If you’re a crypto enthusiast, you’ll know all about memecoins. The craze began with Dogecoin, and its impressive surge during the previous bull market inspired various copycat offerings. Now, there are memecoins being launched every minute, based on content from popular culture.
In the 2021 bull market, NFTs emerged as an innovative trend, and these were being promoted by celebrities left, right, and center. NFTs have gone quiet now, though, and it’s likely that memecoins will garner most of the attention this time round.
NFTs Boom During the 2021 Bull Market
The cryptocurrency bull market occurs every four years, and we’re currently in the midst of the biggest one to date. Bitcoin continues to push to new highs and broke the $90,000 mark for one BTC for the first time in November. The last time it burst through all-time highs in 2021, it led to increased interest in cryptocurrencies and the rise of NFTs.
The NFT market became so mainstream that it was even represented in the online casino industry. People who play online slot games at Paddy’s will have noticed the NFT Megaways game, which capitalized on the hype surrounding NFTs in previous years. The online casino market often reflects hot trends in other areas of popular culture, with the use of NFTs highlighting how big they had become.
Along with slot games, there were also countless well-known figures touting NFTs and buying into the mania surrounding them. John Terry famously got involved with the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, and Ozzy Osbourne released his own rage of NFT bats known as CryptoBatz. Since that boom in 2021, however, it appears NFTs will not reach the heights of their initial bull market surge.
Millions of Memecoins Now in Circulation
It feels as if memecoins are now the equivalent of NFTs in the current market cycle, and a lot of the speculation is occurring in this area of the cryptocurrency sphere. Bitcoin represents the more reliable investment, whereas small-cap memecoins have the potential for massive returns on investment for people who get in early. However, some of them quickly dump to zero shortly after their price spikes, and traders lose out.
There have been more than two million new memecoin releases since January 2024, and it’s hard for people to pick which ones are going to pump. This is similar to the NFT craze in that most people heard about offerings too late and were unable to make the same gains on them that early adopters had enjoyed.
According to a piece in Cointelegraph, some celebrities have already started shilling memecoins. If more famous figures start to get involved with memecoins, it could lead to an increased mania around them, with even more buying activity and greater price swings. If this happens, it could also indicate a cryptocurrency market top, as when mass retail interest floods the market, long term investors start to sell in droves.
It could be argued that memecoins have replaced NFTs now as the speculative asset of choice in the crypto market. While the hype around NFTs has seemingly faded away, interest in memecoins is at an all-time high. Memecoins are extremely volatile, so it’s wise to get as much information before deciding to invest.
