As of November 10, data statistics from the TrendX platform for BTC, ETH, and TON are as follows:
The number of discussions about BTC last week was 20.53K, an increase of 21.23% compared to the week before; last Sunday's price was $81,357, up 19.2% compared to the Sunday before.
The number of discussions about ETH last week was 5.75K, an increase of 50.03% compared to the week before; last Sunday's price was $3,203, up 27.1% compared to the Sunday before.
The number of discussions about TON last week was 786, a decrease of 2.48% compared to the week before; last Sunday's price was $5.42, an increase of 0.83% compared to the Sunday before.
Today, Binance launched the AI Meme projects ACT and PNUT. As soon as the news broke, ACT tokens surged about 10 times, breaking the record for the increase of Meme coins listed on exchanges and bringing some Meme shock to the industry. Exchanges seem to be turning their attention to Meme coins.
This month, Binance Research released a report titled 'Understanding the Rise of Meme Coins,' which indicates that since 2022, the total market capitalization share of Meme coins has increased from 4% to 11% in 2024, almost tripling in just two years. According to a report released by Bybit exchange in June this year, institutional investors' holdings of spot Meme coins increased from $62.5 million to $204.8 million between February and March, peaking at $293.7 million in April, an increase of nearly 500%. The wind of Meme coins is blowing stronger, with DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, GOAT... Suddenly popular Meme coins have made many people wealthy while leaving others puzzled. This article will interpret why Meme coins are so popular and analyze the current status of their track.
The rise of Meme coins
Meme coin - a cryptocurrency based on internet Memes. It is usually created by developers or enthusiasts, inspired by popular Memes or internet culture, and widely spread through channels such as social media and online forums.
From the definition of Meme coins, we can see that, unlike other crypto assets, Meme coins may have been created for humor and entertainment purposes. These Meme coins do not have specific uses or practical application scenarios but inadvertently provide investment opportunities regarding consensus while stimulating people's sense of humor. This foundational concept has laid the groundwork for the strong trend of Meme coins this year. The following is an analysis of the reasons for the sustained popularity of Meme coins this year:
1. Financialization of internet culture
The viral spread of Meme coins and their community-driven appeal have extended into the financial realm through crypto technology, achieving the financialization of Meme coins. They have transitioned from an existence in internet culture to being assigned value after financialization, allowing for buying and selling transactions, thus becoming a financial instrument.
As one of the basic conditions for financialization, this Meme culture has gained consensus in the 'market' of the internet. This is also one of the biggest characteristics of Meme coins - lacking practicality but having appeal: Meme coins are based on internet culture, memes, or trends, usually lacking clear utility or intrinsic value. They represent a new, fairer, and more accessible opportunity for wealth creation, with no pre-mining, team allocation, or venture capital distribution, making all tokens equally available to all participants at the time of issuance.
2. The impact of the global macroeconomic situation
This is a butterfly effect caused by dollars. During the COVID crisis, global central banks implemented unprecedented monetary easing, leading to an increase in the total global money supply from $81 trillion to $102 trillion, an increase of over 25%. This phenomenon of 'flooding' made high-risk investments more attractive, with funds starting to flow into high-risk, high-return investment tools, including Meme coins.
The rapid expansion of global money supply has also triggered inflation and rising commodity prices worldwide. The inflation rate in the US reached 7% in 2021 and 6.5% in 2022. In the face of currency depreciation, rational actors invest funds into assets deemed to have long-term value. As an emerging asset class, Meme coins have attracted some excess capital.
3. Fast traffic spread strategies for major public chain Meme coins
Meme coins are regarded as the 'vanguard' of ecological development, serving as a 'bridgehead' for the development of various blockchain ecosystems. By attracting market attention and funds, they promote subsequent ecological development. Additionally, their spread has a cyclical high-temperature characteristic; Meme coins in 2024 show periodic high temperatures, spreading almost crazily like an infectious disease, usually accompanied by exponential growth through social media and community dissemination.
These factors collectively drive the explosive rise of Meme coins in 2024. Their emergence reflects not only changes in the financial market but also the younger generation's dissatisfaction with the traditional financial system and their search for new investment opportunities. At the same time, the dissemination model and value proposition of Meme coins have also attracted significant attention and participation from numerous investment institutions.
Mainstream institutions' views on the Meme coin track
It can be said that since this year, Meme coins have increasingly become an important focus for institutional investors. Starting from the second half of 2024, some VCs have also announced plans to invest in Meme coin infrastructure, marking a shift from previously opposing Meme coins to gradually accepting them.
1. Binance
As early as 2023, Binance Labs invested in several Meme coins and continued to maintain enthusiasm for the Meme coin track in 2024. In January, it invested in Memeland's native ecosystem token MEME, which was included in the Binance Launchpool in October 2023. Subsequently, Binance Labs supported the development of its Whyanelephant project.
2. Coinbase
Coinbase Ventures also began supporting DOGE back in 2018, though the specific investment amount was not disclosed. However, the project has accumulated significant community support. In 2021, Coinbase Ventures invested in SHIBA, and by the end of 2023, its parent company Coinbase announced that it would add Bonk to its list of tradable assets. Moreover, after the popularity of GOAT, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong proposed setting up a crypto wallet for Truth Terminal, which reflects their continued emphasis on the Meme space.
