Memecoin

A memecoin is a cryptocurrency inspired by an internet joke, meme, animal or celebrity, whose value comes almost entirely from community attention and speculation rather than any underlying use. Dogecoin, created in 2013 as a joke based on the Shiba Inu "Doge" meme, is the original and largest. Others include Shiba Inu, Pepe and Bonk.

Memecoins can produce enormous short-term gains, which is why they attract so much attention, but most collapse. Launchpads such as Pump.fun on Solana have made it possible to create a token in seconds, leading to millions of new memecoins, the vast majority of which go to near zero within days.

Common risks include developers or insiders holding much of the supply, liquidity that can be pulled, coordinated pump-and-dump schemes and paid influencer promotion. If you buy memecoins at all, treat it as gambling with money you can afford to lose, and check the holder distribution and liquidity first.