Anyone who has watched the crypto market develop can attest to the fact that every so often a meme coin breaks through and does something amazing. The history and current state of meme coins are unique in many aspects. These digital assets combine blockchain security with the moment and humor to create a new memory. Here’s a look into meme coins and how they continue to surprise traders even in today’s diverse market.
Strong Demand
There is a strong demand for meme coins in the market today. Part of this demand comes from the success of past projects. Some of the most memorable crypto platforms are meme coins. They are often referenced by celebrities and other people with massive followings. This combination of culture and technology makes meme coins a rarity in the market.
What are Meme Coins?
Meme coins are crypto projects that rely on popular memes to help make their platforms more relatable. People can see memes as a way to soften the onboarding process. When you have a project like Dogecoin where it’s making fun of the seriousness of other platforms, it helps to lighten the entire mode.
Meme coins embody the fact that cryptocurrencies don’t have to be serious or in any form. They can be as creative as the people who develop and use them. In this way, meme coins represent the evolution of the market. These tokens have gone from simple Gen 1 projects to diverse fully encompassing DeFi networks.
Why Meme Coins Make a Difference
There are a lot of reasons why meme coins continue to surface and gain popularity. For one, they capture the feeling of the moment. Memes are relative to their time. Some memes make no sense today but when they were released they were all the craze. Part of the demand of memes is that they capture the moment.
The earliest memes appeared in 1920s comics. The first recorded printed meme came in the form of two side-by-side photos. One read “what you think you look like” with a diaper gentlemen, and the other read, “what you really look like.” The second gentleman was disheveled.
Today, it would be hard to imagine the internet without memes. Social media has proven to be one of the driving factors that have helped memes to achieve their status as the universal way to communicate humorous concepts. Memes today are a normal part of social media. They convey everything from political to personal feelings.
Notably Meme Coins
There have been some amazing meme projects to grace the market since its earliest days. Reversely, there have been much more flops than successes. The meme coin game is more about speculation rather than long-term saving like Bitcoin or META 1 Coin. Despite this shortcoming, they provide an amusing way for people to participate in the decentralized economy. Here are some of the most notable meme coins to enter the market.
Dogecoin
Dogecoin was an early entrance into the market. The project entered the market back in 2013. At the time, the developers, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer wanted to create a token that mimicked Bitcoin but was much less serious. They created the token as a joke for a Reddit group at first. Little did they know that their project would one day be one of the most popular coins in the world.
Dogecoin is a first-generation cryptocurrency. As such, its primary purpose is to act as a digital currency. First-generation tokens like Bitcoin don’t have smart contract programmability like second-generation and past networks. Their main purpose was to provide a permissionless and censorship-resistant form of decentralized currency to the public.
One of the most interesting facts about Dogecoin was that it is so similar to Bitcoin. When asked about the creation process, the developers responded that the process took around 3 hours to complete. The project’s developers only made minor changes at first to the Bitcoin core coding to create the project.
For example, they changed the term miners to diggers. They also made some significant alterations such as changing the mining algorithm to prevent the use of high-powered ASIC miners. Dogecoin has some major changes such as unlimited supply and faster block times as well..
The decision to alter the consensus algorithm prevented the use of high-powered mining rigs for some time. Eventually, there were ASIC miners created to mine the network. Despite their introduction. It was still easier to mine Dogecoin than Bitcoin at the time. It’s also less expensive when discussing mining rigs and other requirements.
A Rise to Fame
Dogecoin is a project that has captured the attention of the entire market and led to the creation of a variety of popular spin-offs. The Dogecoin project uses the still popular Shiba Inu meme as its core theme. The project has made this meme a household recognizable name.
Dogecoin has had a bumpy start. When the project launched it succeeded in raising a lot of funding but only days later, the network’s wallets were hacked. The hack resulted in massive losses for Dogecoin holders but the losses weren’t for long. The community banned together and through donations, every DOGE that was stolen was replaced.
These actions showed that the goodwill and light-hearted nature of the project had developed into something much greater. Today, Dogecoin remains a pioneering force in the market with the project having funded many humanitarian efforts. Dogecoin has funded projects that helped autism and many other worthy causes. They even sponsored the Jamaican bobsled team to the Olympics one year.
DeFi Meme Coins
The introduction of DeFi networks to the sector changed the meme coin market substantially. For the first time, meme coins could be used to create low-risk passive income. Staking, farming, and other protocols make it easy to generate rewards with minimal risk.
Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu is another popular meme coin that changed the market. The project takes obvious inspiration from Dogecoin as it builds on the Shiba Inu meme concept and integrates DeFi protocols and a unique pricing structure to help the average trader achieve their financial goals.
