The Development of Meme Coin: From Joke to Phenomenon Asset

The core value of meme coin is expressed as "cultural dissemination power × community consensus," rather than relying solely on technology or practical value. Based on its evolutionary characteristics, it can be divided into three key development stages:

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

This period witnessed the original innovation journey of meme coin from zero to one, presenting a unique ecology where barbaric growth coexists with natural selection. Marked by the birth of DOGE in December 2013 as a symbolic starting point, and ending with 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.

Ephemeral

• Mooncoin: As an entertainment meme coin with the slogan "Moon Landing", its brief existence was unable to bear the ambition of this grand narrative.
• Fedoracoin (TIPS): Precisely targets the "Fedora-wearing neckbeard" subculture on Reddit, but its highly vertical positioning limits further development.
• Nyancoin: As the second meme coin following DOGE, it has gained the unique identity of being "the first officially sanctioned cryptocurrency in history", but it lags far behind the former in market influence.

Eternal Champion Type

• Dogecoin (DOGE): Originally just a parody of the Bitcoin craze, it unexpectedly evolved into one of the most enduring phenomenon-level meme coins in the history of cryptocurrency. Its iconic Shiba Inu image comes from the "Doge" meme that became popular online in 2013, and this inherently high-profile internet IP allowed it to quickly gain fame on platforms like Reddit.

2. Dormancy / Outbreak (2017-2021)

In the past five years, the market has witnessed the transformation of meme coins from an edge subculture to mainstream financial assets. With the popularization of the ERC-20 standard in 2017 as a technological turning point, and the historical market value reached by SHIB in 2021 as a mark, meme coins have completed a qualitative change from "internet jokes" to "phenomenal investment targets."

Meteor Shining Type

• Useless Ethereum Token (UET): Launched during the peak of the ICO bubble as the most honest scam in crypto history, UET directly stated, "This is a worthless token, buying it is a waste of money."
• Hoge Finance (HOGE): Builds a unique token economy through a deflationary model and community governance, but the lack of real application scenarios leads to long-term reliance on speculative sentiment.

Stellar Long-lasting Type

• Shiba Inu (SHIB): Initially just a meme coin parodying DOGE on the Ethereum chain, it has transitioned from meme to utility by building the "Shib ecosystem" (such as ShibaSwap, Shibarium, etc.).

transformation breakthrough type

• Floki Inu (FLOKI): Inspired by a tweet from Musk, it aims to build a vast ecosystem encompassing DeFi, NFTs, the metaverse, and more.
• Samoyedcoin (SAMO): As the "official mascot" of the Solana ecosystem, it seeks to find a balance between entertainment and practicality.

3. Precipitation / Reconstruction (2022-2025)

At this stage, meme coins are clearly more systematic and mature, but they are still caught in new dilemmas. Their issuance relies more on the public chain ecosystem and new narratives such as political finance and AI are emerging.

short-term speculative

• Trump (TRUMP): Perfectly combines election frenzy with crypto speculation, creating astonishing market performance in a very short time, but also faces risks of high centralization and over-reliance on political popularity.

Ecological-driven

• Dogwifhat (WIF): Wearing a cute pink knitted hat, it has sparked an almost absurd carnival in the Solana ecosystem, but its long-term survival still faces a classic dilemma: excessive reliance on public chains.
• BONK: As the "savior dog" of the Solana ecosystem, it successfully promoted a 487% month-on-month increase in active addresses on the Solana blockchain through an airdrop rescue plan, but it also faces regulatory challenges.

narrative innovative

• Goatseus Maximus (GOAT): Originating from a bizarre prophecy of an AI chatbot, it perfectly illustrates the crazy logic of "narrative is value" in the crypto market, but also exposes the trust crisis of AI meme coins.

cultural symbol type

• MOODENG: Inspired by a popular hippo from Thailand, it showcases the power of precise positioning in the influencer IP explosion window, but also faces the challenge of "influencer fatigue."

Looking to the future, the meme coin market is undergoing a necessary transition from wild growth to rational development. Technological innovations (such as AI and DeFAI) and community building will become key factors. Although the market is undergoing adjustments, as a typical product of the attention economy, meme coins will still maintain their unique position and influence in the cryptocurrency field.