Meme Coins Are the New Wild West of Crypto—And Everyone’s Buying In

You’ve probably heard of Dogecoin, the meme coin born from a Shiba Inu and a whole lot of irony, but here’s a fun twist: Doge didn’t just inspire legions of crypto bros—it's become part of a broader, stranger trend. From pygmy hippos to Melania Trump’s mystique, meme coins have surged in popularity, transforming everything we thought we knew about cryptocurrency. They’re not just a fad; they’re a mirror to our internet-addled, trend-chasing cultural moment. And they’re not going anywhere—well, unless they tank, which they probably will.

Let’s start with Moo Deng. She’s the pygmy hippo that somehow became the mascot of an absurdly valuable crypto, a coin that, like many others, was forged in the fires of internet whimsy. Then, of course, there’s the Hawk Tuah girl, whose viral meme launched her own coin—another testament to how fast things can snowball in this wild, unpredictable world of crypto. Not to be left out, the first lady herself, Melania Trump, got her own meme coin too, making it clear that even the political elite can now cash in on meme culture. Forget “putting a man on the moon”; we’re launching coins based on whoever’s internet moment is hot enough to throw a couple of zeros on the price tag.

But here’s the thing: meme coins are basically the wild west of modern finance. They’re less about long-term value and more about who can generate the most hype, which is why anyone from celebrities to kids can whip up their own coin in a matter of minutes. Enter pump.fun, a platform that allows literally anyone to create their own crypto coin, and suddenly, millions of meme coins are flooding the market. How many of them will be worth anything? Almost none. As crypto journalist Zeke Faux puts it, 99% of these coins “are dead on arrival.”

So, what’s the appeal? Well, meme coin trading is like gambling. There’s no real “value” here, but there’s the thrill of seeing your coin’s price spike for a moment, only for someone—likely the coin's creator—to cash out when everyone else is buying in. For a few lucky traders, it’s like hitting the jackpot. For everyone else? It’s a game of musical chairs, and guess what? There are fewer chairs than there are players.

Still, the meme coin game keeps going. The truth is, it’s a zero-sum game: For every dollar won by a lucky trader, someone else is losing it. But that doesn’t seem to stop anyone, because we’re all hoping we won’t be the last fool to buy the coin, right? And as it turns out, “Greater Fool” coins are already a thing, with 12 versions already listed on pump.fun. So, maybe the real joke here is on all of us.