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Being the most bizarre and disparaged subset of an asset class that is, in itself, unconventional and highly controversial says quite a lot about said subset’s standing, credibility and perceived legitimacy. That’s meme coins in a nutshell, or at least that’s what they used to be.
Meme coins are one of the most talked about topics in the crypto sphere, with constant mentions in the news, and not always for good reasons. They brought humor and fun to an industry that was becoming a little too dramatic, but one can only laugh so long at a joke before it loses its charm and effect. It’s been over a decade since meme tokens emerged and people aren’t as amused or interested in them as they were in the beginning. A quick read through the SHIB news today or a look at the latest Dogecoin predictions, two of the most notable assets in this category, can help you gain a better idea about the state of meme coin market at the moment.
Many meme tokens have crashed and disappeared, giving rise to rumors that the entire segment might be on the brink of extinction; other projects have managed to withstand the downturns and bounced back, seemingly stronger than before, suggesting that they might be finally maturing. The crypto industry has changed a lot throughout the years and meme coins seem to be changing with it. But are we witnessing the demise of the meme coin class or is it just a classic case of natural selection where only the strongest survive and then enter a new stage in their development?
The future of meme coins appears rather uncertain, but for some reason, they’re still around, despite their flaws, which can only mean they still matter. That is reason enough to keep an eye on these digital assets and their evolution and try to figure out what might happen to them from this point forward.
The origins
It all started with the launch of Dogecoin in 2013. Its creators had no intention of revolutionizing the crypto industry in any way. They just wanted to point out the absurdity of the crypto industry, with all the drama and craze generated by the altcoin (mostly Bitcoin copycats) boom at the time. So, they decided that the best way to make fun of the phenomenon was to create a parody of Bitcoin. They chose the viral doge internet meme as their image and the rest is history.
Dogecoin started to gain traction in early 2021, which brought meme coins into the spotlight and sparked the emergence of numerous copycats. Endorsement from public figures like Elon Musk and Reddit communities contributed significantly to this rise. The likes of Shiba Inu, Pepe, Floki and other tokens benefited from the attention that was suddenly thrust upon them, appreciating rapidly, and meme coins developed into a highly popular crypto division with growing legitimacy.
The hurdles
Meme coins were quite the rage for a while: they were funny, relatable, and had low barriers to entry. People appreciated their honesty, simplicity, transparency and the fact that they leveraged community spirit to push forward. Many got behind meme coin projects because it made them feel like they were part of something bigger than themselves and gave them a sense of purpose and belonging. And most importantly, people were undeniably drawn in by the possibility of fast gains, due to the high-risk, high reward nature of these assets.
But what many didn’t appreciate was the lack of substance behind meme coins’ alluring facade. With no clear value proposition and no use cases, meme coins could go up in a blink of an eye and crash just as suddenly, when the hype finally faded away, leaving a trail of financial loss and disappointment in their wake.
Many of the projects launched during the meme coin boom vanished soon after the initial wave of enthusiasm and excitement died down, because without the support from the crypto community, there was nothing to keep them going. This revealed a bleak reality about meme coins: the absence of fundamentals made them susceptible to manipulation and more volatile than most investors liked. Their accessibility, relatability and virality could not make up for their lack of utility and therefore could not sustain them in the long run.
Signs of maturation
Just because we’ve seen many meme coins fall and fade in recent years, doesn’t necessarily mean this is the end for them. The crypto market is no longer the Wild West it once was and meme coins are no longer just for laughs.
Developers understood that the only way to ensure long-term growth for their meme coin projects was to integrate genuine utility into their structures. And that’s precisely what many of the existing meme coins and the ones that are being launched at present are doing: they’re adapting and developing useful functions that can help them grow sustainably.
Shiba Inu is a good example in this respect. The project has built its own Layer-2 blockchain, Shibarium, to improve transaction speed and lower gas fees, and stepped into the NFT and metaverse space. Floki is also on a journey of transformation with the development of educational products and decentralized finance tools. And, of course, the leader of the meme coin pack, Dogecoin, is exploring integration with layer-2 scaling solutions and smart contracts through partnerships.
All these developments prove that meme coins are moving beyond hype and speculation, and turning into purposeful and technically powerful assets that can compete with established cryptocurrencies.
Final thoughts
In crypto, all projects must evolve and adapt to the new realities of their fast-changing environment, otherwise they risk becoming obsolete and eventually going extinct. Even Bitcoin, the indomitable leader of the crypto world that seems too high up to ever be touched by what’s going on around it, has had to make some tweaks here and there to keep up with the evolution of the industry. So, it’s only natural that meme coins also evolve, and their current focus on functionality and sustainable tokenomics proves they might be able to survive in the harsh crypto landscape.