Even if you don’t follow crypto space closely, we can bet that you’d have heard of Dogecoin. Heck, not just you, even your relatives who may not even be tech-savvy would’ve heard about enormous gains offered by Dogecoin. Started in 2013 by two software engineers to take a dig on the cryptocurrency phenomenon, who knew this coin would be talked more than Bitcoin, which started it all. But here we are in 2021. In fact, Dogecoin pioneered a new term called meme coins for tokens that may not have any real utility yet is riding on a trending meme.
Understanding Meme Coins
Honestly speaking, understanding meme coins can actually be a study of human psychology. What else would explain the fact that instead of focusing on the technical advantages offered by virtual currencies, people are getting excited by meme coins? Simply put, just like memes – an image, video, piece of text, or something else together that spreads among the users on the internet while having a humorous meaning — meme coins follow a similar concept. They don’t have an inherent value and are usually riding on a popular internet meme. And this brings us to…
Dogecoin: the one that blazed the trail for meme coins
As detailed in our Dogecoin timeline story, the coin was created by engineer Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus in 2013. They created this to take a jab at the craze behind cryptocurrencies. It’s a proof-of-work coin, just like Bitcoin. While the coin never had any real utility (something that its logo can explain – a Shiba Inu, which was a popular internet meme), and it languished over the years, it got a lease of life when Elon Musk tweeted about it earlier this year.
And while it certainly made its price rise, many people also consider GameStop vs Wall Street saga a turning point for Dogecoin. Sometimes masses can take the price of an asset higher, even if its underlying value remains the same. While Dogecoin supporters believe that the coin can go to $1, it’s yet to reach that mark. However, the digital currency has found more utility. As per BitPay, it’s the fourth biggest cryptocurrency in terms of transactions (after Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash).
Other popular meme coins
Another popular meme coin that has also provided impressive results is Shiba Inu Coin. As you could guess, it’s aiming to steal Dogecoin’s thunder by having its name the same as the logo and meme for Dogecoin. It was created by an anonymous person by the name of Ryoshi back in August 2020.
SafeMoon, as the name suggests, is a play on “to the moon” that many people believe they would achieve for the virtual currency they hold. It’s based on Binance Smart Chain, which makes transactions cost-effective compared to those based on the Ethereum blockchain.
There are a lot of tokens that are using the name of Elon Musk or the terms coined by him on Twitter. these include Dogelon (ELON), Dogefather (DOGEFATHER), and so on.
What’s the next Dogecoin?
Many of you may even be wondering what the next Dogecoin is, and the truth is told, there’s no way to know the answer. That’s because the meme coins don’t follow fundamentals but are based on how people’s sentiments. A lot of coins are also increasing in price due to FOMO.
Read: What’s next for Dogecoin? Should you invest now or stay invested?
So how do you find the crypto coins that will increase in value? There’s no sure shot way. But you can always follow what Musk is tweeting because it seems his actions impact the market. You can also be plugged into Reddit and other social channels to see what everyone is saying, though do note that it’d be a gamble at best.
Another thing would be to notice when a meme coin would get listed on popular cryptocurrency exchanges. For example, when Dogecoin got listed on Coinbase, its price was increased by 30 percent immediately.
Future of meme coins?
We’ve learned from what happened with GameStop, and it seems that the meme coins would also follow the same trajectory. People want to show the power of coming together, and that’s what many such coins would manage to achieve, it seems. Add to it that memes have started selling as NFTs too, which shows their interest. Interestingly, a platform called Meme.com has been launched specifically to bridge meme-based digital collectibles with tokens.