Topics Crypto

10 Top Meme Coins to Watch in 2024

Intermediate
Crypto
DeFi
Memes
2024幓9꜈26ę—„

One of the trickiest parts of investing in cryptocurrencies is the need to evaluate the actual value and utility it brings about. As the cryptocurrency landscape becomes saturated with meme coins, which often donā€™t have real value and are highly speculative, it has become even more difficult for investors to determine which cryptocurrencies are worth investing in.

What are the top meme coins in which you can invest? Whatā€™s the next meme coin thatā€™s going to make it big? In this article, weā€™ll look into the top ten meme coins in the cryptocurrency market now.

Key Takeaways:

  • A meme coin is a type of cryptocurrency with no inherent value or utility. They are often themed around internet memes, which are images from social media platforms that can be humorous in nature.

  • Meme coins are highly speculative and have no intrinsic value. Therefore, plenty of risks are associated with this field of cryptocurrency, particularly for investors.Ā 

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What Are Meme Coins?

A meme coin is a type of cryptocurrency with no inherent value or utility. In most cases, these shitcoins are themed around internet memes ā€” images from social media platforms that can be humorous in nature.

Meme coins differ from cryptocurrencies primarily due to their lack of utility. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) were created to tackle problems of centralization, serving as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment method. Ethereum (ETH), on the other hand, is a platform that allows developers to create a series of decentralized applications (DApps), and has flourished because of the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) apps created on it.Ā 

Meme coins tend to rise and fall sharply due to online hype, support by influencers and even orchestrated bot-driven campaigns. One recent example of a highly hyped coin is Pepe (PEPE). Launched in April 2023, the PEPE coin is themed on the exceptionally popular early 2000s internet meme Pepe the Frog, created by artist Matt Furie. The coin's launch and subsequent promotion were driven by a large-scale campaign on social media, with many of the accounts touting PEPE believed to be bots.

From its launch in mid-April 2023 to late May 2024, the PEPE coin increased in price by over 8,600%. Although PEPE continues to be among the most popular meme coins, , but by September 2024, its value is half of what it was at its peak in May. However, PEPE is among the lucky meme coins that have managed to hang on to most of their initial gains. The vast majority of other meme cryptos fall to virtually nothing even after stratospheric initial gains ā€” and these initial gains aren't at all guaranteed. For instance, it's recently been estimated that close to 99% of all meme coins on the popular meme asset generator Pump.fun fail to attain even the very modest $69,000 in market cap to qualify for a decentralized exchange (DEX) listing.

Why Do People Buy Meme Coins?

There could be myriad reasons why crypto enthusiasts choose meme coins. However, three primary drivers stand out:

  1. Expected returns. Many crypto investors who don't mind high-risk trading environments buy meme coins expecting colossal returns in a short period. While only a tiny proportion of meme coins achieve significant gains, those who do often deliver returns that can't even be imagined elsewhere in the financial world.

  2. Fun, humor and the sense of belonging to a community that doesn't take things too seriously. Many meme coin buyers like the fact that their purchase makes them part of a project that injects some humorous fun into our lives. Not everyone wants to be intensely and continually analyzing stock market or Bitcoin price charts, furrowing their eyebrows and pondering about their next strategic investment decision. Meme coins are a subculture, one thatā€™s firmly driven by an ethos of ā€œtake it easy.ā€

  3. Getting caught up in hype. Since meme coins are generally hyped-up, a lot of people fall for the intense promotional drives. This group differs somewhat from the one described in (1.) above. While the first group is usually made up of savvy investors, who take calculated risks and understand the high-risk nature of their investments, the third group expects grandiose, sometimes unrealistic returns ā€” even by meme coin standards ā€” solely due to being influenced by promotional hype.

What Contributes to Meme Coinsā€™ Notoriety?