3. a16z
As a well-known mainstream venture capital institution, a16z was initially unfriendly towards Meme coins that captured the market. Several chief leaders at a16z have tweeted harsh criticisms of Meme coins, stating that they undermine the long-term vision of cryptocurrency, calling it a casino in the crypto world.
However, recently a16z has changed its critical stance from earlier this year and has frequently engaged in Meme events. First, a16z co-founder Andreessen Horowitz tipped $50,000 in BTC to the robot account Truth Terminal on X, which gave rise to the recently popular GOAT coin, propelling it from an obscure project to a shocking market cap of $850 million, while Truth Terminal became the first AI millionaire, thus promoting the trend of AI + Meme development.
This year, strong-performing Meme coin projects
Meme coins are the 'get-rich-quick concept' we hear about every day. Compared to other sectors in the crypto market, the Meme coin sector clearly has a strong wealth effect, with examples like SHIB increasing by 500,000 times and DOGE by 400 times. These wealth creation myths have attracted countless flows and funds into the cryptocurrency industry, yet the Meme coin track is not just a flash in the pan; this wave of wealth creation myths continues.
1. DOGE (Dogecoin)
As one of the pioneers of Meme coins, DOGE has always been known for its community support and market performance. In 2021, DOGE coin gained mainstream popularity, increasing from a market capitalization of $700 million on January 1 to $88 billion in early May, with a more than 100-fold increase in just four months.
Currently, the market capitalization of DOGE is around $36 billion. Of course, when mentioning the DOGE token, one cannot overlook the huge traffic and influence brought by Elon Musk, who has repeatedly expressed his affection for DOGE on Twitter. Recently, due to his support for Trump winning the US election, the price of the DOGE token rose 140% within three months and 70% in seven days. The push from such a influential world-class tech influencer has a significant relationship with the development of DOGE.
2. PEPE
The PEPE token was launched in April this year, and in less than a month, the number of token holder addresses reached 100,000. This rapid growth was absolutely unprecedented at that time. Just looking at the token price, the increase on the 22nd reached 120,000 times, rising from ten zeros before the decimal point to five zeros. This not only attracted significant market attention but was simply boiling hot.
The success of PEPE is naturally a combination of multiple factors. After witnessing the huge wealth effect brought by the crazy surges of Dogecoin and SHIB, people have been searching for the next MEME coin. The emergence of PEPE and its rapid growth sparked FOMO emotions, as people feared missing out on opportunities for hundredfold or thousandfold MEME coins. Thus, the faster the initial growth, the more people buy in, creating a self-reinforcing process.
In addition, exchanges played a significant role in the development of PEPE. For example, the PEPE token was listed on the MEXC exchange in just six days and on the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, in 22 days, a treatment that many other mainstream tokens did not receive.
3. Degen
Degen is a representative Meme project on the Base chain, which was very popular before the incident with PEPE in February-March this year. Degen's early development was originally a community Meme project with 100% Meme attributes. As Degen's high-hat gentleman attributes became more prominent, it was later granted utility by the official app as a tip token for the Farcaster social platform, but it still retained its Meme attributes, which is equivalent to 80% Meme attributes + 20% utility attributes. The support from Farcaster and various ecosystems on Base later helped Degen ride the wave and contributed to the development of the Meme market, laying the groundwork for PEPE.
4. GOAT
AI Meme coins are innovative, where the rise of GOAT coin is fundamentally due to the combination of AI and Meme coins. This combination created a novel concept of AI autonomously issuing coins, which had never been attempted before, making GOAT coin seem self-consistent and native (Native) under the backdrop of tens of millions in market value. Of course, without a certain level of traffic support, it would be hard to be seen. GOAT also entered the public eye thanks to the influence of a16z, whose founding partner Marc Andreessen invested $50,000 worth of Bitcoin in it, bringing initial attention and trust to GOAT coin. The launch of Moonshot GOAT also brought convenience for fiat purchases, skyrocketing its price, completely entering the FOMO rhythm. Subsequently, GOAT's market capitalization soared, reaching a high of $600 million on October 20, with crypto big names like Arthur Hayes even stating that GOAT would reach a market cap of $1 billion.
5. ACT
ACT Meme is a cryptocurrency that combines AI technology and blockchain, aiming to create an 'AI and Meme' themed ecosystem. The project is named 'Act I: The AI Prophecy,' built on the Solana blockchain, providing users with an equitable and collaborative digital interaction experience through its innovative AI-driven mechanism.
Conclusion
The phenomenon of Meme coins' popularity not only showcases the integration of internet culture with finance but also marks a new trend of combining Meme and AI. As an indispensable part of the cryptocurrency segment, Meme coins continue to attract global investors' attention with their unique community-driven nature and cultural symbolism. With the involvement of AI technology, the innovative potential and market influence of Meme coins will further expand, bringing new vitality and possibilities to the cryptocurrency market. In the future, Meme coins will continue to play an important role in the cryptocurrency field, driving the development and transformation of the industry.
Research report
