Memcoins: how jokes became a digital currency

Memcoin Narrative

Cryptocurrency in the current conditions of digitalisation occupies a leading position among all virtual objects. The crypto coin has gained immense popularity due to its unique properties, namely, decentralised management and the ability to multiply its profitability several times. Despite its widespread acceptance among investors, traders and other stock market participants, it has not been spared from cultural phenomena such as jokes and widespread memes on social media and forums. As a result, the range of digital currencies has been diluted with another type of crypto called memcoins.

Definition of memcoins and their role in the cryptocurrency market

Memcoins are a form of cryptocurrency that has gained the right to exist, but has no fundamental value.

The original creators of memcoins are Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer. The enthusiastic programmers released the currency in 2013. They took as a basis the image of a dog breed Shiba Inu. The coin was complemented with the legendary phrase ‘wow’, for the writing of which a specific grammar was used.

The purpose of creating the token was to mock the rapid growth of Bitcoin and the general hype around it. Young people wanted to highlight the ridiculousness of the digital currency and its lack of seriousness. But this joke viruses in the Internet network, thereby creating a stir around the joke crypto.

In 2021, memcoin gained even more popularity due to the fact that Ilon Musk became interested in it. The inventor-engineer began to post publications with the image of this coin on his social media pages, which led to an increase in demand and value.

In 2024, memcoins took the leading position among all sectors of the cryptocurrency market. At the moment, their average yield exceeds 2400%, taking into account that three types were released only in March-April this year.

Statistics show that Dogecoin has outperformed its predecessors such as RWA, real world assents by 9 times. This virtual currency has generated at least 500 times more revenue than all other Layer 2, GameFi, DeFi combined.

Examples of successful memcoins and their impact on the market

Top memcoins that are leading in terms of market capitalisation:

Dogecoin (Doge) is the first cryptocurrency meme with the most immense popularity and recognition. Today, it has an average capitalisation of $17 billion. Its main circulation is through social networks. It is bought by more than 500 million users per day. The main purpose of acquisition is entertainment.

Shiba Inu (Dogecoin killer) is a token, which like its ancestor has the image of a dog. The coin gained wide recognition among investors in 2020 due to its low cost, original and exotic design. The coin differs from its main competitor in that it has its own SHIB ecosystem, which has platforms for trading memcoins, documentation for investment, and a destruction systеm. Its capitalisation is equal to $9.1 billion. The price per unit is 0.00008251.

Doge Father (Elon). This memcoin is created in honour of Ilon Musk, as it was he, as an entrepreneur, who contributed to the fact that this digital coin came into the public eye.

Safemoon. The reason for the popularity of this memcoin was viral marketing. It was this line of product promotion that made it possible for consumers to know that the token had a better exchange mechanism.

Pepecoin (PEPE). The coin is named after a famous character – PePe the frog. Users liked it because of its unique approach to design and good marketing. The currency functions on the Binance blockchain. Because of this support, it has a high transfer rate and low commissions. This variety has a limited number of coins, which means that money transfers kill 2% of the total mass. The total market value is $4.2 billion.

Bonk. Based on a meme about dogs. It is the first memcoin to be created on the Solana blockchain.

Hoge Finance (HOGE) is a deflationary token model whose main feature is self-combustion after a transaction.

Pitbull (PIT) is a community controlled coin. The name implies that the theme wraps around a pit bull dog.

Baby Doge Coin is the first memcoin created for the purpose of charity. Dogecoin fans worked on its development.

Floki Inu – the token is dedicated to Ilon Musk’s dog.

The listed popular memcoins are actively developing and accumulating their capital. Each coin has a specific purpose, thanks to which they practically do not compete with each other.

Advantages and opportunities of memcoins

Among the many enquiries on the Internet on the topic of cryptocurrency, the predominant question is ‘whether memcoins should be considered as a good means of short-term investment’. To this question, almost all experts unanimously answer that it is not only worthwhile, but also necessary. Why is it recommended to purchase memcoins?

Influencers and cryptocurrencies have been working closely together for a long time. Strong endorsements from celebrities and huge community appreciation show that memcoins can increase returns several times over.

Seamless accessibility. Memcoin can be purchased by anyone who has their own cryptocurrency wallet. They are freely available on various cryptocurrency exchanges.

