With the further development of the digital era, the continuous emergence of new technologies and application scenarios are changing people's lifestyles and ways of thinking, and are also giving birth to new cultural forms and communication methods. Among them, "meme" (meme culture), a popular culture characterized by derivation, resonance, and viral replication, has gradually emerged in this context.
Initially, memes were just April Fools’ Day jokes or memes on the Internet, but as memes merge with the crypto world, MEME coins are rapidly emerging as a new type of crypto asset. From a "meme" to a market value exceeding 100 million, MEME coin once again shows us the infinite possibilities of the encryption market, and it also arouses people's exploration and thinking about the power behind MEME coin. So, what drives the rise of MEME coins? This article will delve into the background, development history and power behind MEME currency, and reveal the mystery behind this phenomenon.
From Internet Culture to Crypto Market: The Development History of MEME Coin
The origins of MEME coin can be traced back to 2013, when an anonymous developer created a cryptoasset based on Bitcoin blockchain technology called MEME. Its name comes from "Internet Meme" (Internet Meme) and aims to combine Internet culture with crypto assets. MEME's initial goal is to become an interesting digital currency, using Internet cultural elements such as Internet memes and emoticons to attract more people to participate in the crypto asset market. With the rise of social media, memes have received more and more widespread attention, and MEME coins have gradually become popular from Internet culture to the encryption market. Now MEME coins have become an important force in the encryption market. The development process of MEME coins can be roughly divided into The following stages:
Initial stage (2009 to 2013): During this period, some of the earliest MEME coins, such as Catcoin and Coino, did not have specific goals or uses. They mainly relied on social media publicity to attract users, and therefore did not attract attention. Widespread attention across the crypto market. It was not until the emergence of DOGE coin that MEME coin was truly recognized by the crypto market. DOGE coin was initially just a joke, but due to its cute dog image and the stubborn mode of Internet culture, it quickly became popular on the social platform Reddit. As DOGE coins gradually become more widely accepted, a large number of MEME coins with dog elements have also emerged, which further demonstrates the characteristics of viral replication and spread of memes. During this period, the MEME currency community was very active. Through the spread of Internet social channels, MEME currency began to gradually rise in the encryption industry.
Development stage (2013 to 2017): As the crypto market develops, more and more MEME tokens begin to emerge. In addition to dog-themed DOGE coins, MEME coins with other elements as the theme have also appeared on the market, such as Pepe Cash with the theme of Pepe the Frog, cat-themed Nyancoin, and panda-themed PandaCoin. etc. These tokens are usually promoted through social media to attract users and have become part of online culture to a certain extent. During this period, MEME coins began to gradually gain market attention. In addition, the emergence of some innovative market mechanisms, such as decentralized exchanges and airdrops, have also provided assistance to the development of the MEME market.
Mature stage (2017 to 2020): The mature stage is an important stage in the development of MEME. During this period, the capitalization of the MEME market has been significantly improved, and some MEME coins with higher market capitalization have gradually become star tokens in the market, such as DOGE coins, Pepe Cash, etc. In addition, some MEME coins can also obtain huge amounts of financing through ICO, such as BAT (Basic Attention Token), GNT (Golem Network Token), etc. At this stage, MEME coins begin to explore community governance models to better manage projects and Attracting more users, some tokens have also begun to establish their own ecosystems and application scenarios to promote the use and value-added of tokens.
Outbreak stage (2020 to 2023): Thanks to the promotion of MEME community members and the gradual maturity of the MEME market, the market value of MEME currency has also reached a new high. Among them, DOGE, the representative of MEME currency, reached its highest price in history at US$0.74 in April 2021, with a total market value of nearly US$50 billion. At the same time, during this period, MEME coins began to explore new fields and application directions, such as NFT-based games and art collections, as well as using blockchain technology to solve social problems, such as decentralized management and identity verification. These new ideas and gameplay have brought new development directions and ideas to the entire crypto asset industry.
