Review and Outlook of meme coin Development

Meme coins, as one of the most unique entities in the cryptocurrency field, embody both cultural attributes and financial characteristics. Reviewing the history of meme coins is also a reflection on the collision between internet culture and financial speculation. From the initially sarcastic jokes to the virtual currencies that now hold a place in the market, meme coins are telling us through their experiences - in today's era, cultural resonance and community belief drive value creation more than technical white papers.

1. Breaking Ground / Foundation Laying (2013-2016)

This period witnessed the original innovation journey of meme coins from zero to one, presenting a unique ecology where wild growth and natural selection coexist. Marked by the birth of DOGE in December 2013 and culminating in the maturity of Ethereum smart contract technology in 2016, it constitutes the purest and most authentic "Genesis Era" in the development history of meme coins.

1.1 Ephemeral Type

Mooncoin - An Unfinished "Moon Landing" Dream

As an entertainment meme coin with the slogan "To the Moon", Mooncoin's early performance was stunning: in its first year, it set a record with a single-day increase of over 300%. However, after the spotlight came a long silence: in 2015, delisting from mainstream exchanges caused its market value to drop by over 90%; the following year, members of the anonymous development team announced an "indefinite hibernation."

Fedoracoin (TIPS) - A niche "gentleman" recognition

FedoraCoin precisely targets the "Fedora-wearing neckbeard" subculture on Reddit. This highly vertical positioning allowed it to quickly gain popularity within specific communities early on, but it also sowed the seeds for limited development in the future. Starting in 2015, as mainstream exchanges gradually delisted TIPS, its liquidity experienced a catastrophic decline.

Nyancoin - A fleeting "rainbow" light

As the second meme coin after DOGE, Nyancoin, released on January 6, 2014, quickly gained the unique identity of "the first officially licensed cryptocurrency in history" within a month of its launch, but it has fallen far behind DOGE in terms of market influence. Weak community support has led to sluggish project development, and the stagnation of development has further dampened community enthusiasm, ultimately leading to Nyancoin's gradual decline.

1.2 General who always wins

Dogecoin (DOGE) - An Unexpected "Grassroots Carnival"

Dogecoin, which was born on December 6, 2013, was initially just a parody of the Bitcoin craze culture created by programmers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, but it unexpectedly evolved into one of the most enduring phenomenon meme coins in the history of cryptocurrency. Its iconic Shiba Inu image comes from the "Doge" meme that became popular on the internet in 2013, and this inherently high-profile internet IP allowed it to quickly gain popularity on platforms such as Reddit.

2. Dormancy / Outbreak (2017-2021)

In the past five years, the market has witnessed the transformation of meme coins from niche subculture to mainstream financial assets. Marked by the popularization of the ERC-20 standard in 2017 as a technical turning point, and the historical market value set by SHIB in 2021, meme coins have completed a qualitative change from "internet joke" to "phenomenal investment target."

2.1 Meteor Shining Type

Useless Ethereum Token (UET, 2017)

As the most honest scam in cryptocurrency history, UET directly states on its official website: "This is a worthless token, buying it is a waste of money." Despite its blatant declaration of "uselessness," UET still raised 310 ETH (around $93,000 at the time) within 48 hours, making it one of the most absurd ICO cases in history.

Hoge Finance (HOGE, 2021)

The core positioning of HOGE is not to achieve a disruption of new technologies, but to build a unique token economy through a deflationary model and community governance. Each transaction automatically destroys 1% of the tokens while allocating 1% to the holders, attempting to drive value growth through scarcity. This design has indeed attracted a large number of retail investors, making it one of the most active community tokens in a short period.

2.2 Stellar Long-lasting Type

Shiba Inu (SHIB, 2020)

Born in August 2020, Shiba Inu was initially just a meme coin parodying DOGE on the Ethereum chain. However, a tweet from Musk in May 2021 saying "Looking for Shiba Inu" ignited the market, causing SHIB to surge 1200% in a single day. What led SHIB down a path distinct from other meme coin projects and endowed it with long-term value is the gradually built "Shib ecosystem" by the team: the decentralized exchange ShibaSwap, Layer2 network Shibarium, and the token burning mechanism, among others.

2.3 Transformation Breakthrough Type

Floki Inu (FLOKI, 2021)

Floki Inu emerged in June 2021, inspired directly by Musk naming his Shiba Inu "Floki". The ambition of FLOKI goes far beyond mere hype; it seeks to further a brand transformation, building a vast ecosystem that includes DeFi (FlokiFi), NFTs, the metaverse (Valhalla metaverse game), Floki Trading Bot, a crypto education platform (University Of Floki), TokenFi, Floki Staking, and even physical charity.

