As detailed by Sandy Carter in a recent report for Forbes, meme coins are a unique category of cryptocurrency that initially gained attention through internet jokes and memes. Despite their humorous origins, meme coins like Dogecoin have demonstrated remarkable staying power and significant market performance. According to Forbes, while Bitcoin’s meteoric rise has dominated headlines in 2024, meme coins have outshone other digital assets with returns exceeding 1,300% for the top tokens this year.
Sandy Carter is the Chief Operating Officer at Unstoppable Domains. She brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles at AWS and IBM, where she held influential positions. Sandy is deeply committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in technology, exemplified by her role as chairwoman on the board of the nonprofit organization Girls in Tech and her past involvement with the Diversity Committee at the World Economic Forum.
Carter is also a founding member of the Blockchain Friends Forever social movement, which supports women in the Web3 space. As an active participant in the cryptocurrency community, she holds and trades modest amounts of Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). Her current focus and passion lie in exploring and promoting enterprise use cases for decentralized technologies.
Forbes attributes some of the success of meme coins to speculation and celebrity endorsements, such as Elon Musk’s well-known support for Dogecoin. However, Forbes emphasizes that the true value of meme coins lies in their real-world utility rather than their comedic appeal. Yet, not all meme coins hold the same potential, and some should be regarded with skepticism.
A prime example of a meme coin gaining serious traction is Shiba Inu (SHIB). Forbes highlights that Shiba Inu is not just a novelty; it has substantial real-world applications. According to Carter, recently, Shiba Inu partnered with Zama.ai to develop a platform featuring fully homomorphic encryption, which enhances identity, security, and risk management solutions within financial technologies. She says this partnership is setting new standards in both the cryptocurrency sector and the traditional financial industry.
“Shiba Inu is one of the largest memecoins by market capitalization, and recently announced a partnership with Zama.ai to develop a fully homomorphic encryption platform. This means that Shiba Inu will be able to create identity, security and risk management solutions that are embedded within payment and other financial technologies. This doesn’t just drive enhanced privacy and security in the memecoin or crypto sector, but is setting standards for the traditional financial industry as it converges with the crypto economy.”
Forbes also points out the impact of celebrities on the meme coin market. Australian model and singer Iggy Azalea has successfully launched the Mother Iggy coin, which saw a staggering 1,200% increase in just one week, bringing its market value to $200 million. Carter says the coin’s utility is further extended as token holders will soon be able to purchase phones and monthly cell plans from Azalea’s telecommunications company. However, she warns that celebrity backing alone does not guarantee success, as evidenced by the sharp decline in value of Caitlyn Jenner’s coin, which now sits at less than $6 million from an initial market cap of $43 million.
For a meme coin to thrive, it must foster a large and engaged community. Carter uses Floki as an example of a meme coin that has evolved into a movement, branding itself as “The People’s Cryptocurrency.” Floki supports utility-based projects and NFTs, and has developed unique features such as integration with the Valhalla Metaverse play-to-earn game and an NFT marketplace. Additionally, Floki University, a crypto education platform, responds to the growing interest from new investors, helping drive its market capitalization to over $2.5 billion.
Some of the most robust meme coins are those built on established blockchains. Forbes points out Bonk, which utilizes the Solana blockchain, making it well-suited for various decentralized finance applications. The integration with Solana allows Bonk to benefit from the extensive ecosystem already in place, including over 250 on-chain integrations.
Forbes advises that, similar to Bitcoin, meme coins require thorough research before investing. Carter says investors should evaluate a coin’s utility, community engagement, and development team. She also mentions that the true long-term value of a meme coin depends on its ability to solve real-world problems and offer genuinely useful functions beyond what existing cryptocurrencies provide.
Last month, a long-term SHIB investor made headlines for converting a modest investment of $2,625 into a staggering $1.1 million after holding the cryptocurrency for more than three years.
This remarkable investment story was brought to light by the blockchain analysis service Lookonchain. On 1 February 2021, the investor purchased 48.09 billion SHIB using 2 Ether (ETH), which was valued at $2,625 at the time. The investor sold their SHIB holdings for 278.7 ETH, equivalent to $1.1 million. Lookonchain shared the details of this profitable trade on the social media platform X on May 27.
Featured Image via Pixabay