A new round of boom period (after 2023): The current MEME currency market is experiencing a new round of boom. As the biggest dark horse this year, PEPE coin gained a market capitalization of US$1 billion and 107,000 holders in just 23 days, breaking the previous records set by DOGE and SHIB coins and becoming the fastest growing MEME in the history of crypto assets. Token. In addition, this round of MEME coin craze has also expanded to the Bitcoin market for the first time. ORDI, the first BRC-20 token built on the Bitcoin blockchain, quickly reached a market value of close to US$1 billion after being listed on mainstream exchanges. BRC-20 is a fungible token standard built on the Bitcoin blockchain and has been used to mint 8,500 different tokens, most of which are MEME coins. It is foreseeable that the outbreak of the next MEME season is likely to occur in the Bitcoin market.
From internet culture to celebrity coins, the reasons for the rise of MEME
Whether it is the early DOOGE or the recently popular Pepe and Aidoge, these MEME coins that can break out of the circle all have common characteristics, and these characteristics are also the fundamental reason why the currency circle can continue to pour out explosive MEME coins.
fair distribution model
In the initial stage of the MEME project, most tokens were distributed for free through community activities and creative mining. This distribution model is fair and attractive. It attracts more users to join and forms a large and active community. At the same time, it also improves the liquidity of tokens. Because more people hold the tokens, the supply on the market increases, which contributes to increased trading volume and price. For start-up MEME projects, this free and fair distribution model can also increase visibility and promotion effects, thereby attracting more investors to enter the market.
In addition, MEME coin also adopts a concept similar to "miners", such as "AI miners" in AIDOGO coin and "Frog Miners" in Pepe coin. These miners can receive rewards based on their contributions, encouraging users to actively participate in the project. This reward mechanism can effectively motivate community members’ behavior and increase their investment and support for the project.
Extremely low investment prices and ultra-high income expectations
Compared with mainstream value coins, the price of MEME is very low, most of which are less than 1 US dollar. The extremely low price allows users to purchase hundreds of millions of MEME tokens with only a small amount of money. MEME Coin is a very attractive option for those who want to try crypto asset investing but have limited funds.
The price of MEME currency fluctuates greatly, often rising or falling more than ten times due to a hot event. Therefore, for most MEME currency users who hold a small amount of funds, the probability of realizing a small gain through MEME currency is much higher than traditional Even if mainstream value coins fail, they will only lose a few hundred or thousands of dollars, but once they succeed, they are likely to achieve financial freedom. This is why even though a large number of retail investors are harvested every time MEME coin becomes popular, their enthusiasm for investment still cannot be stopped. For most crypto speculative users, MEME currency is like a lottery ticket in the crypto industry. No one can refuse the opportunity to obtain ultra-high returns at a very small cost, although this chance is very slim.
powerful narrative
MEME coin is a typical example of narrative-driven finance, and its success is largely due to the power of narrative. The MEME coin narrative model includes: derivative narrative, related narrative and counter-narrative. The innovation and application of these models provide crucial support for the rapid spread and popularity of MEME coin.
Derivative narrative means that the narrative of MEME coins is derived from existing cultural or media materials. Through the secondary creation and adaptation of these materials, new MEME images and stories are created. This narrative mode mainly relies on a keen grasp of popular culture and Internet culture and the ability to creatively adapt it. For example, the image of Dogecoin comes from the funny dog head emoticon package widely circulated on the Internet. The creator applied this image to digital currency and promoted it through social media, making Dogecoin famous on social media. It went viral quickly.
Relevant narrative means that the narrative of MEME coins is associated with a specific event or theme. Through witty, humorous or ironic interpretation and expression of this event or theme, a uniquely charming MEME image and story is created. This narrative mode mainly depends on the creator's insights and creative expression ability about the event or theme. For example, ArbDoge AI (AIDOGE) takes advantage of the hottest topic in the current market and combines "AI" and "Doge" to create an interesting and creative digital currency image. Through social media promotion and With the promotion, AIDOGE quickly attracted the attention of a large number of users.
Counter-narrative means that the narrative of MEME coin creates MEME images and stories with strong social critical significance through irony or criticism of a certain phenomenon or event. This narrative mode mainly relies on the creator's profound observation and critical spirit of social phenomena and human weaknesses. For example, PepeCoin created an ironic and critical digital currency image by recreating and adapting the common image of "Pepe the Frog" in Internet culture, aiming to criticize certain aspects of modern society. Deep reflection and criticism on the issue.