SAMO (Samoyedcoin, 2021)

Born in 2021 during the explosive period of the Solana ecosystem, Samoyedcoin quickly rose to fame with the adorable image of the Samoyed dog. Unlike the grassroots origins of other meme coins, SAMO has carried the aura of being the "official mascot of Solana" since its inception, making it stand out among the many dog-themed tokens.

3. Precipitation / Reconstruction (2022-2025)

Since 2022, the meme coin market has begun a deep adjustment from frenzy to rationality. Marked by the collapse of Terra in May 2022, and the rise of the BRC-20 standard in 2023, the meme coin ecosystem is undergoing a brutal yet necessary value reassessment.

3.1 Short-term speculative trading

Trump (TRUMP, 2025)

On January 17, 2025, then-President Trump announced the launch of his personal meme coin $TRUMP on Truth Social and X. The token design is inspired by his iconic image of raising a fist during the attempted assassination in 2024. Since its inception, TRUMP has carried a distinct political stance. Its supporters call themselves the "MAGA Army" and have launched a "Buy Trump Coin" movement on social media, viewing the holding of the token as a political endorsement of Trump.

3.2 ecosystem-driven

Dogwifhat (WIF, 2023)

On December 13, 2023, as another dog-themed meme coin on the Solana chain, WIF, wearing a cute pink knitted hat, sparked an almost absurd frenzy in the Solana ecosystem and the cryptocurrency market. After its launch in 2023, WIF's market capitalization skyrocketed to $3 billion by March 26 of the following year, taking just 104 days.

BONK

On December 25, 2022, as the Solana ecosystem was on the brink of collapse due to the FTX crisis, an anonymous team launched $BONK, themed around a Shiba Inu, and announced a so-called "airdrop rescue plan": to airdrop 50% of the total token supply to active users on the Solana chain. As Solana's "lifeline," BONK indeed delivered an impressive performance: it not only successfully facilitated the return of developers, increasing the number of projects participating in the Solana hackathon from 23 in Q4 2022 to 217 in Q2 2023; but also promoted the revival of the NFT ecosystem.

3.3 Narrative Innovation Type

Goatseus Maximus (GOAT, 2024)

This meme coin, born in October 2024, originated from a bizarre prophecy about the "Goatse Singularity" made by an AI chatbot named "Truth Terminal," but it evolved into a frenzy on the Solana chain worth over $700 million in just two weeks. Its rise perfectly illustrates the crazy logic of the crypto market where "narrative equals value," cleverly combining AI gimmicks, subcultural memes, and the aura of venture capital to create a stunning wealth effect, and it writes the first biography for the brand new domain of AI memes.

3.4 cultural symbol type

MOODENG (2024)

MOODENG is inspired by a young pygmy hippopotamus named MooDeng (meaning "lively pig") from the Khao Kheow Zoo in Thailand. On September 10, 2024, at the peak of the little hippo's popularity, the first MooDeng-themed Meme coin $MOODENG on the Solana chain was born and quickly completed its initial liquidity accumulation on Pump.fun. Just 20 days after its launch, MOODENG's market capitalization surpassed $270 million, successfully entering the Top 10 Meme coins on the Solana chain, setting a record for the highest project on Pump.fun.

Future Outlook

Meme coins, as the most unique phenomenon in the cryptocurrency market, perfectly showcase the collision of speculation and culture. Their core advantage lies in their astonishing virality. However, the rapidly accelerating market cycles and the continuously iterating waves of traffic have soon put this Meme coin craze on the brink of exhaustion.

Looking ahead, in the face of the upcoming new era, meme coins, which are essentially part of the attention economy, still cannot be abandoned by the times and the market. Technically, earlier platforms like PumpFun have continuously contributed to low-threshold and low-cost coin issuance and trading; while the latest BlockMiner project launched in 2025 has brought a renaissance to this PvP mode prevalent market.

In terms of innovation, the popularity of "AI+meme" has been steadily rising since the advent of GOAT, promising to hatch an unlimited potential new paradigm shift. The rise of DeFAI has further elevated the value and narrative of AI memes to new heights. The rapidly developing AI Agent technology is also continuously expanding application scenarios, laying the foundation for the large-scale popularization of AI and providing support.

From a non-technical perspective, the development of meme coins has always relied on community support and maintaining popularity. The phenomenon of leveraging celebrity influence to create and issue cryptocurrencies has never ceased since the launch of Coinye West in 2014, reaching its peak after Trump's coin issuance in 2025.

As the era and the market bid farewell to the past, early meme coins urgently need to transform, while the meme coins of the new era need to address more complex challenges. This market is undergoing a necessary transition from reckless growth to rational development, and what ultimately remains may not be the craziest memes, but rather the survivors that can balance hype and substance.