Meme Coins: Examples of What They Are, Pros and Cons, and How to Make Them
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Meme Coins: Examples of What They Are, Pros and Cons, and How to Make Them
By Scott Nevil Full Bio Scott Nevil is an experienced writer and editor with a demonstrated history of publishing content for Investopedia. He goes in-depth to create informative and actionable content around monetary policy, the economy, investing, fintech, and cryptocurrency. After leaving the U.S. Marine Corp. in 2014, he has become dedicated to financial analysis, fundamental analysis, and market research, while strictly adhering to deadlines and AP Style and through tenacious quality assurance. Learn about our editorial policies Updated February 24, 2025Investopedia / Joules Garcia
Close DefinitionMeme coins are cryptocurrencies created to follow trends, employ humor, and try to build a sense of community to attract users.
What Is a Meme Coin?
Meme coins are altcoins (cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin) named after trends, humorous or fun topics, or anything else someone can think of. They are usually created to engage a community and can be used in peer-to-peer payments, speculative investing, or trading. In many cases, they are accompanied by websites with comical themes, sometimes nonsensical terms, and their creators and fans market a sense of community to attract others.
Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Pepe are generally the most popular meme coins. By market capitalization , they accounted for more than 67% of the total meme coin market cap on Feb. 20, 2025, at 10:40 a.m. EST.
Key Takeaways
You can interact with meme coins in much the same way other cryptocurrencies are—using a wallet to access a blockchain with a distributed network of participants. Meme coin market participants trade billions of dollars worth of meme coins daily. There is a cottage industry that has sprung up that makes it very simple to make a meme coin.How Meme Coins Work
Meme coins generally work the same way other cryptocurrencies work: An individual or group conceives of and creates a token, usually on an existing blockchain , and begins marketing it. For example, Solana and Base were the most popular blockchains used by meme coin creators in 2024.
Most meme coins are usually created without a use case other than being tradable and convertible. They have become popular with cryptocurrency traders on exchanges—daily trading volumes consistently exceeded $6 billion in early 2025.
Meme coins are made available to the public via decentralized exchanges, with some centralized exchanges listing the more popular memes—and there are millions available. Crypto data aggregator and analysis site CoinGecko reported that there were 5.3 million meme coins launched on Pump.fun alone between Jan. 19, 2024 (its launch date) and Jan. 1, 2025. This equaled about 15,229 meme coin launches per day on one platform.
Fast Fact
Similar to many cryptocurrencies, meme coins generally do not have anything backing them or generating value other than belief, hype, speculation, and hope. In most cases, meme coins do not have utility (access to a service within their blockchain)—they are simply convertible virtual currencies.
Types of Meme Coins
Not surprisingly, meme coins generally fall into themes that follow current trends, events, pop culture, other memes, or anything that grabs attention. CoinGecko lists most meme coins and categorizes them. Here are some of the meme coin themes:
Dog-Themed Elon Musk-Inspired Solana Meme (built on Solana) Frog-Themed The Boy’s Club (inspired by Matt Furie’s comics) PolitiFi (political figure inspired) AI Meme (use artificial intelligence in some way or mimic human behaviors, such as producing a fart sound when a transaction is processed) Cat-Themed Murad Picks (Murad is a cryptocurrency and meme coin enthusiast) Base Meme (Base blockchain)Warning
When evaluating a meme coin purchase, it’s best to decide what you’re trying to accomplish first. Generally, they are not suitable for longer-outlook investing, growing wealth, preserving capital, or inflation protection. They are best for collectors or traders looking to generate small profits from many small trades.
How to Make a Meme Coin
Meme coins are very simple to make, as far as cryptocurrencies go, and you don’t need to know how to code or program blockchains. Many websites can automate the process for you, which only takes a few minutes. In most cases, you’ll need a cryptocurrency wallet and some crypto to pay blockchain and service fees, which are usually fairly low. To begin, find a meme coin creation site and
Connect your wallet Ensure you own at least some of the cryptocurrency the coin creation site runs on for payments Choose a name for your token Choose a symbol (sometimes limited to a specific number of characters) Choose the number of decimals (nine for a meme coin) Enter the total supply you want circulating Upload an image (logo) for your token (usually in PNG format) Have a description ready for your token, then enter the description in the description box. You can include your social media and website links here too. Choose the “meme” tag in the tag block Click on “Create Token,” accept the transaction, and wait for your tokens to be readyPros and Cons of Meme Coins
ProsOpportunity to profit from many small trades
Millions to choose from
Joining communities of similarly minded enthusiasts
Lower cost than other cryptocurrencies
Can help you learn about blockchain and cryptocurrency
ConsLong-term investment prospects are low
High volatility and risk
High chance of scams, project abandonment, low interest
Low liquidity in less popular memes
Overhyping is common
No use cases or utility other than as a convertible currency or trading instrument
The Bottom Line
If you enjoy making lots of small trades, hoping for profits, and participating in a different type of asset, meme coins can provide a way to become involved. However, volatility and the prospect of scams or project abandonment are even higher than those of other cryptocurrency categories.
There is much debate regarding cryptocurrency’s intrinsic or other value, so it’s best to approach meme coins with an air of caution—do your own research, establish some fundamental criteria and goals for purchasing memes, and ignore all the hype. Most importantly, follow the reason for most meme coin creations: Have fun.
The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info. As of the date this article was written, the author owns 0.00001 BTC.
CoinGecko. “ Top Meme Coins by Market Cap .” Divide the top three meme coin market cap total (under All Coins) by total meme coin market cap (at Key Statistics: All Meme).
CoinGecko. “ CoinGecko 2024 Annual Crypto Industry Report .” Pages 2, 9.
CoinGecko. “ Top Meme Coins by Market Cap .”
CoinGecko. “ CoinGecko 2024 Annual Crypto Industry Report .” Pages 2, 28.
CoinGecko. “ Top Meme Coins by Market Cap .” Select Key Statistics.
Coin Factory. “ Solana Token Creator .”
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