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Meme coin

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A meme coin (also spelled memecoin) is a cryptocurrency that originated from an internet meme or has some other humorous characteristic.[1]

The term is sometimes used interchangeably with the term shitcoin, which typically refers to a cryptocurrency with little to no value, authenticity, or utility.[2] It may be used in the broadest sense as a critique of the cryptocurrency market in its entirety — those based on particular memes such as "doge coin", celebrities like Coinye, and pump-and-dump schemes such as BitConnect — or it may be used to make cryptocurrency more accessible.[3]

The term is often used dismissively, comparing the value or performance of those cryptocurrencies to that of mainstream digital assets. Supporters, on the other hand, observe that some memecoins have acquired social currency and high market capitalizations.[3]

History

In late 2013, Dogecoin was released after being created as a joke on the Doge meme by software engineers. This sparked the creation of more meme coins. In October 2021, there were 124 meme coins circulating. Notable examples include Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.[3]

In early 2021, Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission banned meme coins as part of a crackdown on digital goods with "no clear objective or substance".[4] In late 2021, advertisements promoting the meme coin Floki Inu in London led to investigations around promoting the meme coin, considered to be an unregulated financial product by the United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).[5]

Meme coins increased in popularity in 2021 and 2022 when Elon Musk endorsed Dogecoin, one of the first meme coins.[6] He posted several tweets about the coin, including saying that Tesla-branded merchandise could be purchased with Dogecoin.[7][8] Musk was sued by investors who accused him of using Dogecoin as an unregistered security to operate a pyramid scheme.[9][10]

Meme coins have seen a resurgence following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election.[11][12][13] One such example is Fartcoin, whose valuation briefly surpassed $2 billion.[12][14][13] Trump himself launched the meme coin $Trump three days before his second inauguration.[15][16]

In February 2025, the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, announced a national memecoin, $CAR, on his official X account.[17] Soon after its launch, the project's X account was suspended amid questions about its legitimacy and because the announcement video had previously been flagged as a deepfake.[18] Despite continued promotion from Touadéra via his verified X account, the value of $CAR dropped by 95% on February 11—just one day after trading began.[19]

Reception

Commentators have compared meme coins with the speculative frenzy and collapse of the NFT market in 2022. American investor David Einhorn said, "We have reached the ‘Fartcoin’ stage of the market cycle ... Other than trading and speculation, it serves no other obvious purpose and fulfills no need that is not served elsewhere."[20] In January 2025, three US asset managers set out to launch exchange-traded funds investing in meme coins linked to Trump and Musk, which the Financial Times describes as "casino-like speculation".[21] In February, more than 700 different copycat and spam coins were sent to Trump's digital wallet by people apparently seeking to falsely suggest they had his endorsement.[22]

Notable meme coins

This list includes meme coins that have received significant amounts of media coverage:[23][24]

  • Dogecoin – A cryptocurrency created in 2014 that has been touted by Elon Musk since 2021. It has reached a market cap of $62 billion and become a top 10 coin.[25][26] Musk's tweets include "Dogecoin is the people's crypto", "No highs, no low, only Doge", and "One Word: Doge", and were associated with an increase in trading volume and value of the coin.[27] In November 2024, Trump announced that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead a new Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE for short.[28]
  • PNUT – refers to Peanut, an orphaned squirrel that was put down by New York authorities. Reached a circulating value of $1.2bn.
  • PEPE, referencing a comic frog character Pepe the Frog ($8.2bn).
  • BONK, a cartoon dog made after the collapse of exchange FTX ($3bn).
  • $HAWK – Released by Haliey Welch in December 2024, an American woman who became viral online for the "hawk tuah" meme, and reached a peak of $490 million before plummeting to $25 million. She was accused of promoting a pump-and-dump, and engaging in a rug pull scheme and insider trading.[29]
  • $Fartcoin ($2.5bn).
  • $Trump – Publicly announced on Trump's X and Truth Social accounts three days before his second presidential inauguration. A day later, the market cap reached $27 billion, with Trump companies' holdings at $20 billion. While some very early traders in the memecoin had large gains, as of early February 2025, other investors cumulatively lost $2 billion after the token's price crashed.[30]
  • $Melania – On January 19, 2025, Trump's wife Melania launched her own meme coin, $Melania.[31] By February 6, the coin had lost 90% of its value.[32]
  • $CAR – Announced on February 10, 2025 by the Central African Republic's president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, as the country's official meme coin and an "experiment" in national development.[33]
  • $LIBRA – Promoted by the president of Argentina Javier Milei on February 14, 2025, $LIBRA is considered by specialists a meme coin. Milei stated in a tweet that its purpose was to "incentivize the growth of the Argentine economy, funding small companies and Argentine ventures". The coin's value increased significantly after his endorsement but subsequently declined sharply. This post generated political controversy and led to an investigation into potential legal violations.[34][35]

