Dogecoin‘s rise in early 2021 has led to the proliferation of meme coins. These are cryptocurrencies that have no specific use but are created for fun and speculation.
Summary
The popularity of meme coins
“Meme” is a word that indicates imitative behaviour, which ends up being funny and viral. Dogecoin was born precisely like this: an imitation of Bitcoin featuring the meme-like face of a Shiba Inu dog.
From 2013 until a few months ago, Dogecoin seemed unique on the market, worth a few thousandths of a dollar and essentially stable. Dragged along by the “meme stocks” pumped up by the Reddit group WallStreetBets, Dogecoin rose in price and spawned numerous imitations.
Meme coins have become so important in the crypto sector that even CoinMarketCap has a dedicated section on its website.
Here we can see the top 10 meme coins currently on the market, sorted by market cap.
Top 10 meme coins
Dogecoin
At the top of the list is of course Dogecoin (DOGE), the “oldest”. As mentioned above, Dogecoin was born in 2013, mimicking Bitcoin. It is in fact a fork of Litecoin.
The rise of its popularity came thanks to ironic tweets by Elon Musk. However, after the first sarcastic posts, the Tesla CEO gave the impression that he wanted to embrace the project. This caused the price to rise, in the same months as the pumps organized on Reddit on the stock market. Dogecoin had its ATH on 8 May 2021 at $0.73. In one year it has risen 9,400%. although it is now worth 25 cents (-64% from the all-time high)
Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) calls itself the Dogecoin Killer, but unlike DOGE, it doesn’t have its own blockchain and relies on Ethereum. It uses the snout of a rather angry Shiba Inu as its symbol.
In recent days, its price has risen so much that it has even surpassed Dogecoin’s market cap. Currently, the drop takes it out of the top 10 of the most capitalized and behind DOGE, in 11th position. It has lost 44% since ATH on October 28, and is now worth 0.00004947.
Dogelon Mars
For another meme coin, we have to leave the top 100 and go to position 110 where Dogelon Mars (ELON) is located.
Dogelon seems to be the synthesis of Doge (coin) and Elon (Musk). It actually aims to be the first interplanetary cryptocurrency. The symbol, needless to say, once again sees the snout of a Shiba Inu.
It had its ATH last June, worth 0.00003263, now it has lost 94%.
Samoyedcoin
Samoyedcoin (SAMO) is at position number 4 on CoinMarketCap as a meme coin, and 249 by market capitalization. It has a symbol of a Samoyed dog in its logo. The crypto was created to echo Solana, and aims to grow its ecosystem. In its own way.
On October 29, it hit an all-time high of $0.24. Since then, it has lost 44% and is now worth 14 cents.
Hoge Finance
Hoge Finance (HOGE) is at position 351 on CoinMarketCap. Hoge also uses a dog in its branding. Seeing the official website, Hoge is an ERC20 token that aims to be a DeFi protocol and also looks at the NFT sector. While calling itself a meme coin, it boasts of having completed a Certik audit to prove its soundness.
Last March it touched its ATH at $0.0009, now it’s worth about $0.0004, half that.
Tiger King
Tiger King (TKING, position 405) is an ERC20 token inspired by the Netflix docuseries of the same name. This token also aims to be a utility in the world of NFTs and DeFi.
However, it has lost 99% of its value ($0.14) since ATH on 11 October. Who knows whether it may have been dragged down by the vicissitudes of the other Netflix-inspired coin, Squid Game (SQUID).
MonaCoin
At position 455 is MonaCoin (MONA). It is considered a meme because of its symbol, the ASCII character MONA, but it was actually created with the aim of becoming the cryptocurrency of Japan, back in 2013. It is powered by a community that enjoys creating use cases for it.
It’s worth $1.55, a far cry (-92%) from the glories of the first speculative bubble in 2017, when it touched its ATH at $20 in December.
Cum Rocket
Cum Rocket (CUMMIES), at position 595, is not a real meme coin, but a coin, or rather a token, with which to buy NFT and adult content.
The creators wanted to overcome the restrictions usually faced by the porn world when it comes to making payments. On May 5, it hit its ATH at 28 cents. Since then it has lost 85% and is now worth only $0.04.
Doge Dash
Doge Dash (DOGEDASH), at position 650, is inspired by Dogecoin, but is nothing more than the coin of a game inspired by Super Mario and Sonic. The aim of the game is to run and collect as many coins as possible, which end up directly in the buyer’s wallet at the end of the 10th level. It’s the brainchild of Grammy-nominated creative director Paul Caslin.
It’s in the middle of a rally phase: it reached its ATH last November 2, at $0.0009, and has since lost 14%.
Safemoon Inu
Safemoon Inu (SMI), CMC position 647, is the perfect synthesis of Safemoon and Shiba Inu, whose logos it blends perfectly. As well as being a meme, it is also an ERC20 token with utility in NFTs and gaming. One of these games, Moonlight Voyage, was developed thanks to Enjin. Its developers are confident that SMI is designed to go beyond the moon.
Its ATH reached 0.00012 on 30 October. Since then it has lost over 60%.
Meme coins, not funny games
What do all these tokens have in common? Apart from a dog’s snout as a logo in most cases, they are all distinguished by their volatility. Some of them have reached highs and then lost as much as 99% of their value.
So anyone approaching these tokens should be aware that despite their definition as memes, they are not a game and may not be fun at all.
