The Development of Memes: From Joke to Phenomenon Investment Target

1. Overview

This article systematically sorts out the development process of memes, analyzes typical cases and reveals its unique value logic: unlike traditional financial assets, the core value of memes is expressed as "cultural dissemination power × community consensus," rather than relying entirely on technology or practical value. Based on its evolutionary characteristics, it can be divided into three key development stages:

1.1 Breaking Ground / Foundation (2013-2016) - Barbaric Growth, The Great Wave Washes Away the Sand

• Ephemeral type: short-term popularity, lack of cultural accumulation, rapid extinction. ( like Mooncoin, TIPS, Nyancoin )
• Undefeated General Type: Cultural Symbol + Community Driven, Long-term Survival. ( like DOGE)

1.2 Hibernation/Outbreak ( 2017-2021) - In the era of smart contracts, memes usher in a qualitative change

• Meteor Shining Type: driven by speculation, bubbles burst quickly. ( like UET, HOGE)
• Stellar Everbright: Ecological expansion, breaking limitations. ( like SHIB's ShibaSwap )
• Transformation Breakthrough: Attempting innovation, but progress is slow due to various limiting factors. ( such as the metaverse blueprint of FLOKI and the public chain binding of SAMO ).

1.3 Sedimentation/Reconstruction ( 2022-2025 New Narrative Rise, Market Begins Reshuffle

• Short-term speculative: relies on hotspots, extremely high risk. ) like the political narrative hype of TRUMP (
• Eco-driven: relying on public chains, short-term outbreak. ) such as WIF, BONK(
• Narrative Innovation: AI + Meme, Concept Speculation, Trust Crisis. ) like GOAT(
• Cultural Symbol Type: Internet Celebrity IP, Short-term Popularity. ) like MOODENG(

Meme coins will continue to face the balance test of "speculation and substance," while technological innovations ) such as AI, DeFAI (, and community building will become key factors. Although the market is undergoing adjustments, as a typical product of the attention economy, meme coins will still maintain their unique position and influence in the cryptocurrency field.

2. Historical Review

As one of the most unique entities in the cryptocurrency space, memes have both cultural attributes and financial characteristics. Reflecting on the history of memes is also a reflection on the collision between internet culture and financial speculation.

From a satirical joke at the beginning to a virtual currency that now holds a place in the market, memes are telling us through their experiences - in today's era, perhaps cultural resonance and community beliefs drive value creation more than technical white papers. While the traditional financial world is still trying to create new value, Memes have already reshaped people's understanding of "value" itself.

In an era dominated by social media, the speed and manner of information dissemination have fundamentally changed. A meme that becomes popular on Reddit or Twitter can garner hundreds of millions of exposures worldwide within a few hours, and the power of this viral spread has now been directly transformed into financial value. Memes, as the perfect vehicle for this transformation, have written their own stories and legends on the time axis.

) 2.1 Breaking Ground/Establishing Foundations ###2013-2016( - In the flourishing times, pioneers bravely stand at the forefront; where the big waves wash away the sand, those who are unsuccessful quietly leave the stage.

This period witnessed the original innovation journey of memes from zero to one, presenting a unique ecology where barbaric growth coexists with natural selection. Marked by the birth of DOGE in December 2013 and ending with the maturity of Ethereum smart contract technology in 2016, it constitutes the most pure and authentic "Genesis Era" in the history of meme development.

Technically, with few exceptions, almost all meme coins at this stage are based on code forks of Bitcoin or Litecoin.

In terms of market performance, historical data from CoinMarketCap shows that the average active cycle of memes born during this period is only 11.7 months, but survivors like DOGE demonstrate remarkable vitality.

From the perspective of historical status, the foundational significance of this stage cannot be underestimated. In fact, history tells us that true innovation often emerges when rules are not yet established, and the experimental field from 2013 to 2016, which had not yet formed a system, preserved the most precious rebellious genes and innovative spirit for the world of cryptocurrency.

) 2.2 Lurking/Outburst ### 2017-2021( - Amid the ebb and flow of tides, wise individuals rise to the occasion; in the midst of changing winds and clouds, the powerful are met with defeat and sink into the sand.

In the past five years, the market has witnessed the transformation of memes from a fringe subculture to a mainstream financial asset. Marked by the popularization of the ERC-20 standard in 2017 as a technological turning point, and culminating in 2021 when SHIB reached a historic market value, memes have undergone a qualitative change from "internet joke" to "phenomenal investment target."

From a technical perspective, the maturity of smart contracts has completely restructured the issuance logic of memes. According to data on the Ethereum chain, most of the memes born between 2017 and 2021 chose to adopt the ERC-20 standard or rely on other protocols, with the issuance cost reduced to less than one thousandth ) compared to the tens of thousands of dollars ( for independent chain development. This technological democratization, akin to a double-edged sword, has spawned a craze of "everything can be a meme," but it has also buried the hidden dangers of homogenized competition.

At the same time, in terms of market narrative, CoinGecko data shows that in December 2017, the market capitalization of DOGE first exceeded 1 billion USD, while during the peak period in 2021, the overall daily trading volume of the meme coin sector exceeded 30 billion USD, accounting for 12.3% of the entire cryptocurrency market. It is worth noting that the meme coins born during this stage had a significantly improved lifecycle compared to the previous period.