High user engagement. Unobtrusive and fun design allows them to be promoted through informal communities such as cryptocurrency forums and entertainment platforms.

Viral marketing of memcoin promotes popularity, which in turn leads to capital appreciation.

Philanthropy. Tokens of this format make it possible to make collections for various social projects.

Solvency. Memcoins are gladly accepted for payment by online shops and services that carry out small transactions.

In addition to the above pluses, this type of virtual coin helps to improve communication and interaction between different representatives of the community. Social media and cryptocurrencies allow you to involve new investors, show initiative.

Mechanisms and features of memcoins

Memcoins, regardless of the fact that they were created for the purpose of mockery, received the status of a full-fledged cryptocurrency, which has the same properties as others.

These coins operate on the same principle as bitcoin, ethereum and others. Most of them function based on Ethereum, while applying ERC-20 smart contracts.

Among all the types, only Dogecoin functions on bitcoin technology. That is, they apply proof of work, allowing to mine ‘dogecoins’. The only difference from bitcoin is that the reward remains stable, rather than decreasing with each withdrawal.

Volatility and instability of memcoin prices

The issuance of digital currency is very active today. The cryptocurrency community is trying to create coins as much as possible, as they have a high yield potential of memcoins. Nevertheless, this figure has a number of disadvantages, which in general do not allow to declare with 100% confidence about the reliability and prospects of this virtual financial instrument.

The volatility of memcoins is highly susceptible to changes. The price of the token depends on the opinion of influencers and the community. Any harsh negative remark about its appearance or behaviour can wipe the coin into powder in a second.

Lack of security and normative backing. Currency was not originally created as a coin, but simply for the sake of being. This attitude has played havoc with it. Because of this, it has no protection against inflation, hacking, and other economic situations. This state of affairs has forced the developers to inсlude memcoin in the NFT systеm, due to which the owners get copyrights and other privileges.

Speculative investments are the bane of memcoins. Often ‘holders’ of coins deliberately inflate its value, thus creating artificial demand. In the cryptocurrency community, this scheme is called Pump and Dump. Such an increase threatens that soon there will be a sharp collapse, and the owners of the coin will suffer huge losses.

Lack of transparency. Currently, every third programmer is involved in the issuance of memcoins. In this regard, many names remain anonymous, which in turn can lead to unforeseen situations.

Despite the impressive risks of memcoins, the emergence of coins such as Dogecoin has had an overall positive impact on the development of the cryptocurrency world. It has shown that it is not always necessary to have real ambassadors to create something worthwhile and interesting.

The relationship between memcoins and decentralised finance

Memcoins and DeFi are closely related to each other, as both are part of the huge cryptocurrency world. The main aspects of their interaction are:

‘Joke’ coin is allowed to be traded on decentralised exchanges.

Memcoins can be left for long-term storage because of the provision of users to take part in steaking, farming.

Cryptocurrency can act as collateral for loans and borrowings.

The playful and entertaining nature of digital currency allows marketing to be leveraged to increase engagement and expand the crypto ecosystem as a whole.

Memcoin Forecasts and Trends

The future of memcoins depends on many factors, but unequivocally it has one. Some coins will certainly get lost among the huge amount of crypto, some will break into the leaders and will be able to gain a foothold there. The main reasons for the promising development of the joke coin:

The social impact on prices and general development has led to memcoin being officially listed on significant exchanges. Such a decision shows that the coin has received the status of ‘real’ and is fit for use.

Memcoin is a good means of attracting new investors. This is due to the fact that their popularity is supported by many celebrities and powerful companies.

In addition, memcoins open new horizons of opportunities and are good generators of ideas, despite their volatility and speculation by fraudulent organisations.

Conclusion

Memcoins are a coin that justifiably deserves attention. Financial transactions with this digital currency will definitely be a success over short-term distances.

Nevertheless, investing in this kind of cryptocurrency should be done correctly and cautiously, thoroughly weighing all the pros and cons.

If there is a desire to try to work with this coin, AnyExchange is ready to provide its services at any time of the day and night. This platform offers only the most up-to-date and most favourable exchange rates. Money transfers are always safe, fast and accessible.