The Past and Present of MeMe Coin: From Internet Joke to Digital Asset

Preface

Imagine if your favorite internet meme suddenly became a tradable digital asset, doesn't it feel both absurd and interesting?

These seemingly joking products can rise to a market value of billions of dollars, which many find incredible. The value of these digital assets is largely driven by internet jokes, social media popularity, and consensus within online communities. Does it sound like a grand joke?

But this is MeMe coin, a peculiar phenomenon born from internet humor that can stir waves in the financial market. These seemingly unserious digital assets are attracting a large amount of capital and attention at an astonishing speed. This article will take you into the wonderful and crazy world of MeMe coin, delving into its origins and possible future directions.

Originating from "Doge": The Origin of MeMe Coin

MeMe coin, as the name suggests, refers to those cryptocurrencies inspired by internet memes. Their emergence is often filled with mockery and entertainment, which is fundamentally different from traditional cryptocurrencies that claim disruptive technology or aim to solve real problems. You may see various animal avatars, popular memes, or even celebrities printed on these digital assets, and their existence seems to be for a laugh, while also checking if they can stir up a wave in the market.

However, it is this seemingly "unserious" characteristic that has become the unique charm of MeMe coin. They do not have the complex mining mechanisms and total supply limits like Bitcoin, nor do they attempt to build a vast decentralized application ecosystem like Ethereum. The value of MeMe coin often comes from community consensus and the viral spread on social media. A popular meme, a resonating tweet, or even just a joke can instantly make an obscure MeMe coin go viral, with its price rising accordingly. This phenomenon may seem difficult to understand at first glance, but it precisely reflects the increasing influence of social and cultural factors on financial markets in the digital age. People's curiosity about novelty, desire for community belonging, and dreams of quick wealth are all reflected to some extent in the world of MeMe coin. This may also indicate that in the future financial landscape, entertainment, community participation, and viral propagation will become an undeniable force, attracting a new generation of investors who may not be interested in traditional financial instruments.

If we talk about the pioneer of MeMe coin, it must be Dogecoin.

This cryptocurrency, created at the end of 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, was originally intended as a joke. Palmer first mentioned Dogecoin publicly on November 28, 2013, joking on social media, "Investing in Dogecoin, I'm sure this is the next big thing." Its inspiration came from the "Doge" meme that was all the rage on the internet at the time—a picture of a Shiba Inu's face with colorful text and humorous internal monologues. Palmer subsequently created the Dogecoin.com website, while Markus completed the development of Dogecoin in just three hours, most of which was spent changing the client text to Comic Sans font. The two founders probably never anticipated that this joke project would quickly gain popularity and attract astonishing attention and users in just a few weeks.

In its early days, Dogecoin was primarily used for "tipping" on social media platforms, allowing users to reward creators who posted interesting or valuable content with small amounts of Dogecoin. This relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere attracted a loyal following, forming a vibrant community. Unexpectedly, the early Dogecoin community also demonstrated a charitable spirit; for example, in 2014, they raised $25,000 for the Jamaican bobsled team, which was unable to secure enough funding to participate in the Sochi Winter Olympics, and donated $30,000 to a clean water project in Kenya.

It is worth mentioning that before Dogecoin, Billy Markus also created another cryptocurrency called Bellscoin in 2013, inspired by Nintendo's game "Animal Crossing". Dogecoin is actually a fork of the Bellscoin code.

In 2021, a well-known figure in the tech industry mentioned DOGE multiple times on social media, pushing it into a global craze, with its price surging by over 8000% at one point and its market capitalization exceeding $88 billion. This initially joking project gradually accumulated huge market value and influence in the following years. This fully demonstrates that a seemingly unserious project, if it can cleverly integrate with popular online culture and form a strong community consensus, can also achieve unexpected success, laying the foundation for the subsequent emergence of numerous MeMe coins.

From Pets to President: The Wild Evolution of MeMe Coin

After the unexpected success of Dogecoin, a variety of MeMe coins have emerged like mushrooms after rain, as if the cryptocurrency world has experienced a "Cambrian explosion of life," with numerous digital assets themed around cute animals, characters, current events, or popular memes. Among the most eye-catching is Shiba Inu coin, often referred to as the "Dogecoin killer," which was launched in August 2020. Shiba Inu coin is also themed around Shiba Inu dogs, attempting to replicate Dogecoin's success and has built its own large community called the "SHIB Army." Bonk coin on the Solana chain is another rapidly rising MeMe coin, launched at the end of 2022, and is the first dog-themed MeMe coin in the Solana ecosystem. Another highly regarded MeMe coin is Pepe coin, which reignited interest in MeMe coins in 2023, inspired by the famous "Pepe the Frog" meme. Additionally, there are newcomers like dogwifhat, which features a Shiba Inu wearing a pink knitted hat.

