The Development History and Value Logic of Meme Coin

This article systematically sorts out the development history 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 solely relying on technology or practical value. Based on its evolutionary characteristics, it can be divided into three key development stages:

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

1.1 Ephemeral Type

Short-term popularity, lacking cultural depth, quickly fading away. ( like Mooncoin, TIPS, Nyancoin )

1.2 General of Ever Victories Type

Cultural symbols + community-driven, long-term survival. ( like DOGE)

2. Hibernation/Outbreak ( 2017-2021) - In the era of smart contracts, memes undergo a qualitative change.

2.1 Meteor Shining Type

Speculation-driven, the bubble burst quickly. ( like UET, HOGE)

2.2 Stellar Luminous Type

Ecological expansion, breaking limits. ( like SHIB's ShibaSwap )

2.3 Transformation Breakthrough Type

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 ).

3. Precipitation/Reconstruction ( 2022-2025 ) - The Rise of New Narratives, the Market Begins to Reshape

3.1 Short-term Speculative

Relying on hotspots is extremely risky. ( like the political narrative craze of TRUMP )

3.2 Ecological-driven

Relying on the public chain, short-term explosion. ( like WIF, BONK)

3.3 Narrative Innovation Type

AI+Meme, concept hype, trust crisis. ( like GOAT )

3.4 cultural symbolic type

Internet celebrity IP, short-term popularity. ( like MOODENG)

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

The Development History of Meme Coin

Breaking ground/Foundation laying (2013-2016)

This period witnessed the original innovative journey of memes from zero to one, presenting a unique ecosystem of both barbaric growth and 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 purest and most authentic "Genesis Era" in the history of meme development.

On a technical level, with few exceptions, the meme coins at this stage are almost entirely based on forks of Bitcoin or Litecoin's code.

In terms of market performance, the average active cycle of meme coins born during this period is only 11.7 months, but survivors like DOGE have shown remarkable vitality.

In terms of historical status, the foundational significance of this stage cannot be underestimated. In fact, history tells us that true innovation often arises in times when rules have not yet been 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 of the cryptocurrency world.

Ephemeral

Mooncoin - An unfinished "moon landing" dream

As an entertainment-type meme coin with the slogan "登月(To the Moon)", its somewhat brief life could not support the ambition of this grand narrative.

Looking back at its development trajectory from 2014 to 2018, the early performance of mooncoin was quite remarkable: it set a record for a single-day increase of over 300% in its first year; the Reddit community r/Mooncoin had over 5000 posts in a single month; it collaborated with the gaming platform Moonrocket; and it was even referred to by Coindesk as the "most serious joke coin."

However, after the highlight 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 "indefinite hibernation"; it wasn't until 2018 that the project saw a brief resurgence.

Unfortunately, Mooncoin failed to seize this last opportunity. The development team claimed to create 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 this, with Bitcoin plummeting 60% in April 2018, market enthusiasm waned, and Mooncoin completely faded from the stage.

Fedoracoin(TIPS) - A niche "gentleman" recognition

FedoraCoin(TIPS) was born on December 22, 2013. Its core is not aimed at the mass market but precisely targets the "Fedora-wearing neckbeard" subculture on Reddit. This highly vertical positioning allowed it to quickly gain popularity 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 very user-friendly for ordinary users. This simple and practical architecture helped it quickly accumulate a group of loyal followers in its 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 posts in a single day, making it one of the most active meme coin communities for a time.

However, the good times didn't last long, as TIPS soon encountered a predicament similar to that of Mooncoin. Due to the lack of practical application scenarios, this project built on subcultural memes has always struggled to break through the limitations of cultural symbols. Starting in 2015, as mainstream exchanges like Cryptsy and Bittrex gradually delisted TIPS, its liquidity experienced a cliff-like decline.

Although the cryptocurrency market as a whole warmed up in 2018, the price of TIPS briefly rebounded. Unfortunately, TIPS did not manage to take advantage of this opportunity to turn around.

Between 2014 and 2016, FedoraCoin gradually lost market attention. By the end of 2018, the TIPS GitHub repository stopped at version v1.8.0, with the last on-chain transaction record remaining in November. In 2019, this once-prominent project was officially listed as "dead" by Deadcoins.

Nyancoin - A brief "rainbow" light and shadow

As the second meme coin after DOGE, Nyancoin was released on January 6, 2014, and within a month, it gained the unique identity of being the "first officially authorized cryptocurrency in history," yet it lags far behind the former in market influence.

In essence, this gap is first reflected in the differences in cultural genes: the "rainbow cat" meme that Nyancoin is based on has far less reach and cultural penetration than the "Shiba Inu" meme of DOGE.

