In the world of cryptocurrency, if there’s something enthusiasts love as much as digital assets, it’s memes. Last week, as Bitcoin experienced a rally, a fresh wave of crypto-based memes gained momentum, reigniting the community’s love for humor in digital form.
The surge in memes was driven by mounting expectations that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve exchange-traded funds (ETFs) directly investing in Bitcoin. This news propelled the largest cryptocurrency by market value up by more than 25% in the past two weeks, reaching around $35,000 on Wednesday, marking its highest level in about 18 months. Despite reminders of recent challenges in the cryptocurrency industry, this breakout has given hope to bullish investors.
In sync with Bitcoin’s rise, memecoins like Pepe Coin (PEPE) also saw significant gains. Pepe Coin, inspired by the iconic internet meme of a green anthropomorphic frog that has been part of online culture since the early 2000s, surged by 77% on a Friday compared to the previous week, as reported by crypto market tracker CoinGecko. It’s worth noting that Pepe Coin, launched earlier this year, had previously achieved a market value of over $1 billion in May but then took a nosedive, plummeting by more than 60% in the following days, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Noelle Acheson, the author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, commented on the meme resurgence, saying, “The bear market put a dampener on meme activity, especially in terms of market value, but it stayed quite lively anyway. Now that sentiment is feeling more confident, the meme tokens will come to represent even more the fun, YOLO side of crypto investing.”
Memes have been intertwined with the cryptocurrency world since its early days, with the inception of memecoins as digital tokens in 2013. Dogecoin, often considered the pioneer of memecoins, was valued at as much as $50 billion in 2021, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.com. Dogecoin’s popularity soared when Elon Musk tweeted memes based on the coin, inspiring the creation of other dog-themed memecoins like Shiba Inu. Today, there are hundreds of memecoins, with values ranging from almost nothing to market values exceeding $100 million or more.
Acheson explained, “Crypto attracts rebels who believe that money is not serious, legacy systems aren’t to be trusted, the future is uncertain and those in charge are corrupt, so they might as well have fun.”
This isn’t the first time that memecoins have mirrored the overall market sentiment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most popular memes was “money printer go brrr,” which humorously pointed out how the Federal Reserve was continuously creating more money, potentially boosting the value of Bitcoin due to its capped token supply. However, the popularity of this meme waned in October 2022, with the average investor showing less concern about the finite nature of digital assets.
Acheson concluded, “We can roll our eyes at these tokens’ lack of fundamental value, but in my opinion, that overlooks that, in the end, the market decides. Meme tokens are cultural expressions with monetary value, and in the crypto market, there will always be a degree of eager participation.”
