{"id":38002,"date":"2024-05-29T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=38002"},"modified":"2025-08-30T00:25:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T21:25:44","slug":"why-memecoins-surged-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/why-memecoins-surged-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Why memecoins surged in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">What are memecoins?<br \/><\/h2>\n<p>Memecoins are tokens with no practical utility at launch, chiefly riffing on internet humour, social narratives or events. Broadly, they are a tokenised version of network effects or public attention around a given phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>The first memecoin is generally regarded as <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-dogecoin-doge\">Dogecoin<\/a>. It was created back in 2013 as a joke about the rapidly growing number of cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, countless similar projects have appeared. Their popularity peaked in late 2023 and early 2024. According to Google Trends, peak interest in the term \u201cmemecoin\u201d was recorded in November 2023.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-eu.googleusercontent.com\/IR5IpubUOeWhiiylImvuSEG1lC9qZWVGTwtJh1oO647iCKKZqHaL0ARXUA0VWnzt4N8IoauXs2sUWlXYr7O7WsTBO877Xaxso7qHOdaNaz9zbVu4QYJZJ_gcCihbrSY_5HE8wtppYt6g9nXS-tKGC38\" alt=\"Why memecoins surged in 2024\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/trends.google.com\/trends\/explore?date=today%205-y&#038;q=memecoin&#038;hl=ru\">Google Trends<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By late May 2024, CoinMarketCap\u2019s dashboard <a href=\"https:\/\/coinmarketcap.com\/ru\/view\/memes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">includes<\/a> more than 2,300 tokens in the Memes category with a combined market capitalisation above $53bn. Yet the broader market of such tokens <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklog\/37282?single\">runs<\/a> to tens of thousands across various networks that monitoring services do not track.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Why did memecoins catch on?<\/h2>\n<p>Analysts at Binance <a href=\"https:\/\/public.bnbstatic.com\/static\/files\/research\/low-float-and-high-fdv-how-did-we-get-here.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">note<\/a> that the economic appeal of memecoins lies chiefly in the fact that, for the vast majority of such assets, market capitalisation equals their <span data-descr=\"Fully Diluted Valuation, fully diluted valuation\" class=\"old_tooltip\">FDV<\/span>. This indicates that creators unlock and release all coins into circulation at once, with no further issuance\u2014and therefore no dilution.<\/p>\n<p>According to Ethereum\u2019s founder Vitalik Buterin, there are three main reasons why mass-market users have become interested in such assets:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>their prices rise;\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>they are open and democratic;\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>they are fun.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Buterin also said such cryptocurrencies could become a new way to fund projects of public importance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\"><strong>What is the social import of memecoins?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The memecoin market has attracted not only those seeking profit but also those keen to spend on social projects.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021 Buterin directed more than $1bn in SHIB to the fight against coronavirus. Since 2014 the Dogecoin community has raised funds to send Jamaica\u2019s bobsleigh team to the Sochi Olympics, drill two water wells in Kenya and help with flood relief in Kashmir.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That is only a small part of the initiatives rooted in memecoins. For instance, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/how-web3-helps-animals-with-games-donations-and-memecoins\">there are<\/a> charities aiming to help pets. The main drivers of token adoption in this area are efficiency, accountability, accessibility, benefits and growth potential.<\/p>\n<p>Celebrities such as Elon Musk, who backed Dogecoin in 2021, along with influencers and crypto funds, played no small role in popularising the trend. Many users see memes as a retail-trader response in a <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/the-roaring-kittys-return-sparks-amc-and-gamestop-stock-rally\">standoff<\/a> with Wall Street that began in 2020 amid the surge in GameStop\u2019s shares.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Kang, a noted crypto advocate and former MMA fighter from Mechanism Capital, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklog\/36757\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">has described<\/a> memecoins as a qualitatively new asset class. In his view, they embody not only a jokey narrative but also other values, including identity, lifestyle and political beliefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Why are memecoins criticised?<\/h2>\n<p>Some analysts <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/memecoins-a-threat-to-the-crypto-industrys-growth-say-experts-from-a16z-and-compound\">argue<\/a> that the memecoin market resembles a risky casino and disguised gambling, akin to the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-an-ico-and-can-you-profit-from-it\">ICO<\/a> bubble of 2017. The popularity and ease of creating such assets could draw developers away from the industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The consequences could be more damaging than a bear market\u2014at least according to Michael Dempsey, managing partner of Compound\u2019s venture arm. a16z Crypto\u2019s CTO Eddie Lazzarin echoed the view, saying memes are not very interesting from a technical standpoint.<\/p>\n<p>Such tokens could also harm the industry\u2019s reputation. The boom in outlandish experiments is changing how parts of the public, regulators and entrepreneurs look at cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2024, for example, a schoolboy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/ru\/square\/post\/7647416979466\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">launched<\/a> the LIVEMOM memecoin on Solana\u2014and his mother bared her breasts on a livestream to draw attention to the project. Another case is the HANDS token, whose creator <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklog\/37273\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">held<\/a> a sheet under his chin reading \u201cNo hands \u2014 no <span data-descr=\"A scheme in which fraudsters abruptly shut down a project, disappear with users\u2019 funds, and leave victims holding worthless assets\" class=\"old_tooltip\">rug pull<\/span>\u201d while users pumped the token. At the peak he \u201ctricked\u201d backers out of 7 SOL.<\/p>\n<p>Extremely low financial and technological barriers to entry have spawned a huge number of coins. From early April to mid-May 2024 alone, more than 1m new tokens appeared on blockchains. According <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/over-1-million-new-tokens-emerge-on-blockchains-since-april\">to<\/a> Coinbase director Conor Grogan, this is twice as many as in the entire period from 2015 to 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Who invests in memecoins?<\/h2>\n<p>Beyond the retail hordes flooding into memecoins, institutions are also leaning into the trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In mid-May 2024 MarketVector, a subsidiary of American asset-management giant VanEck, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketvector.com\/indexes\/digital-assets\/marketvector-meme-coin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">launched<\/a> the Meme Coin Index, comprising Dogecoin (30.77%), Shiba Inu (28.34%), Pepe (14.51%), Dogwifhat (12.54%), Floki (7.14%) and BONK (6.7%). Over the past year the Meme Coin Index has risen by more than 280%.<\/p>\n<p>The Open Network team (<a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-ton\">TON<\/a>) in April 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/the-open-network-launches-memelandia-hub-for-meme-coins\">launched<\/a> Memelandia, a hub for memecoin developers. At the same time the BNB Chain team <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bnb-chain-launches-meme-coin-contest-with-prizes-up-to-1-million\">announced<\/a> it was ready to allocate up to $1m to creators of native memecoins.<\/p>\n<p>Other organisations are taking part, too. In late 2023 the Avalanche Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklog\/34992\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said<\/a> it would direct funds from the Culture Catalyst programme to invest in memecoins on its eponymous blockchain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How countless memecoins became a hallmark of the bull market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2113],"tags":[2118,1161,596],"class_list":["post-38002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptorium","tag-101-trading-and-investing","tag-memes","tag-tokens"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"100","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38004,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38002\/revisions\/38004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}