The crypto space is so fond of its memes that it has elevated this passion into a form of investment.
The first memecoin DOGE created in 2013 used a popular meme of a puzzled shiba inu dog to make fun of the wild speculations on the crypto market. Ironically, it ended up boosting the speculations even further, gathering a large community, public support from Elon Musk, and a market cap of $88 billion at its peak in 2021. The latter has since collapsed to $13 billion, but it is still a significant number for what was essentially conceived as a joke.
What’s more, a multitude of new memecoins (many of which also dog-themed) has appeared, hoping to steal some of the DOGE’s limelight. Coingecko now counts dozens of memecoins with a total market cap of $23.5 billion. They differ in technology (while $DOGE is a fork off Bitcoin, its contender $SHIB is an Ethereum-based token), but the shared point is their reliance on the community. Somewhat similar to NFT collections, memecoin advocates deploy a great amount of effort and creativity to promote their coins and find them real utility. For example, the Shiba Inu team has built its own Layer-2 called Shibarium and intends to launch a .shib domain.
As the new crypto cycle is unfolding, new memecoins appear, and the old ones are getting a makeover, to the delight of reckless traders dreaming about making a fortune in one lucky strike. More specifically, three memecoins made headlines last week: Bonk ($BONK), which rallied 650% since the beginning of December (before correction), Dogwifhat ($WIF) with +650%, and Coq Inu ($COQ) with +1,120%. Interestingly, none of them are issued on Ethereum, previously the top choice for such assets.
Here’s what else you need to know about these newcomers.
BONK
Probably the most hyped memecoin of the season, BONK is now the third-largest memecoin after DOGE and SHIB. Launched in December 2022 on Solana, it was off to a bad start: the aftermath of the FTX crash and the related reputational damage have impacted Solana’s whole ecosystem. However, November’s recovery has brought BONK back to the map, and several Solana projects integrated the memecoin for use as payment for NFTs.
Catalyzed by listing at Coinbase and other major exchanges, BONK skyrocketed, gaining a stunning 650% by December 15th. It has corrected since, but the coin still boasts an impressive $1.1 billion market cap.
This spike in BONK's value also had a great impact on the sales of Solana's crypto-focused Saga smartphone. The phone saw an instant sell-out in the US market, driven by the excitement around the memecoin. Buyers of the Saga phone received a free airdrop of 30 million BONK tokens, which at their peak were worth over $800, significantly more than the $599 price of the phone itself. This promotion led to an extraordinary demand for the Saga phone, which had so far struggled commercially.
WIF
Dogwifhat ($WIF) is a new meme coin, also based on Solana, which has caught the attention of crypto traders and enthusiasts. Launched at the end of November, it has reached its current market cap of $125 million by being “literally just a dog wif a hat”.
Such a success marks the return of “dumb money” to the crypto markets, with one trader famously turning their $1,000 into over $100,000 surfing on the hype of dogs in beanies.
In the meantime, Solana gained another 35% in December, compared to a 10% gain for Ethereum.
COQ INU
Solana is not the only chain hosting the memecoin frenzy. Avalanche has received a noticeable boost from the new memecoin Coq Inu ($COQ), spiking almost 100% since the beginning of the month.
Coq Inu is a hen-themed coin that has risen dramatically since its launch on December 8th. It is now Avalanche’s shining star with a $228 million market cap and listings on several exchanges. This spectacular rise has also produced a success story for the headlines: a trader who invested $150 in $COQ has closed their position with a $240,000 gain.
With great risk comes great reward, and memecoins are a testament to that. While it is important to understand that this type of investment is largely a gamble, the memecoin craze is one of the strong signs of the crypto market revival.
Written by D.Center
