Interview with Memecoin Millionaire:Emil Panakhov’s Top Tips for Explosive 10X Gains

Emil Panakhov is an influencer, and the creator of a YouTube and Telegram channel focused on cryptocurrency. He’s a meme coin market expert and the founder of the Alpha DEX analytical ecosystem. Emil has been involved in the crypto sphere since 2017, and he shares his trading journey through his blog. In this interview, we'll dive into Emil's experience and uncover the key aspects of the meme coin space.

Watch the video version on our YouTube channel.

— Hi, Emil! How much have you made from meme coins?

— Hi! In 2021, I hit my personal financial record. After a four-year break in February, I returned to the market with 1 million rubles. My goal was to turn that into $1 million.

Honestly, I didn't reach that goal, but I achieved a record-breaking gain, growing my deposit 28 times. Most of my trades were in meme coins. The biggest gain I made from a meme coin was 33x, but 80% of coins result in losses. Still, thanks to those 20-30x gains, I stayed in the green. Even 1.5x is considered a good result.

— Does it make sense to hold memes long-term?

— In 2021, it was pure luck. When I set that goal, I just believed in it, and that’s all. Bitcoin had broken $50,000 by then, and I was studying the market 24/7. That’s when Shiba Inu came into my life. I learned about the token from one of Elon Musk's posts. I missed out on making money with it: had $800 left in my account, and as soon as I bought it, the price dropped, so I sold it after some time. Three days later, it did 100x and got listed on Gate.

Now I put $1,000 into every dog-themed meme coin.©

— Wait, so you sold, and then the coin rose?

— Yeah, those were some of the worst days of my life. I tried to distract with massages, going to the sauna, and spending time in nature, but I couldn't stop thinking about Shiba. It was the FOMO. So, I decided to invest $1,000 into every dog-themed meme token I see. Eventually, $10,000 turned into $150,000, and later, I made 12x on Shiba Inu.

— What happened next?

— That was just the beginning. I spent the entire summer analyzing data on DEXtool and Etherscan. The market started to rise again by fall, but 50% of the coins were still in the red. You must take profits at 2-3x; greed won’t get you far. Meme coins can blind you with euphoria, so protecting your capital is crucial. I made some good money in the fall, and then the market turned bearish. I sold everything.

— How did the FOMO affect you, and what did you learn from it?

—  I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I kept checking the app over and over, tracking everything, and ended up feeling lost. I wasn’t a newbie, but I didn’t understand DeFi. This experience taught me discipline, and more importantly, I gained self-reflection and insights. Now, I use that experience to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

— Okay, let's move on. How do you follow the market?

— Whales always provide the best on-chain analytics. I have a database of 400 wallets, but you shouldn’t copy every trade from just one wallet — that’ll lead you to losses. Whales switch wallets, and no one wants to hold liquidity in one place. My second source is Twitter(X). The third is influencers' Telegram channels. You look at which wallets they follow and start building your intel from there.

— Do you think Elon Musk or Vitalik Buterin were involved in meme coin teams?

— In 2021, whatever Elon Musk posts mattered, but that's no longer true. I don’t think he was part of any meme coin team. There’s an interesting narrative: two months after Floki launched, they raised about $2 million for Elon Musk’s brother’s charity organization. Buterin did something similar. Maybe public figures use this as a way to clean their money.

— Is it worth paying attention to Twitter callers?

— It can signify that the team has paid these callers and has money to back them up. I’m talking about big influencers like David Gokhshtein.

I had friends who made over $1 million from meme coins using signals but ended up losing it all and falling into depression. Everyone gets into crypto to make money, but the risk of losing everything is huge. In the long run, you must learn from your mistakes, just like in poker. If you go too fast, you'll quickly lose your deposit.

— About Elon Musk: he hyped Floki and Shiba Inu. Recently, he tried to hype something less known, like Grok. Have people stopped believing him?

— We don’t really pay attention to Musk anymore. Musk’s posts don’t have the same impact they used to — just because he posts something doesn’t mean everyone will rush to buy it. People buy on green candles and sell on red ones. That’s the paradox of the market. Buy the dips, sell the tops.

—  What would you recommend for a beginner just starting?

—  Anywhere there are emotions, there are losses. In crypto and meme coins, I use a simple hack. Memes usually launch on DEXs, tied to ETH or SOL. If you're trading on these blockchains, always trade in pairs with the main currency. Trade in ETH, and don’t focus on the current deposit. Look at the amount of SOL or ETH instead — it helps you stay focused. Getting used to this approach takes time, but it’s worth experimenting with.

—  What’s the first thing our readers should learn?

— Digital hygiene and a basic understanding of charts are essential. Technical analysis is important, but psychology is key. Market makers and bots are designed to shake you up psychologically. You must be ready to lose everything. You can enter the market with $1,000, but it's better to start with $10k or $100k, so you treat the money correctly. Diversify. You'll find one out of 10 different approaches that will work after a few months.

— Let’s return to tracking wallets. You mentioned monitoring 400 wallets. How do you manage that?

— In 2022, we launched a product called "Ushi" (which means "Bull" in Japanese). It’s an analytics app for DEXs. There’s no “money” button, but we help users find gems. In 2022, we realized there were a lot of issues with DEXs, so we moved to the open market. Most solutions are built for specialists: for snipers, developers, etc. We were the first to create indicators and a terminal for the average user, which is now integrated into Alpha DEX.

— How many users does Alpha DEX have now? And how do you monetize it?

