Tech
Crypto memes are back in a big way after the Bitcoin ETF frenzy
If there’s one thing cryptocurrency enthusiasts love more than digital assets themselves, it’s memes. A frenzy of cryptocurrency-based memes gained new momentum last week as Bitcoin rallied.
Growing expectations that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will allow exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin have pushed the largest cryptocurrency by market value to rise more than 25% in the past two weeks to around 35,000 dollars Wednesday: the highest level in about 18 months. The breakout gives bulls some hope even as reminders of the sector’s recent troubles linger. Just last week, Sam Bankman-Fried took the stand in defense of criminal charges stemming from the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX. He has pleaded not guilty.
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Memecoins like Pepe Coin (PEPE) have risen alongside Bitcoin. The coin based on the Internet meme of an anthropomorphic green frog, which has been around since the early 2000s, rose 77% on Friday compared to the previous week, according to data from crypto market tracker CoinGecko. Pepe Coin, issued this year, rose to a market value of more than $1 billion in May before reversing course and plunging more than 60% in the following days, according to data tracker CoinMarketCap.
“The bear market put a damper on meme activity, especially in terms of market value, but it still remained quite buoyant,” said Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter. “Now that sentiment is more confident, meme tokens will represent even more of the fun and YOLO side of cryptocurrency investing.”
Memes, from Baby Yoda to Bob Ross, have been part of the cryptocurrency space since its inception, and in 2013 they began trading as digital tokens known as memecoins. Dogecoin, often cited as the first memecoin, was valued at up to $50 billion in 2021, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.com. Dogecoin rose to fame when Elon Musk tweeted memes based on the coin, inspiring other dog-themed memecoins like Shiba Inu. Now, there are hundreds of memecoins ranging from worth next to nothing to having market values of $100 million or more.
“Cryptocurrencies attract insurgents who believe that money isn’t serious, that legacy systems can’t be trusted, that the future is uncertain, and that those in charge are corrupt, so they might as well have fun,” Acheson said.
This is not the first time that memecoins have been in tune with the overall market sentiment. During the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the most popular memes, “money Printer go brrr,” was about how the Federal Reserve was “printing” an infinite amount of dollars and how this increased the value of Bitcoin, which has an amount limited. of tokens. The demise of that meme occurred in October 2022, leaving the average investor to care little whether a finite amount of digital asset exists.
“We can roll our eyes at the lack of fundamental value of these tokens, but in my opinion that overlooks the fact that, ultimately, the market decides,” Acheson said. “Meme tokens are cultural expressions with monetary value, and there will always be some degree of enthusiastic participation in the cryptocurrency market.”
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