These Are the Top Meme Coins by Market Cap
Cryptocurrency trading can be fun, but it can also lead to profits—or losses if risk precautions are not taken. This is especially true of a phenomenon that gained popularity during the Covid crisis. We are talking about meme coins—digital currencies inspired by Internet memes. They are also often created as a joke.
The origins of meme coins
When someone asks you about the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency, the vast majority will mention bitcoin. Of course, that would be correct. But if you get the same question about meme coins, only true experts will be able to answer. Meme coins, however, also have a relatively long history.
The first meme coin was launched relatively soon after bitcoin appeared in the financial world. It was dogecoin, “born” in 2013. Its creation was intended purely as a parody or joke, as Dogecoin was inspired by a popular Internet meme featuring a Japanese Shiba Inu dog. [1]
But what initially seemed like a joke soon began to behave like a mainstream crypto asset. Meme coins work just like any other cryptocurrency, fully utilizing the advantages of blockchain and related technologies.
Growth of the meme coin market
Over time, other meme coins began to appear. According to various portals, more than 4,800 types of meme coins are currently traded on the global market. In reality, however, there are many more, because portals that monitor the market capitalization of digital assets do not monitor all of them.
The market capitalization of registered meme coins currently nears $90 billion, as per Coingecko.com data. The most popular and largest is still dogecoin with a market capitalization of $41.6 billion. This means that almost half of the global market capitalization of meme coins is dominated by dogecoin. [2]
To some extent, it can be considered bizarre that dogecoin currently occupies the eighth position in the overall global ranking of traded cryptocurrencies. In other words, the largest meme coin, with its market capitalization, managed to fit into the top ten cryptocurrencies worldwide.
Leading meme coins by capitalization
The Japanese dog breed Shiba Inu even got its own meme coin. Its market capitalization is almost $8 billion, making it the number two global meme coin. Yes, you read that right—the second-largest meme coin has about a quarter of the market capitalization of the number one meme coin.
The third place currently belongs to the meme coin Pepe, with a market cap of around $4.7 billion. It is followed by MemeCore with just a $400 million smaller market cap, which has a comfortable lead over the fifth place, Pump.fun, with a market cap of $2.6 billion.
The list of meme coins with a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion is topped by SPX6900, while just below this threshold is the meme coin Floki ($963 million). Meme coins can be about absolutely anything. Elon Musk also has “his” meme coins, including ElonGate or Dogelon Mars. [3]
Risks and community influence
A key characteristic of meme coins is that they are community-driven, with communities having a major influence on marketing, development, and ultimately the value of the meme coin itself. Other aspects—such as media coverage, influencers, and overall community sentiment—can also play a decisive role.
To put this into perspective, dogecoin gained an incredible 7,400% in 2021, only to fall almost 70% just a few months later. If you’re just looking to have fun investing in cryptocurrencies, meme coins can be a great opportunity.
If cryptocurrencies are often described as a high-risk asset, then in the case of meme coins, the risk is exacerbated due to their rather unpredictable nature. While one can generate high profits trading meme coins, extra caution must be exercised.
Sources:
[1] https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/what-are-meme-coins