Cryptocurrency-Related Memes Reemerge After Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund Excitement
Last week, as Bitcoin experienced a rally, a surge of crypto-themed memes gained renewed popularity, delighting crypto enthusiasts who have a fondness for both digital assets and humorous internet content.
Growing expectations that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will authorize exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin sent the largest crypto by market capitalization up more than 25% to around $35,000 on Wednesday — the highest level in about 18 years. months. The breakout gives bulls hope, even as reminders of the industry’s recent woes linger. Just last week, Sam Bankman-Fried took the stand in his defense of criminal charges stemming from the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX. He has pleaded not guilty.
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Memecoins like Pepe Coin (PEPE) grew with Bitcoin. The coin, based on the internet meme of a green anthropomorphic frog that has existed since the early 2000s, rose 77% on Friday from the previous week, according to data from crypto market tracker CoinGecko. Pepe Coin, which was issued this year, soared to more than $1 billion in market capitalization in May before reversing course and falling more than 60% in the following days, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
“The bear market dampened the meme activity, especially in terms of market cap, but it remained quite active anyway,” said Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter. “Now that the sentiment is more certain, meme tokens will represent even more of the fun YOLO side of crypto investing.”
From Baby Yoda to Bob Ross, memes have been a part of the cryptocurrency space since its early days — and in 2013, they began trading as digital tokens known as memecoins. Dogecoin, often cited as the first memecoin, was estimated to be worth as much as $50 billion in 2021, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.com. Dogecoin rose to stardom when Elon Musk tweeted memes based on the coin and inspired other dog-themed memes like the Shiba Inu. There are now hundreds of memecoins, ranging from almost nothing to market caps of $100 million or more.
“Crypto attracts rebels who believe that money is not serious, traditional systems cannot be trusted, the future is uncertain and those in charge are corrupt, so they might as well have fun,” Acheson said.
This is not the first time that memecoins have been stuck with the general market sentiment. During the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the most popular memes, “Money Printer go brrr”, was about how the Federal Reserve “printed” an infinite amount of dollars and how this increased the value of Bitcoin, which has a limited supply. of tokens. That meme disappeared in October 2022, when the average investor couldn’t care less if there was a finite amount of digital assets.
“We can roll our eyes at the lack of fundamental value in these tokens, but I think this is missing the mark, ultimately the market will decide,” Acheson said. “Meme tokens are cultural expressions that have monetary value, and there is always some enthusiastic participation in the crypto market.”
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