Ghiblification (GHIBLI) Captures Market Interest—The Next Big Memecoin?

“Ghibli” is probably the most mentioned word of the week. Social media is flooded with anime-themed pictures as everyone uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT to create a Studio Ghibli-inspired image of themselves and others. This new internet trend has birthed a new word – Ghiblification.

Wasting no time, a slew of memecoin projects have emerged, themed around the Ghibli trend. Within a few days, these tokens have amassed market capitalizations worth millions of dollars as investors tap into this virality.

This article discusses how the Ghibli trend began and how Ghibli memecoins have performed. This would help you decide whether you should join the trendy Studio Ghibli-inspired meme token bandwagon.

Ghiblification — How It All Started

Ghiblification has its roots in the animation style of the Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli. Some of the studio’s top movies include Spirited Away, The Wind Rises, and Tales from Earthsea.

But how did the Ghibli trend start? On March 25th, OpenAI, a popular American artificial intelligence (AI) company, launched the GPT-4o image generation. This update replaces the firm’s image generator DALL-E and allows users to generate images directly from ChatGPT. The AI company promised “precise, accurate, photorealistic outputs” for its new feature.

Later that day, software engineer Grant Slatton shared an X post showing how he created an animated photo of his family and dog at a beach. He added that he generated the image using the Studio Ghibli anime theme.

tremendous alpha right now in sending your wife photos of yall converted to studio ghibli anime pic.twitter.com/FROszdFSfN

— Grant Slatton (@GrantSlatton) March 25, 2025

Although his post was not the first anime-themed image created with OpenAI’s GPT-4o, it was key in bringing the Ghiblification trend to the limelight. Shortly after Slatton’s post, many users across social media platforms started getting “Ghiblified.” The software engineer revealed that he received “hundreds of DMs” from people requesting these images for themselves and their families.

Even influential figures like Strategy’s co-founder Michael Saylor and Binance’s founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have joined the Ghibli frenzy. The official X account for the United States’ government-owned White House also shared a Ghibli-themed image, showing interest in the trend.

One of the driving factors behind the anime-themed art trend is the ease of creating it. To generate a Ghibli image, a user uploads a picture on GPT-4o and inputs a prompt requesting to create an image using Studio Ghibli style. Wait for a few minutes for the AI-generated image, then download it.

Amid the anime-themed frenzy, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, joked on March 27th that the company’s “GPUs are melting.” According to him, the firm’s servers are seemingly overwhelmed with the Studio Ghibli-inspired images. He added that those using ChatGPT’s free tier will soon be allowed three image generations daily.

Not Everyone Wants to be Ghiblified

Despite the mass adoption of the anime-themed art trend, not everyone welcomed it. For example, some raised concerns about copyright infringement. They claim that OpenAI allows users to create these artworks without permission, violating Studio Ghibli’s copyright. Others worry that OpenAI’s new product has affected many artists and wiped out many jobs and new art-focused startups.

Additionally, Studio Ghibli’s co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki, has since disapproved of AI-generated content, adding that he is “utterly disgusted” by it. OpenAI did not ignore some of these complaints. It imposed restrictions on some Ghibli-style prompts that violated its terms of use, including those featuring living artists.

Meanwhile, backlash from these individuals has not stopped people from creating anime-themed content. As of this writing, OpenAI continues to allow the creation of these artworks.

Emergence of Ghibli-Themed Memecoins

Shortly after the Ghibli trend went mainstream, memecoin creators launched tokens revolving around the anime-focused art style. One is Ghiblification (GHIBLI), a Solana-based meme token launched via Pump.fun, a popular memecoin generator. It is worth noting that the GHIBLI memecoin and its peers cut across three sections – AI, crypto, and the Ghibli trend.

Launched on March 27th, the Solana token quickly soared to a market cap valuation of over $28 million. Its all-time high (ATH) was $0.04082, recorded the following day. However, its trading price has since dropped to around $0.0082, representing a 78% drawback from its ATH. Still, crypto exchanges like Bitget currently feature the memecoin on their platform.

Other Ghibli-themed memecoins that arose include GhibliCZ (GHIBLI), launched on the BNB Chain, Shibli Inu (SHIBLI), and Ghibli Doge (GHIBLIDOGE). These tokens also had their share of market surges. However, their market values have decreased.

The Next Big Thing?

Ghibli-styled art is by far one of the fastest trends people across the globe embraced in a few days. Still, one thing is sure—like many other memes, the Ghibli frenzy will surely decrease with time. The same goes for memecoins themed around the trend. Hence, there is no certainty that it is the next big thing.

Still, investors can choose to entertain the idea that these memecoins could have sustainable utilities in the long run. If this occurs, they stand a chance to sit on gains.

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