China’s viral flop animation ‘Niu Lai’ sends a same-name meme coin near $30 million on BNB Chain

Chinese animated film Niu Lai opened to almost no audience, posting just RMB 7,169 in box office revenue after nine days and selling a little over 200 tickets, according to BlockTempo. The film then took off online for the opposite reason studios usually hope for: viewers began sharing its rough visuals, awkward plot and stiff animation as a curiosity, pushing it into viral discussion. At the same time, a meme coin using the same name appeared on BNB Chain and surged sharply. GMGN data cited in the report shows the token, identified by a contract beginning with 0xbe...7777, launched on Aug. 13 and started a steep climb around 9 p.m. on Aug. 15. Its market capitalization briefly reached $29.06 million, with a 24-hour gain of more than 40x. The report also said the token had jumped into the roughly $26 million range overnight before falling back to around $20 million later in the morning. BlockTempo noted that the token has no authorization, partnership or endorsement from the film’s producers, director Xin Yumeng or the production company. The article also highlighted a mismatch between a roughly $1 million liquidity pool and a market cap above $26 million, warning that price swings could be extreme. Meanwhile, the film’s own commercial performance reversed sharply, with daily box office and screening counts climbing after the social-media backlash turned into attention.