Throughout the history of cryptocurrency, the most profound transformation during this period lies in the reconstruction of value perception. When DOGE was included in mainstream exchanges like Coinbase in 2021, and when the anonymous founder of SHIB was able to leverage a market cap of tens of billions, traditional finance had to reassess the essence of memes - as revealed in the 2021 report "Meme Assets and Attention Economics" published by the MIT Digital Currency Initiative )MIT(: "The value capture mechanism of assets like Dogecoin essentially transforms network attention into liquidity premium." This shift in perception laid a crucial foundation for subsequent social finance experiments in the Web3 era.

) 2.3 sediment/reconstruction ###2022-2025( - When the great wave collapses, true gold begins to reveal its true color; in a world of great contention, the pattern ultimately becomes clear.

Starting from 2022, the meme coin market began a deep adjustment from frenzy to rationality. Marked by the collapse of Terra in May 2022, and turning with the rise of the BRC-20 standard in 2023, the meme coin ecosystem is undergoing a brutal yet necessary value reassessment.

According to CoinMarketCap statistics, the overall market value of memes shrank by 82% in 2022, but the leading projects DOGE and SHIB still maintained their positions in the top 20 market cap rankings. A new report released by GameFi market data center Chainplay titled "State of Memecoin 2024") studied and analyzed over 30,000 meme coin projects on Ethereum, Solana, and Base(, stating that "97% OF MEMECOINS HAVE DIED")97% of memes have died(. The report also pointed out: "Different blockchain platforms exhibit different meme coin mortality rates. Base leads with a 66.91% death rate, followed by Solana at 54.03% and Ethereum at 36.59%."

Nevertheless, we cannot underestimate or speculate whether memes have already reached the end of their story. The cryptocurrency market has always been full of variables, and memes, as a particularly distinctive category within it, are even more difficult to assess with conventional perspectives.

As Mathew McDermott, head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs, stated: "Meme projects that can still secure funding after 2023 must demonstrate their ability to capture long-term value beyond simple speculation." Similarly, an a16z researcher pointed out: "This winter is filtering out speculative bubbles, and what remains will be truly culturally enduring digital assets." The future landscape may prove that memes that can transcend cycles will ultimately become a key bridge connecting the crypto world and popular culture.

3. Case Analysis

) 3.1 Breaking Ground/Foundation ###2013-2016(

The coins in this stage can be roughly divided into the following categories based on their lifecycle/community activity/market value changes.

)# 3.1.1 Ephemeral

In the fast-evolving ecosystem of cryptocurrency, driven by innovation, projects lacking sustained viability are destined to be mere fleeting visitors. They may attract market attention during specific periods, but ultimately struggle to escape the fate of being "a flash in the pan." While they may shine brilliantly when they bloom, it is difficult to maintain that heat for long.

3.1.1.1 Mooncoin - An Unfinished "Moon Landing" Dream

As an entertainment meme coin with the slogan "To the Moon###", its somewhat short life has failed to carry the ambition of this grand narrative.

Looking back at its development trajectory from 2014 to 2018, ( its last GitHub commit was in 2018 ) v1.8.0(, which almost marks the practical demise of the project (. The early performance of mooncoin can be considered stunning: it set a record of over 300% daily increase in its first year; the discussion volume in the Reddit community r/Mooncoin exceeded 5000 posts in a month; after collaborating with the gaming platform Moonrocket ), the project platform went bankrupt ); it was even called "the most serious joke coin" by Coindesk.

However, after the spotlight comes a long silence: In 2015, the delisting by mainstream exchanges led to a market value drop of over 90%; the following year, members of the anonymous development team announced an "indefinite hibernation"; it wasn't until 2018 that the project experienced a brief resurgence - but this was not due to its own breakthroughs, rather it benefited from two external factors: firstly, the overall recovery of the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin rebounding from $13,000 to $17,000 in Q1 2018, driving altcoins to rise; secondly, the launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket reignited the "To the Moon" internet meme, with a parody video titled "Mooncoin Launch Countdown" created by community members unexpectedly bringing in over 500,000 views on YouTube.

Unfortunately, Mooncoin failed to seize this last opportunity. The development team claimed to be creating a "lunar base" metaverse game, but in the end, the white paper was never realized, and the so-called "metaverse game" was merely a Unity demo video. After that, with Bitcoin crashing 60% in April 2018, market enthusiasm waned, and Mooncoin completely faded from the stage.

(## 3.1.1.2 Fedoracoin)TIPS( - A niche "gentleman" recognition

FedoraCoin)TIPS(was born on December 22, 2013, and its core is not aimed at the mass market, but precisely targets the "Fedora-wearing neckbeard")wearing a hat "keyboard warrior"###subculture group on Reddit. This highly vertical positioning allowed it to quickly become popular in specific communities early on, but it also planted the seeds for limited development in the future.

On a technical level, TIPS adopted the relatively common Scrypt algorithm at the time, and the design supporting GPU mining made it quite user-friendly for ordinary users. This simple and practical architecture helped it quickly accumulate a group of loyal followers in the early stages.

At the same time, just two months after its launch, the r/Fedoracoin subreddit on Reddit set an astonishing record of over 2000 discussions in a single day, making it one of the most active memes communities.

However, the good times did not last long, as TIPS quickly encountered a predicament similar to that of Mooncoin. Due to a lack of practical application scenarios, this project built on subcultural memes has always been unable to break through the limitations of cultural symbols. Starting in 2015, as mainstream exchanges like Cryptsy and Bittrex gradually delisted TIPS, its liquidity saw a cliff-like decline. From the initial positioning of the product.