Meme coins also don’t typically have mechanisms like “burns” that remove coins out of circulation either, so the number of coins in circulation keeps rising. Shiba Inu, for instance, has more than 590 trillion coins in circulation, as of the time of this writing. There are more than 135.5 billion coins in circulation for DOGE, and every minute a successful miner receives about 10,000 DOGE, worth roughly $660. That’s a staggering contrast in issuance volume compared with Bitcoin, where approximately 6.25 BTC—worth about $143,000—is mined every 10 minutes.
Investors often find it fun and engaging to be part of these communities where they share memes, jokes and investment tips. Any estimates based on past performance do not a guarantee future performance, and prior to making any investment you should discuss your specific investment needs or seek advice from a qualified professional. Many meme coins are often held by a small group of people who own large concentrations. According to the data from IntotheBlock, 48% of DOGE is controlled by seven crypto wallets. That number is even more stark for SHIB, where 69% of ownership is concentrated among 15 wallets. For every Dogecoin, there are many other guides to open bitcoin wallet account meme coins that have left retail investors heavily underwater.
The author held no positions in the aforementioned investments at the time of publication. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website. Read our University article about Dogecoin to learn more about the meme coin that started it all. Dogecoin was an instant success upon launch and surged in popularity on platforms like Reddit.
A volatile coin with unlimited supply
Sign up for free online courses covering the most important core topics in the crypto universe and earn your on-chain certificate – demonstrating your new knowledge of major Web3 topics. Shiba Inu, for example, can be traded at Binance, Crypto.com and KuCoin, as well as decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as Uniswap. The story was picked up by mainstream media outlets, helping to gain further investors and influence. Erika Rasure is globally-recognized as a leading consumer economics subject matter expert, researcher, and educator. She is a financial therapist and transformational coach, with a special interest in helping women learn how to invest.
What Are Meme Coins?
NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. In these schemes, a group of shilling traders artificially inflates the price of a meme coin by purchasing large amounts and spreading positive, often misleading information to attract more buyers. As the price rises due to increased demand, the original traders sell off their holdings at a profit, causing the price to crash. Latecomers to the scheme are left holding devalued tokens, often resulting in substantial losses. Their value is primarily driven by social media trends, community hype, and sometimes what is scalability in crypto even celebrity endorsements, rather than underlying financial fundamentals. The original meme coin, Dogecoin (DOGE), is based on the long-running Doge meme, which originated with a picture of a Shibu Inu dog.
Although Shiba Inu started as a memecoin, it has grown in popularity and has a strong community of supporters, known as the SHIBArmy. While some are ranked among the top cryptos by market cap, potential buyers should understand that most meme coins offer little value, and a few are outright scams. Nest Services Limited, trading as Binance, is the entity ultimately responsible for the Binance Services offered through the Platform.Trading cryptocurrencies involves significant risk and can result in the loss of your capital. You should not invest more than you can afford to lose and you should ensure that you fully understand the risks involved. Before trading, please take into consideration your level of experience, investment objectives, and seek independent financial advice if necessary. It is your responsibility to ascertain whether you are permitted to use the services of Binance based on the legal requirements in your country of residence.
Rug Pulls
Watch for unusual trading patterns or sudden spikes in price, which could suggest a pump and dump scheme. Determining the legitimacy of a meme coin requires careful evaluation and due diligence — what the crypto space calls DYOR, short for ‘do your own research’. While meme coins can be highly speculative, there are several key factors and steps traders can take to assess whether a meme coin is legitimate or potentially fraudulent. However, while meme coins can be risky, they are not inherently unsafe if approached with the right mindset and risk management strategies. Traders should treat meme coins as speculative assets, only using money they can afford to lose. Diversifying their portfolio, setting clear limits, and avoiding the allure of ‘get-rich-quick’ promises are prudent approaches when dealing with such volatile assets.
- Meme coin prices are often driven by pop culture, and the Dogecoin community has made headlines on several occasions for its charity initiatives.
- Dogecoin was an instant success upon launch and surged in popularity on platforms like Reddit.
- Because of this, its prices are highly prone to inflation risk, and extremely volatile.
- Dogecoin is down 60% in 2022, Shiba Inu has fallen 64%, while many of the smaller meme coins have gone to zero and are being abandoned.
The coin became a staple of the crypto space in early 2021 when celebrities like Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, and Snoop Dogg backed Dogecoin, sending it soaring more than 800% in 24 hours. With such a high concentration, a large investor could manipulate the market with their position or send the price of the coin crashing down when they cash out their holdings. For example, when the Jamaican bobsleigh team qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but could not fund the trip, the Dogecoin community came together to raise around $30,000 for the cause. If you look up the word “meme” in the dictionary, it’s a humorous image, video, or piece of text that is copied, usually with slight variations and spread rapidly by internet users. There is no “best” meme coin, only meme coin fan favorites and speculators. The eye-catching branding caught the attention of Musk, who published a tweet that drove a 400 percent increase in the price of the 8 best code editors for chromebook CumRocket in the space of 10 minutes.