Meme coins gained popularity through the support of influencers in the cryptocurrency industry, celebrities and investors whose actions drive the price higher during a short period of time. In general, meme tokens or coins are often seen as jokes circulating on social media platforms, and their prices typically crash after surging (although a very small proportion manage to thrive in the long term).

Probably the most high-profile case of meme coin promotion by a celebrity or otherwise influential figure is Elon Musk's multi-year online romance with Dogecoin (DOGE). Since early 2019, the tech mogul and world's richest person has been posting occasional tweets supporting the oldest meme coin in existence. In April 2019, Musk tweeted to his audience of 25 million followers at the time, "Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It's pretty cool."Ā 

However, it was his series of 2021 tweets that really boosted the price of DOGE. After Musk's late April 2021 tweet in support of the cryptocurrency, DOGE surged immensely, attaining its highest levels ever in early May. Throughout 2021 and beyond, Musk's favorable and typically facetious tweets have contributed to Dogecoin's unrelenting popularity in the meme coin world, despite this crypto's lack of meaningful utility.

Since meme coins lack fundamentals and have little to no inherent value, the primary aim of trading them is to sell short when their price surges. Nevertheless, some of these assets have successfully survived years of skepticism and/or expectations of an imminent crash. While meme coins are notorious for pump-and-dump schemes, there are still a few that might be worth your time.

Meme coins are indeed volatile and highly speculative, yet there are investors who refuse to sell them. So, which meme coins are genuinely worth your attention?

Top Meme Coins to Buy Now

1. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Launched in 2013, Dogecoin is the world's first top meme coin, and remains the largest meme coin by market cap today. The brainchild of two developers (Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer), DOGE was themed around a cute Shiba Inu dog, Kabosu, whose memes were gaining substantial popularity online at that time. Markus and Palmer launched the coin as a joke, underscoring the widespread belief that cryptocurrencies had no meaningful utility. Little did they (or nearly anyone else at that time) know that DOGE would go on to become one of the crypto market's most prominent assets, laying the foundation for the burgeoning meme coin market years later.

As of the time of our review on Sep 25, 2024, Dogecoin is in the top 10 among all crypto assets on the market. The confident multi-year leader among meme coins, DOGE features a market cap of $16.1 billion, ranked #9 in the cryptocurrency world. DOGE also holds slightly over one-third of the entire meme coin category's total market capitalization of $45.3 billion, as estimated by the CoinGecko portal. By now, its dog-themed logo is one of the most-recognized images ā€” not only in the world of crypto, but also in the entire online universe.

As of our review date, DOGE is trading at $0.11. You can buy DOGE on Bybit as a USDT, USDC or EUR Spot pair, or as a USDT or USDC Perpetual contract.

2. Shiba Inu (SHIB)

For seven long years following the launch of Dogecoin, the meme coin space remained a deserted place. That all changed in 2020 with the arrival of another dog-themed meme coin, Shiba Inu (SHIB). Floated on the market in August 2020, SHIB quickly became a viable competitor to DOGE, capitalizing on both the similarity of its Shiba Inuā€“themed images and its active promotion on social media.

Shiba Inu has a couple of significant differences from Dogecoin. It was the first meme coin that was actively hyped online upon its launch, setting an example and precedent for other meme coin projects to do so. This was in contrast to Dogecoin, which waited for years after its launch to be discovered and hyped. In addition, unlike Dogecoin (and similar to many other meme assets), Shiba Inu wasn't launched on its own dedicated blockchain. Instead, it was created as an ERC-20 asset on the Ethereum blockchain.

Because it was the first meme coin to be widely promoted at launch, Shiba Inu quickly established its position as a major cryptocurrency (though not quite at the level of Dogecoin). It currently has a market cap of around $8.8 billion, giving it a rank of #2 among meme coins and #16 among all cryptocurrencies. SHIB's is currently trading at $0.00001494, and can be bought on Bybit as a USDT, USDC or EUR Spot pair, or a USDT or USDC Perpetual contract.

