While internet trends typically come and go with little lasting impact, the release of OpenAI’s GPT-4o Image Generation on March 25, 2025, sparked something altogether different. Users quickly discovered they could create images mimicking Studio Ghibli‘s iconic style. The whimsical, hand-drawn aesthetic of films like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro suddenly flooded social media. Everyone wanted in. The #GhibliAI hashtag exploded, celebrities joined the bandwagon, and tech leaders couldn’t resist getting their own Ghibli-style portraits.
Then crypto did what crypto does best—it turned art into money. Fast. Like, ridiculously fast.
Crypto alchemists once again transformed pixels into profits at warp speed—nostalgia’s newest gold rush.
Just one day after GPT-4o’s release, the GHIBLI token launched on Solana. Its value skyrocketed 40,000% within 24 hours. Not a typo. The market cap hit $20.8 million with $84.3 million in trading volume. Over 20 Ghibli-themed tokens popped up overnight. Solana’s ecosystem boomed as most of these tokens chose its blockchain, driving up Total Value Locked metrics. Bitget Seed even listed the GHIBLI token, giving it an air of legitimacy.
The crypto community split on the phenomenon. Some praised it as a cultural moment bringing people together. Others pointed out the obvious: no team transparency, just vibes and nostalgia. But who needs fundamentals when you’ve got cute animated characters and FOMO?
Meanwhile, serious questions emerged about copyright. Was OpenAI trained on Ghibli’s artwork without permission? The company claims they prevent generations in the style of living artists. But the AI-generated images look suspiciously on-point. The debate continues. The cryptographic security underlying these new tokens provides an immutable record of ownership, despite the questionable origins of the artwork itself.
This bizarre intersection of AI innovation, childhood nostalgia, and speculative finance reveals how quickly online trends can morph into market movements. As noted by the user Lowskii, the viral nature of Ghibli-related content directly contributed to the emergence of new cryptocurrencies. Crypto influencers like Ripple executives David Schwartz and Garlinghouse shared their Ghibli portraits, further fueling the frenzy. It’s also a reminder of how meme culture drives crypto markets in ways traditional finance can’t comprehend. Graphic designers watch nervously as their skills become accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Will this trend last? Probably not. But the next one’s already brewing somewhere in the depths of a neural network.