In addition to these "established" powerhouses, the world of MeMe coins continues to see new participants emerge, drawing inspiration from a more diverse range of sources. For example, cat-themed MeMe coins like "Popcat" and various zoo coins such as "MEW". Political figures are also getting involved in the MeMe coin space, with $TRUMP coin, officially announced by Donald Trump, seeing its market value soar to $14.5 billion, only to plummet after he took office. Melania Trump also launched her own MeMe coin, $Melania, which by February 2025 had lost 90% of its value. Other MeMe coins related to political figures, such as $BODEN, $LIBRA, and $CAR, introduce a new dimension with politicians participating in the issuance of MeMe coins, blurring the lines between political movements, internet culture, and financial speculation, creating "unique risks" and opportunities. Additionally, there are MeMe coins inspired by artificial intelligence, such as Dawgz AI. In October 2021, only 124 types of MeMe coins were circulating in the market, but by February 2025, millions of MeMe coins had emerged on certain platforms.

How does Digital Joy Coin work?

Although MeMe coin may seem like a joke, they still rely on the solid foundation of blockchain technology. Simply put, blockchain is like a shared digital ledger that securely and transparently records every transaction. Most MeMe coins operate as tokens on existing blockchains, such as Ethereum and Solana. This allows for faster development and the ability to leverage the existing infrastructure of the blockchain.

Although some MeMe coins may claim to have certain unique technological features, their value and popularity are mainly driven by social and cultural factors rather than technological innovation or practical application. Unlike those cryptocurrency projects that are dedicated to developing new technologies or solving real-world problems, MeMe coins are more like a social phenomenon, with their value stemming from community consensus and market sentiment. Therefore, when evaluating MeMe coins, technical analysis often seems less important, while focusing on the underlying community power and network enthusiasm is more critical.

"Tokenomics" is also key to understanding how MeMe coins operate. It mainly includes the supply, distribution methods of the tokens, and any unique mechanisms, such as token burning. For MeMe coins like Dogecoin, mining remains the way to generate new coins. Various token economic models showcase different approaches to managing inflation and perceived value.

It is worth noting that the threshold for creating MeMe coin is very low, with many tools and platforms allowing anyone to easily issue their own MeMe coin by simply entering a name, code, and image. This extremely low threshold explains the large number of MeMe coins in the market. While this ease of creation fosters innovation and allows for rapid experimentation of new ideas, it also makes the market susceptible to a large number of low-quality tokens and potential scams, as there is usually almost no review process.

The Growth and Explosion of MeMe: Solana

The rise of Meme coins is attributed to social media hype, community-driven support, and their appeal as a low-barrier investment for new cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Certain project platforms have played a key role in this growth by providing the technological infrastructure necessary for the mass creation and trading of these tokens.

Although Ethereum is the birthplace of many early meme coins like Shiba Inu, the high gas fees and congestion on the network often pose significant challenges for developers and investors. Solana, as a high-performance blockchain, has become a game changer for meme coin projects. The most striking advantage of Solana is its lightning-fast transaction speed, reaching up to 65,000 transactions per second, with transaction fees extremely low, usually less than a cent. This efficiency has attracted a wave of developers and investors, leading to a surge in meme coin activity based on Solana. As a result, Solana is dominating the meme coin market, making it the preferred choice for new and old crypto projects aiming to capitalize on this growth trend.

You can compare Solana to a low-cost airline in the crypto world—fast, low-cost, and very suitable for those quick, impulsive decisions. This makes Solana very suitable for the high transaction volume and high-risk trading characteristics of Meme coins. In addition, a certain degree of credit must go to the token launch platform, which has facilitated the deployment of over 8 million tokens since its launch in early 2024.

However, in February of this year, the LIBRA token scandal sparked by Argentine President Javier Milei affected other core protocols on fast and cost-effective blockchains, leading to a sharp decline in the status of other Solana meme leaders in recent months, with their token price dropping from a peak of 298 to 123 dollars.

Nevertheless, some traders believe that the end of MeMe has come, but certain trading and token issuance platforms still maintain over 150,000 daily active addresses.

In addition to Solana, BSC is also actively embracing MeMe. Recently, under the resonance of a sovereign fund injecting 2 billion USD into a certain exchange platform and a certain person's influence, along with the integration of the Alpha section on the main site of a certain exchange platform, the Meme ecosystem of BSC has exploded.

Community is the King: Social Media and MeMe Coin