The meme coin craze is going nowhere as more of these whimsical digital assets keep popping up. Meme coins are cryptocurrencies that draw inspiration from the meme culture on social media. These meme-based cryptos do not have any inherent value; rather, their popularity comes from social media trends and, in some cases, endorsements from influential figures.
The meme coin trend’s origin can be traced back to the success of Dogecoin (DOGE) — a meme coin created in 2013 that features a Shiba Inu dog. In 2021, users on Reddit jokingly pumped the price of DOGE — similarly to how WallStreetBets (an online community on Reddit) had influenced Gamestop and AMC entertainment stock prices in 2020 online. Tesla CEO Elon Musk picked up this phenomenon by constantly tweeting about Dogecoin.
Dogecoin’s success in capturing young retail investors has led to multiple meme coins drawing inspiration from cartoons and internet memes. This piece looks at the top 3 meme coins that will dominate 2024. You can use this BTC calculator to check how many meme coins you can buy with your bitcoins.
1. PEPE
Developed to compete with the already popular Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, PEPE epitomizes the link between internet memes and cryptocurrency. The Pepe coin was created in 2023 and draws inspiration from the “Pepe the Frog” meme used to convey multiple facial expressions.
PEPE was developed on the Ethereum ecosystem and, unlike DOGE, had a lowkey market entry. While it might not have any intrinsic value, roadmap, or utility, Pepe Coin’s operational framework stays true to blockchain’s key elements — decentralization, security, and transparency. Therefore, it allows peer-to-peer transactions; you don’t need any intermediary to transact PEPE with other cryptocurrencies.
Besides, the Pepe Coin network uses a deflationary mechanism to protect PEPE’s value. PEPE is currently trading at $0.0000009022. The coin has a market cap of $379M and a daily trading volume of $75M.
Currently, there are 420T Pepe coins in circulation — about 93% of these are allocated to the liquidity pool. The remaining supply is stored in a multi-sig wallet that is tracked via the pepecexwallet.eth.
While the PEPE market cap and price have risen steadily since late 2023, it has been down — 12.12 % over the last couple of weeks. That said, experts in crypto investment strategies, using deep artificial intelligence analysis, claim that the coin’s price may hit a maximum price of $0.000002. This bullish trend is likely to continue through 2025.
2. BONK
Bonk is another decentralized community-driven meme token that has experienced a surge in price. The token was airdropped in December 2022 as a gift to Solana users without any prior announcement or marketing.
The network’s whitepaper outlines that Bonk aims to be Solana’s community coin — 21% of BONK is allocated for Solana NFT projects, 15.8% — for Solana market participants, and 11% — for Solana’s artists and collectors.
Bonk functions as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Anyone holding BONK tokens is allowed to participate in the development and governance of the Bonk network.
The token also offers cross-chain compatibility and can be used on Solend, Solana’s platform for lending and borrowing. Besides, Solana users can participate in BONKomatic where you stake SOL and earn BONK or use BONK as collateral for loans on Coin Rabbit. The token has also made its way to crypto gaming — users earn BONK rewards within gaming applications.
The maximum supply of BONK is capped at 100 trillion, with 15% of it delegated to the Bonk DAO.
BONK became the 3rd largest meme coin by market capitalization — after DOGE and Shiba Inu. The token’s price in mid-December 2023 was at $0.00002956 representing over 10,000% increase in 2023. Its fully diluted market cap at the time was $1.79 billion.
Currently, BONK is trading at $0.0000105, which is still a 1,088.4% increase over the last year. The token’s market cap is $ 630M, with a daily trading volume of $50M.
Crypto forecasts expect the token to reach $0.00001653 in the next three months thanks to Solana’s positive momentum and technical developments within Bonk’s ecosystem. Others predict that BONK will hit a maximum price of $0.000021 by the end of 2024.
3. Dogwifhat(WIF)
Dogwifhat is another Solana-based decentralized meme token that was launched in late 2023. The token is based on the Doge meme, although it has no affiliation with Dogecoin. The Dogwifhat network uses Binance Smart Chain, making it more scalable and energy efficient.
WIF is currently trading at $0.196 with a market cap of $195M and a daily trading volume of $23M. There are 998M WIFs in circulation. Dogwifhat hit $0.4814 — its all-time high — in mid-January 2024, representing a 700% rise.
This meteoric rise can be attributed to Binance’s launch of the WIF/USDT perpetual contracts and BitMEX’s WIF/USDT perpetual swap contract. Bitget also placed WIF in its Innovation and Meme Zone, contributing to the token’s 200%+ increase in transaction value. The token’s surge in price also coincided with SOL’s impressive pump in mid-December.
WIF follows the footsteps of BONK, which hit a $2 billion market cap in December. The coin has also been listed on reputable exchange platforms such as Bitget, Cooperative, Raydium, and Get.io.
With Dogwifhat committed to decentralization, crypto experts expect the token to hit a maximum possible of $0.2806 in 2024 before rallying to a maximum of $0.4059 in 2025. Moreover, deep technical analysis of past WIF data shows that the token will hit $0.76 in the next two years due to positive market sentiment and its association with the Solana network.
Conclusion
The meme craze is here to stay, especially now that we have new tokens, such as BONK and WIF, giving the popular meme coins a run for their money. Their satirical nature has helped them gain significant traction. While most of these tokens don’t have intrinsic value, their accessibility and low prices have attracted crypto enthusiasts and investors willing to enter the crypto space.
Today, these meme coins’ ability to foster a sense of community engagement has led to a surge in their prices, providing massive profits to early adopters. They are also prone to price volatility, as is the case with all cryptos. Therefore, it is advisable to carry out extra research before engaging in meme coins.
