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Crypto has always been about rebellion and experimentation. Like it or not, memecoins perfectly embody this spirit—not by promising groundbreaking technology, but by playing on emotions, internet culture, and a collective inside joke.
Memecoins like Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe (PEPE), Bonk (BONK), and others have all become “people’s money,” empowering users to poke fun at the financial system and established digital assets with pure satire.
Crowd psychology: How FOMO and memes drive the market
2025’s crypto market proved one thing: the dumber a memecoin’s idea, the more people want to buy into it. It doesn’t make sense, yet that’s the point.
Even after the LIBRA fiasco, the memecoin market cap is standing at over $63 billion, with meme tokens generating $5.45 billion in volume in the last 24 hours as of February 24, 2025. Among them are projects built on the most absurd themes imaginable—think butts, flatulence (sometimes occurring in unicorns), and even the pets of celebrities and influencers. And the craziest part? Their strategies work.
Here’s the secret sauce: memecoins don’t just sell tokens—they sell a sense of belonging.
Memecoins are not about technology or utility; they’re about being in on the meme. And nothing triggers FOMO like watching an absurd idea go viral and suddenly turn nobodies into millionaires.
Social media platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Discord amplify this hype like gasoline on a fire. Once the meme takes off, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more people laugh, share, and talk about it, the more valuable the token becomes. It’s absurd, it’s irrational, and yet it works—because in the world of memecoins, the joke is the utility, and the community is the value.
Cult memecoins and their secret recipe to success
Memecoins date back to 2013—when Dogecoin started as a joke and became the internet’s currency. But several years later, Elon Musk’s support and influence turned it into a cultural phenomenon and a digital asset with an over $33 billion market cap that’s accepted at numerous stores worldwide.
Riding on Dogecoin’s success, SHIB launched in August 2020 as the “Dogecoin Killer.” Of course, Shiba Inu didn’t slay the OG memecoin, but it did establish a loyal fanbase powered by community-driven hype, multiple exchange listings, and one of the best all-time ROIs in crypto at 1,438,500% as of February 24.
Then came BONK in December 2022, Solana’s answer to the memecoin madness. Riding the wave of Solana’s comeback after the FTX collapse, BONK didn’t promise revolutionary tech or a complicated whitepaper—just pure, unfiltered meme energy. And somehow, that was enough to revive an entire ecosystem.
In April 2023, PEPE launched not to “kill” other memecoins but to ride the wave of viral marketing and internet culture. With no roadmap, no utility, and no promises, it still became a success purely because it was based on one of the internet’s most iconic memes.
Then there’s BUTTCOIN (BUTTCOIN), a memecoin designed to mock Bitcoin (BTC) and the entire idea of cryptocurrency. Ironically, it wants to become “the next Bitcoin.” While it’s obviously not serious, its price skyrocketed after its launch on January 30, 2025. Even after the LIBRA scandal wiped out a portion of the memecoin market cap, BUTTCOIN boasts a YTD ROI of 1,316%.
The irony? The more people laugh at these memecoins, the more attention they get, and the more their value increases.
How memecoins build loyal communities
Memecoins are more than just tokens; they are social movements bringing humor and speculation to the crypto space.
At their core are communities that share viral posts daily and often develop a cult following, going all in on their favorite meme tokens. Without the SHIB Army or PEPE holders, no one would know about these billion-dollar-market cap memecoins.
Memecoins also gamify token ownership with humor and inside jokes. You don’t have to analyze whitepapers or complicated tokenomics. Just go full “degen mode” and ape in.
Take BUTTCOIN, for example, which is based on an absolute joke that engages people—even those skeptical of crypto. And if someone thinks a meme from 2013 is dead, they need to think again: it has a community of nearly 200K members on Reddit alone.
The future of memecoins: A bubble or a new culture?
Memecoins are here to stay. Despite setbacks like the LIBRA scandal, their humor, simplicity, and strong communities continue to attract users. In crypto, ideas often matter more than technology, and meme tokens prove that hype and humor can build value.
The question isn’t if they will survive but which one will rise next. Even without real utility, memecoins have carved out a place in internet culture, challenging norms and uniting communities. In a market driven by attention, memecoins are playing the game better than anyone—and that’s why they’re here to stay.