See also

References

  1. ^ "meme coin - Slang Dictionary". Dictionary.com. 21 October 2021. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  2. ^ https://www.ft.com/content/02194361-a5b9-4bf0-9147-f36ba7759cf1
  3. ^ a b c "What are meme coins, floki currencies and Dogecoin-killers?". The Times of India. 22 October 2021. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  4. ^ Shah, Saqib (14 June 2021). "Thailand bans meme coins and NFTs as part of crypto crackdown". Engadget. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  5. ^ Sweney, Mark (17 November 2021). "Watchdog investigates tube adverts for Floki Inu cryptocurrency". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  6. ^ Mihindukulasuriya, Regina (12 June 2021). "If Elon Musk wrote this, the headline would be a meme & Dogecoin fortunes would've changed". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  7. ^ Thorbecke, Catherine (14 January 2022). "Dogecoin rallies after Elon Musk tweet". ABC News. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  8. ^ Bariso, Justin (27 January 2022). "Elon Musk Offered to Eat a Happy Meal on TV. McDonald's Response Was Perfect". Inc.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  9. ^ Bushard, Brian (16 June 2022). "Elon Musk, SpaceX And Tesla Sued For $258 Billion In Alleged Dogecoin 'Pyramid Scheme'". Forbes. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Elon Musk is accused of insider trading by investors in Dogecoin lawsuit | CNN Business". CNN. Reuters. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  11. ^ Wile, Rob (15 December 2024). "Memecoins like Fartcoin are riding Trump's victory to huge valuations. Experts say it may have only begun". NBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  12. ^ a b Quinn, Sental (17 December 2024). "Fartcoin rides memecoin surge following Trump's win". Salon.com. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  13. ^ a b Morris, Chris (16 December 2024). "What is Fartcoin? And why is it soaring right now?". Fast Company. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  14. ^ McGrath, Catherine (19 December 2024). "Ew: Fartcoin hits $1 billion market cap as memecoin market explodes". Fortune. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  15. ^ Goodman, Jasper (18 January 2025). "Trump launches crypto meme coin, ballooning net worth ahead of inauguration". Politico. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  16. ^ Faguy, Ana (18 January 2025). "Trump launches cryptocurrency with price rocketing". BBC News. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  17. ^ https://www.ft.com/content/d36700a4-023a-493e-85cf-2840d8b3ff78
  18. ^ https://www.ft.com/content/d36700a4-023a-493e-85cf-2840d8b3ff78
  19. ^ https://www.ft.com/content/d36700a4-023a-493e-85cf-2840d8b3ff78
  20. ^ Pound, Yun Li,Jesse (21 January 2025). "David Einhorn says we have reached the 'Fartcoin' stage of the market cycle". CNBC.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Johnson, Steve (28 January 2025). "Memecoin ETF filings spark concerns over 'casino-type' speculation". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  22. ^ Asgari, Nikou; Hawkins, Oliver; Hemingway, Eade (7 February 2025). "Donald Trump's memecoin copycats spark fears for investors". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  23. ^ Asgari, Nikou (4 December 2024). "Billion dollar squirrel: Trump effect fuels crypto's 'memecoin' boom". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  24. ^ "What's the value of Trump's new memecoin?". Financial Times. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  25. ^ "Dogecoin Project". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  26. ^ de Best, Raynor. "Market capitalization of Dogecoin". Statista. Retrieved 13 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ Isidore, Chris (4 February 2021). "Elon Musk tweeted. Dogecoin surged more than 50% | CNN Business". CNN.
  28. ^ Macheel, Tanaya (13 November 2024). "Dogecoin spikes after Trump announces a Department of Government Efficiency — DOGE". CNBC. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  29. ^ "Hawk Tuah girl: Online star faces crypto coin criticism". www.bbc.com. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  30. ^ Lipton, Eric; Yaffe-Bellany, David (9 February 2025). "Early Crypto Traders Had Speedy Profit on Trump Coin as Others Suffered Losses". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  31. ^ Taylor, Chloe (20 January 2025). "Melania Trump launches cryptocurrency ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration". CNBC. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  32. ^ Mulima, Monique; Shukla, Sidhartha (6 February 2025). "Melania Memecoin is Down 90 Percent From Peak as Novelty Value Wanes". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  33. ^ "Cryptocurrency: Central African Republic leader launches meme-coin 'experiment'". www.bbc.com. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  34. ^ Alcoba, Natalie; Cholakian Herrera, Lucía; Zhuang, Yan (15 February 2025). "Argentine Leader Draws Fire After Cratering of Crypto Coin He Promoted". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  35. ^ Tarricone, Manuel; Corti, Delfina (16 February 2025). "Javier Milei promocionó la criptomoneda $LIBRA que luego perdió su valor rápidamente: 5 claves para entender el tema" (in Spanish). Chequeado. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
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