Author: Nomos Labs
Few have thought about the birth of Meme coins as perhaps a 'cultural experiment' in the crypto world: How much can a joke be worth? How much financial ripple can a humorous quip stir? From $DOGE to $SHIB, and this year's skyrocketing $Neiro, these seemingly 'nonsensical' coins have repeatedly refreshed people's views on the narrative power of Meme coins.
In 2024, the Meme coin market remains lively amidst uncertainty. It is not only an entertainment symbol in the crypto circle but also a paradise for speculators and a barometer of market emotions. However, if we peel back the stories behind the price surges, we will find that a familiar yet strange logic is at work: Meme culture, market emotions, and technological narratives are redefining the value boundaries of Meme coins.
1. How can Meme coins tell a good 'story about emotions'?
On the surface, Meme coins seem to be a continuation of internet meme culture, but their true charm lies in their ability to quickly gather emotions through storytelling and shape short-term 'group frenzy'. However, no one has yet been able to pierce through the fog to find the countless certainties and connotations made up of stories within that 'bubble' regarding the long-term value of Meme coins.
It is both a joke and a cultural resonance.
The earliest $DOGE Dogecoin can be said to be a complete 'spoof'. It had neither complex technical support nor ambitious application plans, but with a Shiba Inu meme, it became a representative of internet meme culture. In 2024, this meme narrative was further promoted, and new players not only attracted attention with 'jokes' and 'humor' but also began to play the cultural emotional card.
For instance, the sad frog of $Pepe has long been a classic image in internet culture. Its popularity does not rely on technological highlights but on community dissemination and cultural recognition. In a short time, the community scale of $Pepe exploded, quickly becoming the biggest dark horse of Meme coins this year. It is clear that as long as they can grasp the 'emotional points' in internet meme culture, Meme coins can quickly tell good stories and rally consensus.
Community-driven: More like an emotional game.
The popularity of a Meme coin is always backed by a crazy community. Elon Musk's support for Dogecoin, the 'frog army' of $Pepe, these community members are not just investors but also active 'content creators'. They are enthusiastic about 'creating memes' and attracting people on social platforms, even turning Meme coins from a 'joke' into a 'trend'.
$SHIB is a typical example. In 2024, it not only maintained its popularity through meme culture but also tried to attract long-term users through technological narratives. For example, its metaverse project Shibaverse, while still in its early stages, has already given the community a new 'point of pride'.
From this, we can see that for Meme coins, meme culture is the base color, but their true charm lies in their community narrative ability — telling a story that resonates emotionally so that everyone 'wants to buy and dares to buy'.
2. The magnifying glass of market emotions, a safe haven for speculators.
But in any case, the underlying logic of a 'good story' that can drive market changes needs to be 'profit-driven'. The reason Meme coins can remain hot is not only because they are 'fun', but also because they have become a high-volatility safe haven for speculators during the downturn in the crypto market.
Price surges, the 'wealth myths' that speculators love to tell.
Looking back at 2024, the most eye-catching performance was undoubtedly the surge of $Pepe. From the beginning of the year to mid-year, the price of this sad yet funny frog increased by more than a hundred times — the market was attracted to this type of coin not because of its strong technology or applications, but because it is easy to 'hype up'.
Meme coins have a low issuance threshold, extremely low unit prices, and seemingly infinite potential for price increases. This characteristic is particularly friendly to retail investors: even with just a few hundred dollars, they can chase an imagined '10x, 100x' return. For those investors who 'entered the market late', this high-risk, high-reward speculative variety has become their best choice to chase wealth effects.
Market fluctuations, the 'emotional outlet' in a bear market.
Interestingly, when the overall market conditions of the crypto market entered a period of fluctuation, the popularity of Meme coins actually rose against the trend. This was not because Meme coins themselves had strong fundamentals, but because speculative funds needed a new 'emotional outlet'.
