Investing in a cryptocurrency has never been easier, and a growing number of rookies are jumping on board. Due to the surge in popularity, additional cryptocurrencies have been created and are now available for trading besides Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Lately, we have begun to see the emergence of the so-called “memecoins.”
Dogecoin, the first cryptocurrency to employ a meme to raise awareness, was successfully launched, with a million unique people visiting its website in the first month. Many meme currencies have gained popularity with a current market capitalisation of over 47 billion dollars.
This article will learn more about what a memecoin is and the leading memecoins in 2021.
What is a memecoin?
According to the crypto dictionary, memecoins have originated from Dogecoin. A memecoin is a joke that transforms into a cryptocurrency, usually with a large market capitalisation. Another amusing memecoin, Garlicoin, verified this.
When it comes to its price, influencers have a significant impact on memecoins and their price movement. When any celebrity adopts a coin, they want to promote that coin by pumping up the price by promoting it to their followers. One suited example for this is the appearance of Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Dogecoin highest-profile supporter, on Saturday Night Live (SNL) that resulted in the dropping of its price significantly contrary to expectations. This demonstrates how influential celebrities and influencers can shift meme coins’ price movement, both positively and negatively.
What are the leading memecoins today?
Dogecoin (DOGE)
Market cap: $40.6B (as of June 16, 2021)
Dogecoin is currently the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation worldwide. It is an open-source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, and it is classified as an altcoin and a snarky meme currency. The picture of a Shiba Inu (a Japanese breed of dog) serves as the emblem for Dogecoin, launched in December 2013 by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus.
Dogecoin has primarily been utilised on Reddit and Twitter as a tipping mechanism to reward the creation or sharing of high-quality content. You may acquire tipped Dogecoin by joining a Dogecoin community or getting Dogecoin through a Dogecoin faucet.
SHIBA INU (SHIB)
Market cap: $3.3B (as of June 16, 2021)
SHIBA INU is the “DOGECOIN KILLER,” according to the SHIBA INU website, and will be listed on its decentralised exchange named ShibaSwap. SHIB is a decentralised cryptocurrency established by an unknown individual known only as “Ryoshi” in August 2020. It is a Dogecoin-based ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network.
The SHIB token does not have any smart contract capability and is not backed by any assets or rights; it is just a transferable token. Additionally, the founders love Shiba Inu dogs—which was stated in the WoofPaper (white paper) as one of the founding principles of the development of this coin.
SafeMoon (SAFEMOON)
Market cap: $2.6B (as of June 16, 2021)
SafeMoon Protocol is a token for decentralised finance (DeFi) launched on March 8, 2021, by John Karony. According to its website, SafeMoon performs three tasks with each trade, including Reflection, LP Acquisition, and Burn.
The availability of high APY LP-farms that don’t have simple access for newcomers to the area, according to the SafeMoon white paper, is a major concern in the developing DeFi sector. SafeMoon aims to leverage the concept of static incentives (making the reward conditional on the volume of the token being exchanged) to alleviate any token pressure that may arise when tokens are sold.
MonaCoin (MONA)
Market cap: $122.2M (as of June 16, 2021)
MonaCoin is a cryptocurrency launched in 2013 by another anonymous developer named “Mr. Watanabe.” Japan is the country where it is most commonly used. It was first released as part of the MonaCoin Project in the same year. It was called after the Internet joke “Mon” or “Mona,” which was popularised on the online community 2channel and is based on a cat-like image constructed using ASCII letters (or 2chan), which acts as a critical information resource for techies.
It generates blocks quicker than Bitcoin and has been certified for usage in daily transactions by Japan’s regulatory authorities.
Conclusion
Compared to far more powerful rivals like Bitcoin, the meme currency still has a long way to go before it is regarded seriously. The meme currency, on the other hand, has become much too valuable to be joked about.