3. Pepe (PEPE)

Launched in April 2023 and inspired by the Pepe the Frog meme from the 2000s, the Pepe (PEPE) coin has been the most stark example of an incredibly hyped-up meme coin. Its online promotion was driven by numerous social media posts and reposts from user accounts, many of which were believed to be bots.

Similar to many other meme coins, Pepe's founder(s) remained anonymous when the coin was launched. In August 2023, some crypto news outlets reported that the project's founder was identified as landscape photographer Zachary Testa.

PEPE was launched with a colossal supply of around 420 trillion units, with each coin worth a minuscule fraction of a cent. Despite expectations of the coin's imminent crash during its market presence, PEPE has survived for nearly 1.5 years as of the time of writing, and has amassed the third-largest market cap ($3.64 billion) among meme coins.

Currently, itā€™s trading at $0.000008661. Although there have been bold statements online about the coin reaching $1, such a price is unlikely to materialize. You can buy PEPE on Bybit as a USDT, USDC or EUR Spot pair, or as a USDT or USDC Perpetual contract.

4. dogwifhat (WIF)

dogwifhat (WIF) is another Shib Inuā€“themed meme coin, this one wearing a hat. It currently holds the distinction of being the highest-capped Solana (SOL)-based meme coin. While Dogecoin was launched on its own chain, while meme coins such as SHIB and PEPE are based on Ethereum, a new wave of meme coins residing on Solana emerged mid-to-late 2023.

Launched in November 2023, WIF is one of the earlier coins representing this wave. While the vast majority of these Solana-based assets have failed to gain any traction in the market, WIF has been a rare success in this area: during its 10-month history to date, the coinā€™s value has increased by over 42,000% and holds a market cap of $2 billion. WIF's current trading price is $2.04. It can be purchased on Bybit as a USDT, USDC or EUR Spot pair, or as a USDT or USDC Perpetual contract.

5. Floki (FLOKI)

Inspired by Floki, Elon Musk's Shiba Inu, the Floki (FLOKI) meme coin dubs itself "The People's Cryptocurrency." Launched as a classic meme coin, it has now developed functional use cases in areas such as gaming and DeFi.

FLOKI is a multichain asset with contracts on both Ethereum and BNB Chain (BNB). In mid-2024, it was reported to have close to half a million users on BNB Chain, officially making it the platform's largest meme coin asset. FLOKI's current market cap stands at $1.39 billion, and itā€™s trading at $0.0001436. You can buy FLOKI as a USDT (FLOKI/USDT) or USDC Spot pair (FLOKI/USDC), or as a USDT Perpetual contract (1000FLOKIUSDT).

6. Bonk (BONK)

Bonk (BONK), yet another dog-themed meme coin, was launched in December 2022 and is among the first Solana-based meme assets. It was one of the earliest contributors to popularize Solana as a meme coin heaven. Bonk has grown rapidly, establishing its presence on multiple other blockchains, among them Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon (POL) and more.

Just like some other popular meme assets, BONK was launched with a massive per-unit supply, in BONKā€™s case 93.5 trillion. Cryptocurrencies with such overwhelming supply figures typically have minuscule per-unit prices. The coin's price is currently $0.00001909, and although some of its most enthusiastic promoters and supporters believe that BONK could reach $1, it's unlikely to happen unless some form of enormous supply burn is carried out. The coin's market cap currently stands at $1.3 billion.

BONK can be purchased on Bybit as a USDT (BONK/USDT) or USDC (BONK/USDC) Spot pair, or as a USDT Perpetual contract (1000BONKUSDT).

7. Popcat (POPCAT)

Popcat (POPCAT), another Solana-based meme coin, was inspired by the internet meme cat named Oatmeal. POPCAT claims the title of highest-capped meme coin themed after a feline. In the sea of mostly Shiba Inu dogs, this is a refreshing change.

