenings. In a public response, the film’s side said the review process assesses whether content complies with applicable requirements rather than judging a work’s commercial appeal, production polish or plot quality.
That response helped fuel further discussion about the film’s low-budget presentation and its sudden online revival. Rather than treating weak early ticket sales as an endpoint, users incorporated them into the meme itself, presenting the movie as an overlooked internet artifact transformed by crypto attention.
The sharp box-office increase does not show whether the film can retain viewers once the token-focused conversation fades. Maoyan Pro’s forecast of roughly 18.376 million yuan suggests the platform expects the viral exposure to continue generating ticket sales beyond the initial spike, but the projection remains tied to a highly unusual social-media cycle.
Viral attention brings a volatile audience
The Niulai episode also illustrates the risks attached to meme-token trading. Tokens built around internet trends can move in response to posts, screenshots and community momentum rather than a conventional business model, making their prices vulnerable to abrupt reversals when attention shifts.
A trader who buys after a token has already surged may face a much different market than early buyers who entered when liquidity and valuations were low. Publicized paper gains can attract additional speculation, yet they do not ensure that later participants can exit at comparable prices.
For the film, the token’s rise has created publicity that a conventional marketing campaign may not have delivered. For the token, the movie has supplied a recognizable character, a stream of shareable content and an expanding online audience. The connection has turned “Niulai” into a case study in how a meme coin can briefly reshape the commercial trajectory of a struggling film while exposing traders to one of crypto’s most unstable forms of speculation.
Curious how viral buzz moves markets? Learn about meme coins driving explosive price surges.
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