China’s ‘Worst Movie’ Goes Viral, Then Its Memecoin Rockets From $10K to $45M

Points of Focus

• Niu Lai, the film, earned $1,480 in its first 10 days after release.
• A memecoin using its name reached a $47-million market cap.
• A developer faked a CZ endorsement using privileged contract access.

Niu Lai, a Chinese animated film, earned about 10,000 yuan ($1,480) in its first 10 days in theaters, according to NBC News, which reported the film was made over five years by a two-person team.

A Chinese animated film made about $1,000 at the box office in its first 9 days.

236 people saw it.

Then the internet found it, and now 牛来 (Niu Lai) is now one of the most talked-about memecoins on BNB Chain. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/gWHMNSDhqU

— MetaMask 🦊 (@MetaMask) August 18, 2026

Reviewers called the animation “ugly” and “eerie,” and the ridicule turned the film into a social media phenomenon, pushing box office earnings past 14.9 million yuan ($2.1 million), according to Cartoon Brew’s report of Maoyan ticketing data.

A developer faked a CZ endorsement to move the token

A BNB Chain memecoin using the film’s name and imagery surged more than 150x in a single 24-hour window, according to Phemex Academy, reaching a market cap that briefly exceeded $47 million.

PANews Feature | From Viral Cartoon to $47M Meme Coin: How Niu Lai Became China’s Latest Attention Trade

China’s animated film Niu Lai has unexpectedly gone viral, with the frenzy spreading from theaters and social media to stocks and crypto.

Despite its rough production and… pic.twitter.com/5MyxGURN8K

— PANONY (@PANONYGroup) August 17, 2026

Part of that surge traces to a fabricated signal, not organic attention. Arkham data showed three token burns from Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s public donation wallet, including 4,444 Niu Lai tokens, appearing to suggest Zhao himself was clearing out the token in a symbolic gesture.

Bitcoin Sistemi’s onchain review found otherwise: The Niu Lai burn was executed by the token’s own developer wallet, which used privileged authority written into the smart contract to forcibly pull the tokens out of Zhao’s address and send them to a burn wallet without his involvement.

The token has no locked supply and no verified holder data

The token carries a fixed supply of 1 billion, with the self-reported circulating supply already at 100%, meaning no team allocation remains locked or scheduled to unlock later, according to Phemex Academy’s review of the contract. That structure removes the risk of a future token unlock crashing the price, but it does not address concentration among early wallets.

The same PANews report describes the attention spilling beyond crypto into China’s A-share market, where stocks containing “Niu,” the Chinese word for “bull,” saw increased trading interest, wordplay several commentators tied to the film’s literal meaning, “the bull is coming.”

What’s verified, and what still isn’t

Niu Lai’s theatrical run continues in cities that haven’t pulled it. Whoever controls the developer wallet that manufactured the CZ burn has not been publicly identified, and the film’s local removal in Dalian traces to a single unverified secondary report.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Memecoins are highly volatile, speculative assets. Readers should conduct independent research before making any investment decisions.