Community promotion and creative marketing
Community promotion can not only increase community interaction and participation, but also increase the liquidity and value of tokens. The creators and community members of MEME coin attract more users to join the community through various online and offline activities, such as airdrops, social media interactions, mining, etc., thereby expanding the user scale and improving the liquidity of the token. For example, miner mechanisms such as "AI Miners" in AIDOGO coins and "Frog Miners" in Pepe coins can receive rewards based on users' contributions, motivating community members to actively participate in the project and increase their investment and support for the project. . This mechanism that encourages community members to participate can effectively increase the activity and cohesion of the community, thereby increasing the value of the token.
In addition, MEME coin is also very creative in design and marketing. For example, combining popular elements with crypto assets has attracted the interest and attention of more young people and social media users. These design and marketing strategies make MEME Coin an interesting investment option, attracting more investors to participate. For example, Punk Comics (PUNK) is an NFT-based digital collectibles game. The project combines pixel art, comics and games to design a series of unique pixel characters and comic characters. These pixel figures and comic book characters represent different superheroes and villains such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, etc. PUNK's marketing idea, which combines the most popular cultural elements and art, has quickly gained high topicality and investment appeal in the market.
The craze fades, and the problems exposed by the MeMe market
Under the MeMe craze led by PEPE, the MeMe market is showing a hot scene this year. The prices of many MeMe coins rose by more than 1,000% in just one day, but the craze quickly subsided. In just one week, the price of PEPE has fallen by nearly 65%. This short-lived craze and rapid decline revealed many problems faced by the current MeMe market. Although MeMe coin has gained the attention of mainstream institutions and investors, there is still a large gap compared with mainstream value coins.
First of all, the bubble risk of MeMe coin is the biggest challenge to its development. Taking PEPE as an example, its rise and fall in a very short period of time exposed the bubble risk of the current MeMe market. Driven by investors' FOMO sentiment, excessive speculation may occur, leading to artificially high prices. In addition, some unscrupulous elements use the MeMe currency market to manipulate prices, further exacerbating the risk of bubbles. To this end, MeMe Coin needs to take measures to prevent excessive price fluctuations, such as strengthening supervision and improving exchange transparency, to standardize market order.
Secondly, the lack of practical application scenarios is also an important challenge for the development of the MeMe market. Currently, MeMe coins have relatively few real-life application scenarios, which limits their actual market value and makes it difficult to attract more users. In contrast, mainstream value coins have been widely used in various fields, such as cross-border payments, international trade, financial investment, etc., and have a stable market foundation and high market recognition. Due to the lack of practical application scenarios of MEME currency, its value is difficult to be specifically quantified. Therefore, when the crypto market fluctuates, MEME is extremely susceptible to sudden rises and falls due to the influence of market sentiment.
In addition, compared with mainstream value coins, MeMe coins have not yet gained sufficient recognition and trust. The issuance mechanism, governance structure and exchange transparency of MeMe coins still need to be improved. In order to gain wider recognition, MeMe currency needs to establish contact with mainstream digital currencies (such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) and achieve interconnection through cross-chain technology. At the same time, MeMe currency also needs to create its own unique brand and Internet cultural connotation to distinguish it from other digital currencies.
In short, although the MeMe market was once in full swing in the short term, as the craze subsided, the problems exposed by the market became more and more obvious. Problems such as bubble risk, lack of application scenarios and insufficient recognition have brought challenges to the development of the MeMe market. To achieve sustained and stable development, MeMe coin needs to continuously improve itself, strengthen its connection with mainstream value coins, and play a greater role in practical application scenarios.
Summarize
In the MEME coin craze, people’s awareness and demand for crypto assets have been fully demonstrated. While MEME’s value stems from its unique social culture and network effects, its success also reflects widespread recognition of cryptoassets. Although the current MEME currency has many imperfections, novel MEME coins continue to emerge, providing new possibilities and innovative directions for blockchain applications. As a proverb goes: "If it is not broken, it cannot be established." In the future, MEME coins will need to undergo continuous innovation, shock and fluctuation to gain a firm foothold. We expect that in the near future, MEME currency will become an open digital economy integrating technology, culture, economy and other elements.
C3 Tip: The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author. This article does not contain investment opinions or recommendations. Every investment and transaction involves risk.
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