Introduced in December 2023, Popcat is among the most successful meme coins, having appreciated by 8,650% compared to its launch price. Popcat currently sits at a market cap of $1 billion, and is trading at $1.05. You can buy POPCAT on Bybit as a Spot pair (POPCAT/USDT), or as a USDT (POPCATUSDT) or USDC Perpetual contract (POPCAT-PERP).

8. Brett (BRETT)

Brett (BRETT) is a meme coin built around Brett, one of the key characters from artist Matt Furieā€™s popular Boy's Club series. The series features four main characters, including Pepe the Frog and Brett. Brett and Pepe are actually great friends in the series' storyline, and the BRETT coin's February 2024 launch was undoubtedly inspired by the success of the PEPE meme coin.

BRETT is based on Base, a leading Layer 2 network linked to Ethereum. The meme coin holds the distinction of holding the platform's highest market cap at $875 million, and is currently trading at $0.088. It can be bought on Bybit as a USDT (BRETT/USDT) or USDC (BRETT/USDC) Spot pair, or as a USDT Perpetual contract (BRETTUSDT).

9. cat in a dogs world (MEW)

Another cat-themed representative of Solana, cat in a dogs world (MEW) was created to challenge the dominance of dog-themed meme coins in the space, and seems to have rapidly edged closer to its goal. Launched in March 2024, MEW pumped by 385% to hit a price of $0.0097 within three days, during which its market cap reached approximately $848 million. While this figure has since receded to $560 million, MEW remains among the top ten largest meme coins in market cap.

MEW currently trades at $0.006275 and can be bought on Bybit as a USDT (MEW/USDT) or USDC (MEW/USDC) Spot pair, or as a USDT Perpetual contract (MEWUSDT).

10. Neiro (NEIRO)

Neiro (NEIRO) is the first Neiro-themed meme coin launched on Ethereum. Like many other Neiro-themed meme coins, NEIRO was created in a bid to replicate the popularity of Dogecoin, as the owner of Kabosu has recently adopted a ten-year-old Shiba Inu, Neiro, in late July 2024.

The ERC-20 NEIRO token was launched in early August 2024 at a low of $0.000002438, and traded at that level for about a month. But from September 16 onward, it experienced a price rally that led to an ATH of $0.001327 on Sep 24, 2024, recording an extraordinary increase of over 54,000%. Its current price is $0.001183 with a market cap of $497 million, surpassing many older, more established meme coins, such as Mog Coin (MOG) and Turbo Token (TURBO).

NEIRO can be bought on Bybit as a USDT Perpetual contract (1000NEIROCTOUSDT).

The Risks of Meme Coins

Most meme coins are highly speculative, and have no intrinsic value. Therefore, plenty of risks are associated with this field of cryptocurrency, particularly for investors.Ā 

In addition, meme coins are highly volatile, and pump-and-dump schemes are a common occurrence. Therefore, investing in meme coins might be more exhausting than investing in traditional financial markets, as no regulation is implemented. However, investors can take advantage of the wild price movement to have fun and ride the wave following the social media buzz.Ā 

If you intend to invest in meme coins, youā€™ll need to monitor their price movement closely by taking advantage of the surge in demand. As always, donā€™t invest more than you can afford to lose. Investors should understand how market corrections work ā€” instead of jumping on the bandwagon when cryptocurrencies are at their all-time highs. Trend reversals take place all the time, and they can occur in a split second.Ā 

While most of the established financial markets have recovered post-pandemic, meme coins beg to differ. If your risk tolerance is low, an investment in meme coins might be the last thing you need in your portfolio.

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The Bottom Line

Compared to established cryptocurrencies, meme coins are relatively new in the crypto market. Dogecoin and its peers have strong growth potential. Savvier investors can take advantage of these crypto coins, riding the price momentum from bottom to top.

Despite their potential, meme coins are still a risky investment, due to their focus on meta humor and community attention, rather than financial performance.Ā 

Diversifying your portfolio is a way to reduce market risk in a given sector. As with other investments, if you invest in meme coins, make sure to take their risks into account.

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