Even as Bitcoin is inching closer to the $100,000 mark having surged 49% over the last month, Dogwifhat, the Japanese dog with a hat, touched a market cap of $3.3 billion, making it the 36th ranked coin among 2.4 million currencies. Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) surged by 2,315% since its launch this month, according to CoinMarketCap, a price-tracking website for cryptocurrencies.
Memecoins are regarded as the “penny stocks” of the crypto verse or low -priced coins.
Also Read: Bitcoin nears $90,000 as Trump victory fuels surge: what’s driving the rally?
In India, X was the second largest traded meme coin on trading platform CoinDCX last week holding a market cap of $20 million.
While CoinSwitch, a Bangalore-based cryptocurrency trading platform said it has seen nearly a ten-fold jump in trading volumes week-on-week in the new meme coins.
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Balaji Srihari, business head at CoinSwitch said meme coins may be following the upward trend “fueled by renewed memecoin hype, strong support from Elon Musk, and speculation around pro-crypto policies with Trump’s election win.”“However, sustaining this momentum may be challenging due to its limited utility and retail-driven volatility,” he said.
To be sure, crypto being a decentralised currency, the price of these coins is not determined by any single exchange.
“Meme coins are created purely from an entertainment perspective and represent shared culture among crypto enthusiasts,” said Edul Patel, CEO of Indian cryptocurrency exchange Mudrex.
For instance, coins like Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, Pepe have always been popular among the crypto community.
“Time-and-again we have seen many esoteric coins which die down after gaining unbelievable popularity within hours or days. We advise investors to exercise caution before participating in such volatile trade,” Patel added.
Quirky trades
PNUT is a meme coin created as a tribute to a squirrel shortly after his death. The coin has been gaining popularity for the outpouring of grief and sympathy from his online community.
Elsewhere, Goatseus (GOAT) is the world’s first AI meme coin which was created by a self-controlled AI agent called Terminal of Truths which autonomously promotes the coin by posting on community platforms. GOAT has seen a 68% increase over the past month and touched an all-time high five days ago, placing it among the fastest currencies to cross $1 billion market cap within a month of launch.
However, some believers of meme coins said that community enthusiasm has the potential to serve a useful cause.
Adithya Iyer, author of the book ‘How I met God and got into Crypto’ said that he plans to raise $3 million by launching a new meme coin called ‘GIC’ to fund his new writing project.
“My investors are extremely excited about how we can capitalise on the meme culture and create a crowdfunding source. I am excited about this experiment,” Iyer said.
Bitcoin surge
Following a prolonged period of dormancy post-Covid, the largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin, is undergoing a resurgence in 2024. It is breaching all-time highs month-after-month. November has been the highest-grossing month for Bitcoin, aided by Trump’s crypto-friendly stance, the possibility of the creation of a Bitcoin strategic reserve, and heavy buying from corporates like MicroStrategy. At the current price of $99,192, BTC is close to breaching the $100,000 mark.
Indian investors want a share of the bull run.
Sumit Gupta, co-founder of Indian exchange CoinDCX said, since November 6, 2024, our 24-hour trading volume stands at $21 million, with a peak of $36.5 million recorded on November 10. Mudrex said it has recorded $30 million in total trading volume since the past week, which is expected to surge to $50 million. As per industry estimates, India’s total crypto holdings are close to $4 billion. Mudrex expects it to multiply by five times in the next 6 months.
