Memecoins have been the most outstanding sector of cryptocurrency over the past year. The current total market capitalization of Memecoins has surpassed 100 billion USD, making its scale greater than the combined total of DeFi, DePIN, gaming, and the metaverse.
Given that this asset class has become so large and diverse, we are attempting to map it to find potential opportunities. We observed the best-performing tokens of each quarter this year, confirming our suspicion: Memecoins dominate each quarter.
Below is a summary of some standout meme coins this year:
Q1: POPCAT, WIF, MOG, MYRO
Q2: PONKE, SPX, TURBO, GIGA, WOJAK, BRETT, MOG
Q3: SPX, GIGA, FUD, MUMU
When you try to apply methodology to memecoins, you quickly notice the importance of understanding metadata. This is true for cryptocurrencies and even more critical for meme coins. Below is an extended timeline that attempts to highlight some key metadata.
This article is mainly divided into three parts discussing memes:
1) Memes and the Metaverse
2) The Dominance of Dogecoin
3) Innovative Tokenization of Zoo Memes
1) Memes and the Metaverse
Before 2021, Dogecoin (Doge) was a standout in the meme space. Then Shiba Inu launched, becoming the first true 'Dogecoin killer.' Naturally, people hoped to replicate Dogecoin's success through it. This desire to find the 'next...' created a metaverse. The success of shitcoins sparked a meme craze in 2021 related to various dogs and Musk, forming the first true Memecoin metaverse.
In 2023, the emergence of Pepe Frog coins gave rise to countless meme coins related to frogs and the 'Boys Club.' Later that same year, the emergence of Bonk and Wif solidified Solana's position as the primary memecoin chain, ultimately leading to the birth of http://pump.fun. This series of events peaked in the first quarter of 2023, triggering the first widespread Memecoin frenzy and spawning new metaverses almost weekly, if not daily.
After reaching a local peak in March, the market was slightly calm during the summer. The meme coin community of MustStopMurad and the understanding framework of network effects became very popular, leading to an influx of funds into 'cult coins' like SPX6900. Recently, as Bitcoin finally began to break through, we saw the frenzy resurge, with new metaverses forming around GOAT, the adorable hippo MOODENG, and the 'deceased' PEANUT. Now, with so many metaverses to track, we are attempting to segment the market based on their categories.
2) The Dominance of Dogecoin
Currently, Dogecoin-like tokens remain the dominant sector of Memecoins, primarily driven by Dogecoin (Doge). When we began compiling this data a few weeks ago, tokens in the sentient AI category had hardly attracted any attention, while tokens in the martyr category (paying tribute to the original $Harambe) had not really materialized. This clearly indicates how rapidly this asset class is evolving.
It is not surprising that Dogecoin's dominance has been declining since the launch of Pepe coin.
This indicates the rapid evolution of this asset class. Unsurprisingly, Dogecoin's dominance has been declining since the launch of Pepe. This trend may continue as new narratives form and different sectors rise. By observing the changes in the weights of these categories, some interesting trends can be discovered.
3) Innovative Tokenization of Zoo Memes
Cryptocurrency culture coins like Bitcoin gained some attention during 2023, although there wasn't much new funding entering the space at that time. However, from the end of 2023, as new funds began to flow in, we saw crypto culture gradually give way to broader internet culture (e.g., giga, npc, etc.).
As mentioned earlier, the rapid rise of goat and peanut is astonishing. It may still be too early to move them from the 'metaverse' category to new categories, despite the existence of many AI-related meme coins that have reached nine-figure valuations.
Other categories, such as celebrity tokens and political meme coins, also saw some growth earlier this year but gradually faded away afterward.
Over time, meme coins may become a microcosm of the entire cryptocurrency market, with Dogecoin's role akin to that of Bitcoin. There will be some 'cult coins' whose communities never sell, possibly persisting for the long term, but most meme coins may simply be fleeting, similar to what we saw with NFTs in 2021.
That said, early participation in new memes/metaverses clearly holds enormous opportunities.
I anticipate that categories expected to continue growing rapidly are internet culture and artificial intelligence. Internet memes have been widely recognized and possess such rich cultural connotations that they have an inherent advantage over most other categories. Meanwhile, AI memes combine the most exciting technologies with the most volatile asset classes. They seem likely to continue dominating the meme space.
In terms of open space, new animals always have opportunities—there is surprisingly a lack of zoo animals (tigers, giraffes, zebras, etc.) in the market. Regarding entirely new concepts, existing fan bases (superheroes, sports, etc.) seem likely to be tokenized in innovative ways.