—  We have 11,000 wallets using it per month. We monetize by taking a 1% fee from trades, which people don’t even notice on DEXs. The key is to offer a great interface. No one else on DEXs has interfaces like ours.

—  How many meme coins do you have in your portfolio?

— Back in 2021, having a portfolio full of meme coins was considered a scam. Only a few of us at conferences like Blockchain Life were talking about memes. By 2023, when Pepe was released, people were annoyed but also getting curious. By then, I already had a meme portfolio. All of those memes gave good returns, and now I’m holding 25%. I think it's dangerous to believe only in fundamental coins or memes. It's better to earn less profit but also take on less risk. The house always wins.

—  About tracking wallets. Can you share some tips on how to build such a database?

— Etherscan is the based resource of information. 

— Who are the whales?

1. Developers' wallets launching tokens. 
2. Influencers’ wallets who get information early. 
3. Someone who understands the market well and has a positive balance.

—  Okay, we see a whale getting in early. From your experience, how often do these cases happen?

— Some wallets don’t trade for six months after a successful deal. And then some wallets jump into everything, sell when something goes up, and move on. Those aren’t worth following. You need to consider market seasons.

— In your experience, who are these whales usually?

— It's hard to say since there’s no ID attached. You have to look at positive trades. Overall, most people lose in the market. The market is a zero-sum game: if someone wins, someone else loses. The point of the market is to attract new buyers to profit from them. So, whales are professionals with experience.

—  Are you currently buying and selling meme coins? How many do you have?

— I hold five meme coins for the long term. In my trading portfolio, I mostly lock in my gains.

— How many Xs make a trade successful for you?

—  My positions range from $1, $2, or $3,000. For me, 2-3X is already quite a success.

— Do you invest in short-term meme coins?

— We generally avoid meme coins that are meant for just 1-2 days. You might throw in $100-200, but that’s mostly just for the thrill.

—  Can the average user make money with meme coins?

—  It’s not easy at all. Most are scams. There’s very high volatility and many tricks to make you sell. If too many people hold a token, it can hinder its growth.

— Why was Pepe the only meme coin that grew against the market trend?

—  Pepe acts like a locomotive, similar to BTC. When Pepe rises, everything else tends to go up, too. During dumps, we saw wallets gradually accumulating and making moves.

— What’s your ranking of chains for meme coins?

—  Ethereum is my top choice due to the high fees. There are no small players there; if someone enters with a $300 fee, they’ll hold onto it for the long haul. I’m interested in seeing market cap growth rather than quick trades. Base and TON have potential, while SOL does not.

— What do you think will happen to Bitcoin and Ethereum?

—  My target sale price for Ethereum is $10,000-12,000, but eventually, it will surpass Bitcoin in market cap. Actual companies are invested in Ethereum. I believe it will overtake BTC, with meme coins being the main narrative in the coming months.

— Why do you support Base among L2 solutions?

— It’s supported by international influencers who couldn’t trade on Solana.

— Why didn’t you choose Arbitrum or Optimism?

—  It just turned out this way. Base is connected with Coinbase, and Coinbase is to Americans what Bybit is to CIS.

—  What do you think about infrastructure projects?

— If there’s a peak in the fall of 2024, there will likely be another peak in the fall of 2025. There’s no new big money coming into this market. 2021 volumes were much higher. Liquidity is moving into meme coins. Where will infrastructure projects get their funding if it’s all in meme coins?

— Retail investors are clearly like meme coins. What’s your take on this?

— The entire market is like meme coins. I’m in communities where most people aren’t media personalities but have large deposits. Many people hold meme coins, while others wait for a break-even market. I just don’t argue with the market and profit from meme coins.

—  Is Aptos the next Solana?

— Yes, I believe Aptos will be the next team to shake up the market. Technology matters to enthusiasts, but you need a team that knows how to promote and build the project. They’re working hard to get things moving. I believe the fundamentals will grow, but it depends on the market narrative. AI will be trendy, while GameFi will lag behind.

— Why do people buy Pepe with a $5 billion market cap?

—  It’s a bit crazy, and I think it’s mostly new investors. I currently have 11 X’s on Pepe and haven’t locked in my gains yet.

—  How did you learn about PEPE?

— I saw it on the first day but didn’t buy in. Then I watched as it hit half a million, then a million, and later $10-20 million, and eventually $100-200 million. When it reached $200 million, I realized it was going to a billion. But you can’t follow everything, so I got in late.

—  When a meme coin is listed on Binance, is that a signal to short it? Do you use this strategy?

— No, I don’t use margin trading. I just know to sell if I have a position. We only buy when the price drops. I’m not against futures, but they are a professional tool that requires even more attention. Futures are popular because exchanges pay well for affiliate programs; attractive screenshots with results also draw attention. Professionals usually trade with a maximum of 2x leverage.

— Thanks for the interview, Emil! 

Conclusion

Users shared their best insights from the interview in the comments, and we recommend checking them out. Here’s one of the comments:

1. Take your profits. Don’t be greedy. Patience pays off.
2. Average your deposit as the price falls.
3. After making a deposit, mentally say goodbye to it. If you win, you’ll be happy; you won’t be too upset if you lose.
4. There are no guarantees in crypto, especially with meme coins.
5. There are no victories without discipline. Trust only yourself, analyze the product, and do thorough research.

In our interview with Emil, we explored the meme coin market and gained insights into his vision for its future. Emil remains an outgoing person and shares his perspective on his Telegram channel.

You can find more interviews on our YouTube channel. We also post all announcements on our Telegram channel.