Unlike mainstream coins, Meme coins do not have complex valuation logic and do not rely on strong ecological support; they thrive on market emotions. When other assets fail to stir retail emotions, Meme coins have become the 'fortress' of emotional trading.
So it is clear that the market indication is that behind the price fluctuations of Meme coins is the amplification and reflection of market emotions: For speculators, it is a low-cost, high-volatility choice; for the market, it is a real 'emotional mirror'. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why everyone has started to enjoy listening to their stories and even more so, they love the 'wealth creation stories' that seem within reach yet full of dreams.
3. Can Meme coins enhance their value with technology?
We understand the changes in market emotions, but we must also recognize that relying on cultural narratives and speculative emotions can only bring temporary popularity. If Meme coins want to go further and find the underlying logic that can support long-term value compounding, they must rely on technological innovation to create new narratives and application scenarios.
AI 'new memes', creating technological narrative empowerment.
This year, AI technology has become a hot topic in the crypto circle, and some Meme coin projects have seized the opportunity to launch AI-powered gameplay. For example, AI-generated content allows Meme coin projects to provide continuous interaction and entertainment experiences to a wide range of investors and community members quickly and at low cost. Additionally, AI trading strategies leverage AI algorithms to predict market trends, analyze trading data, and optimize investment decisions. Although early performance may not have met expectations, it cannot be denied that the introduction of AI technology has injected new vitality and narrative threads into Meme coins.
NFT linkage, the continuation of cultural narrative.
At the same time, NFTs remain an important 'partner' of Meme coins, continuing to showcase their unique charm and potential in 2024. Especially in projects like $Pepe, investors can not only profit by buying and holding Pepe coins but can also showcase their identity and status through unique NFTs.
The combination of NFTs and Meme coins is no longer just a simple exchange of digital assets but a profound expression of identity recognition and community culture. Through NFT-binding gameplay, these projects provide investors with a more personalized and emotional way to participate, making holding these Meme coins not just an investment behavior but an expression of community belonging. It is not hard to imagine that as more similar innovative gameplay continues to emerge, NFTs will remain an important 'accelerator' for the development of Meme coin projects.
Attempts to combine payment scenarios with DeFi, increasing the value leverage of tokens.
Certainly, in the imaginative crypto market, some Meme coins are also trying to expand payment functionalities. Just at the end of the year, DogWifCoin officially announced a partnership with Oobit to launch a new payment function 'Wif Pay', allowing users to spend $WIF and enjoy a 3% cashback reward.
Projects like $SHIB have allowed token holders to gain more actual benefits by integrating DeFi protocols. For instance, the governance token $BONE in the $SHIB ecosystem is widely used in liquidity mining on ShibaSwap, where investors can earn rewards through staking (BURYing) and providing liquidity (DIGging).
Such technological narratives continue, and technology empowerment will be an important focus for Meme coins in the next phase. While it may seem like 'storytelling' in the short term, in the long run, only when technological narratives are realized can Meme coins possibly break free from the fate of 'short-term speculation'.
In conclusion: Will the next stop for Meme coins be the rise of meme economic culture or the burst of the bubble?
When we look back at the market in 2024, we can find three key driving forces behind the rise of Meme coins:
Culture: Meme culture and community consensus are the foundation of Meme coins, allowing them to continuously tell an engaging story.
Emotion: The fluctuations of market emotions and the push from speculators make it the most 'explosive' asset.
Technology: New concepts and new application scenarios are key to making Meme coins more 'valuable' in the future.
However, these three elements also carry obvious risks: How long can the story be told? How long can the emotion hold? Can technology really be implemented? The answers to these questions will determine the future direction of Meme coins.
But as we begin to look ahead to the future of 2025, it is certain that Meme coins have transformed from a 'joke' into a unique phenomenon in the crypto market. Amid the increasingly restless and continuously erupting 'golden cycle' of cryptocurrencies following the US elections, their vitality is far from over, but whether they can escape the revelry and enter a true 'value era' remains to be seen.
2025, please answer, Meme coins.