In addition, in the fields of application scenarios and development directions, the direct manifestation of this cultural awareness gap is that Nyancoin lacks some breadth and depth compared to DOGE. DOGE has built a multi-dimensional application ecosystem covering payments, tips, charity, and more, while the application scenarios of Nyancoin, mainly used for trading, are relatively singular.

In terms of external empowerment, the community activity and external traffic of Nyancoin are not ideal. This vicious cycle ultimately leads to the gradual decline of Nyancoin.

The Nyancoin community r/nyancoins only has 1.5k subscribers, and the last active post dates back to two years ago. This community gap has directly led mainstream data platforms to stop updating Nyancoin's real-time data after 2019.

Undefeated General Type

Dogecoin(DOGE) - An unexpected "grassroots carnival"

Dogecoin, which was born on December 6, 2013, was initially just a parody of the Bitcoin craze culture by programmers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, but unexpectedly evolved into one of the most enduring phenomenon memes in cryptocurrency history. Its iconic Shiba Inu image comes from the "Doge" meme that became popular on the internet in 2013, and this inherently high-profile internet IP allowed it to quickly gain popularity on platforms like Reddit.

In terms of design philosophy and founding intention, it does not emphasize complex technology like other cryptocurrencies, boast revolutionary blockchain technology, or promise grand visions. Instead, it uses a cute Shiba Inu meme as its logo, entering this increasingly fervent field in the most mocking way possible.

Looking back at the several peaks in DOGE's market capitalization, it soared to $10 billion at the beginning of 2021 due to a surge in retail investor interest and strong community support; in May of the same year, under the continuous endorsement of its number one fan Elon Musk on social media platforms and the effects of the "Saturday Night Live" show, DOGE's market capitalization reached $80 billion.

In the following years, although the popularity and price of DOGE have receded, even entering a downward trend, the overall market trend has remained relatively stable, maintaining a certain level of influence and popularity in the cryptocurrency field. Until November 12, 2024, when Trump announced that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would jointly lead the newly established "Government Efficiency Department" (DOGE), aimed at reducing government spending. However, the official abbreviation of this new department, "DOGE," is identical to the code for Dogecoin, which sparked heated discussions in the crypto community. Although Musk later clarified on the X platform that there is no connection between the two, considering his consistent style of operation and long-standing admiration for DOGE, the public generally believes that this abbreviation choice is far from coincidental.

Regarding this intriguing naming coincidence, there are various interpretations in the market: some speculate that this is Musk's clever arrangement to bridge the gap between the cryptocurrency market and the political stage; others believe it may be a foreshadowing to revive DOGE's market popularity; of course, it could also be, as he himself stated, merely an interesting coincidence. What real intentions lie behind this dramatic naming event may only be revealed by time. However, it is undeniable that this incident once again highlights DOGE's unique position in cryptocurrency culture and the intricate relationship between Musk and DOGE.

The development of DOGE perfectly showcases the duality of meme coins: on one hand, it has created a financial miracle driven by ordinary internet users; on the other hand, it has also exposed the risks of such coins becoming speculative tools.

But it is admirable that even when the entire meme coin market is not thriving in 2025, DOGE still maintains a daily trading volume of over 1 billion USD, and its market cap remains solidly in the top ten. Furthermore, its community activity still has an astonishing vitality, and it is believed that this advantage can always be transformed into market momentum at critical moments, which in turn feeds back to create a virtuous cycle.

It must be admitted that this digital currency, which was originally created as a joke, has now become a unique and enduring presence in the world of cryptocurrencies.

Dormant/Outburst ( 2017-2021)

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 the historic market value of SHIB in 2021, memes have undergone a qualitative change from "internet joke" to "phenomenal investment benchmark."

From a technical perspective, the maturity of smart contracts has completely restructured the issuance logic of meme coins. According to data on the Ethereum blockchain, most meme coins born between 2017 and 2021 opted to adopt the ERC-20 standard or relied on other protocols, reducing issuance costs to less than one-thousandth. This technological democratization, akin to a double-edged sword, has spawned a craze for "everything can be a meme," but it has also buried the hidden danger of homogenized competition.

At the same time, in terms of market narrative, in December 2017, the market capitalization of DOGE first surpassed 1 billion USD, while during the peak in 2021, the overall daily trading volume of meme coins 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.

However, it should be noted that not all meme coins have a higher survival rate and longer lifespan. According to a research report by Chainplay, meme coin projects experienced an average of deaths every month in 2020.

Throughout the history of cryptocurrency, the most profound change during this period is the reconstruction of value perception. When DOGE was included in mainstream exchanges like Coinbase in 2021, when the SHIB founder remained anonymous.