Shiba Inu entered the market in 2020. A group of anonymous developers created the token as an experiment. One of the unique aspects of the project was its super low cost. The developers wanted to make it so that anyone could own millions of Shiba Inu. If the project could push value, then all of these holders could see massive returns.
The developer also wanted to target the Dogecoin crowd. In its early days many people labeled Shiba Inu a Dogecoin killer. However, time has shown that both of the projects can coexist in the market with no issues. Shiba Inu has some unique aspects that make it a project that has gained popularity in its own right.
Shiba Inu was designed to offer a lot more usability as a fourth-generation cryptocurrency. The network relies on a multi-token approach to support its activities and high performance. SHIB is the main utility token. Its purpose is to pay fees and rewards. This ERC-20 compatible token can leverage the full Ethereum ecosystem which improves its usability considerably.
Pepe Coin
The crypto market was set on fire recently with the massive success of the Pepe Coin project. This fourth-generation DeFi token combines many of the popular aspects of DeFi networks including staking capabilities and more. Notably, Pepe Coin made headlines when it became the fastest growing token of 2023.
The Pepe Coin project is based on the hugely popular Pepe the Frog meme. The meme became popular in 2005 and has remained a staple in the social media community ever since. The original Pepe the Frog meme was based on an appearance on Boy’s Club. This online cartoon saw limited success but Pepe has outlived the creator’s wildest dreams.
Pepe Coin raised eyebrows after securing 7000% returns for all early investors. The project has since lost some of its momentum but the excitement surrounding the project is still palpable with many now considering this project to be the top meme coin network in operation.
Pepe Coin is an ERC-20 token. The protocol is unique in that it integrates a rewards system designed to encourage long-term saving. This strategy is a far cry from earlier meme coins that were designed simply for speculation. There are depreciation mechanisms that burn tokens as well which helps to promote more demand.
The founders of the Pepe Coin project have chosen to remain anonymous. This strategy is popular in the DeFi world for many reasons. For one, it makes it easier for the community to exercise their opinions via voting mechanisms. Additionally, it ensures the project doesn’t get pegged to a particular person such as Vitalek Buterin and Ethereum.
Meme Coins and NFT tech
Non fungible tokens are another popular way in which meme coins continue to expand their reach. NFT tokens are verifiable unique digital assets. They can represent a single on or off-chain item which makes them ideal for collectors. Many meme coin projects have now integrated NFT tech to create collectibles for the community.
NFT Meme Coins have the added advantage of high scarcity. In many instances, the token may be one of only a few featuring unique meme-inspired art. NFTs can also be used to bring this art into the metaverse and other digital atmospheres. There are even people who have their NFT artwork set up in their virtual yards for all to see.
Great For trading – Not for Saving
Meme Coins have proven to be a great way for speculative traders to enter the market. The integration of NFT tech has even made these tokens fall into the collector’s status recently. These developments and many more are what continue to make meme coins smart for traders to consider. Despite their many advantages, there are still some disadvantages you should look at.
Meme Coins are a great tool for traders who want to get into speculative options. These projects are known to gain and lose value quickly. As such, you may need to monitor your meme coin collection to avoid missing the opportunity to maximize returns. The adage of “buy low, sell high” is even more important when discussing meme coins since they are based on social cues of the time.
Better Savings Option
If you want to store value then a better option would be to consider a DeFi bank over meme coins. DeFi banks like META VAULT payout consistent 10% APY on your holdings. They require no sign up applications and are open to anyone with high-speed internet and a smartphone.
Unlike meme coins, these networks rely on specially created digital assets called safehaven tokens. The META 1 Coin is a next-generation token that provides stability through the use of a basket of gold-related assets as reserves. This structure enables decoupling from the volatility of the market. It also provides the token with appreciation when the value of the gold-related assets rises.
The META VAULT supports easy onboarding which makes it simple to integrate into your saving strategy. There is a direct fiat-to-crypto conversion tool called the Onramper Portal This helpful interface makes it easy to convert +50 fiat currencies into META 1 Coins in seconds.
The META VAULT makes it easy to spend your returns like fiat currency. The bank provides users with a crypto debit card. The META VAULT MasterCard connects directly to your wallet. When you swipe to pay, the system converts the corresponding value to fiat currency and sends it.
Memes are Modern Art
Like it or not, memes are here to stay. As such, meme coins are set to have more success as the popularity of these projects continues to soar. Pepe Coin has shown the world that meme coins still have the potential to pull genuine returns despite the market’s slow movement. You can expects to see even more memories enter service as Pepe Coin has been an inspiration to many.