Cryptocurrencies were created as a way to decentralize the financial system. First, Bitcoin offered a way to make transactions and store value. Then, Ethereum allowed the creation of purpose-oriented applications, like Oracle markets or loan platforms. But blockchain technology also gave way to memecoins — cryptocurrencies whose main purpose is to be fun and pay homage to existing memes. They started as a joke, but several memecoins are already among the top-valued assets in the crypto market. They offer use cases beyond laughs, but the fun is their main feature. Buy Bitcoin with credit card and then exchange it for any memecoin available to get the hang of crypto trading!
Memecoins Bull Market Performance
The crypto market has had a great performance for the last few months. The price of coins and tokens started to grow steadily since October 2023. February 2024 saw a spike in the general prices and market values, and Bitcoin broke its ATH in March. Bull market forecast since 2023 have predicted a positive year for cryptos, taking into account some factors that could affect the market. The Bitcoin halving, which took place on April 19th, 2024, has historically driven the price upwards. Moreover, memecoins have seen a surge during the current bull run. The price of the most popular memecoins went up by 500% and even 1,000% from February to March 2024. This appreciation came after moderate gains in the previous month, as the market has been booming since the last quarter of 2023.
While the price of memecoins has experienced corrections, their price is still higher than before the surge. So it is safe to assume they will keep growing in the future.
The Benefits of Memecoins
Memecoins started as a joke but became a serious matter recently. Their fun approach to crypto development is seen as a way to attract new investors to the ecosystem. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has shown support for Dogecoin, the first meme-coin, which made the coin extremely popular. Although some actors in the crypto ecosystem aren’t as excited about memecoins, this type of asset is here to stay.
Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, agrees that memecoins have no value in the traditional sense, unlike other cryptocurrencies. However, their existence is a great way to draw new investors to established blockchains, like Ethereum or Solana. Raoul Pal, investor and former Goldman Sachs executive, also stated that the gaming mentality of newer generations could drive them to invest in memecoins. All these factors are together responsible for the recent growth of memecoins in the market.
Top 3 Meme Coins to Keep an Eye on in 2024
Most coins and tokens in the market are on the rise, but not all are equally valuable. Let’s explore the best 3 options to monitor in the coming months.
1. Dogwifhat (WIF)
Dogwifhat is a memecoin launched in November 2023 on the Solana network. It features a Shiba Inu dog with different hats and hairstyles and, despite holding no intrinsic value, it is already ranked #43 on CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, its price is $2.89, down from an ATH of $4.85. Its market capitalization is over $2.8 billion. Since its launch in November, its price has increased by over 1,550%.
2. Pepe (PEPE)
PEPE is an ERC-20 token, created to pay tribute to the Pepe the Frog meme. The developers state that it has no intrinsic value or expectation of financial return. Its founders are anonymous, and its goal is to reign in the memecoin ecosystem. It is ranked #41 on CoinMarketCap, with a $2.87 billion market capitalization. Its current price is $0.000006738, and it saw a great surge during February and March, reaching $0,00009977.
3. Floki Coin (FLOKI)
Floki is a memecoin running on Ethereum and BSC. It is based on Floki, the Shiba Inu dog owned by Elon Musk, although Musk has denied his relation to the project. It launched in 2021, and it’s the only one of these memecoins claiming to have a utility. The Floki ecosystem has finance products, an NFT marketplace, and a gaming metaverse. Despite that, it has the lowest market value of the three, ranking #59 on CoinMarketCap. The capitalization of the FLOKI token is $1.66 billion, and its price is $0.0001756. It gained over 860% from February to March when its price reached $0.0002964.
Key Takeaways from the Meme Coin Phenomenon
As we can see by the memecoins reviewed, these assets don’t need to offer any value to investors to gain traction. In fact, the only one of these coins that tries to provide any added utility is the one with the lowest market performance. This might happen because those utilities are already offered by larger blockchains, like Ethereum or Solana. If users need a marketplace of a Web3 game, they have plenty of alternatives. The purpose of memecoins is precisely their lack of purpose. They are a very lucrative game, where investors bet on the ones they enjoy more, without giving any second thought to their real-life applications.
