A meme coin is a cryptocurrency that originated from an Internet meme or has some other humorous characteristic. They are often depicted with comical or animated memes and are supported by enthusiastic online traders and followers. Meme coins differ from standard crypto coins in that they frequently serve no purpose other than to be shared and are generally uncapped in supply, making them extremely volatile and appealing to many traders.
Meme coins have surged in popularity since Elon Musk endorsed Dogecoin, one of the first meme coins, and continues to tweet about it. Meme coins can be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges and can be built on the Ethereum blockchain. While they may be fun, meme coins are highly risky investments and may hold little or no intrinsic value, so it’s possible to make or lose a large amount of money quickly when trading them and other virtual currencies.
Some countries, such as Thailand, have taken steps to regulate meme coins. Meme coins have been criticized in some sections of the crypto industry as “casinos” that make a mockery of the vision for crypto as the plumbing for an alternative financial system.