History of meme coins: From internet jokes to value reconstruction

Memes, as one of the most unique entities in the cryptocurrency field, possess both cultural attributes and financial characteristics. Reviewing the history of memes is also a reflection on the collision between internet culture and financial speculation.

From the initial sarcastic jokes to the virtual currencies that now occupy a place in the market, memes are telling us through their experiences that in today's era, perhaps cultural resonance and community belief can drive value creation more than technical whitepapers. While the traditional financial world is still trying to create new value, memes have already reshaped people's perception of "value" itself.

In an era dominated by social media, the speed and manner of information dissemination have undergone fundamental changes. A meme that becomes popular on Reddit or Twitter can gain hundreds of millions of global exposures within a few hours, and the power of this viral spread is now directly translated into financial value. Memes, as the perfect vehicle for this transformation, have written their own stories and legends on the timeline.

Breaking Ground/Foundation (2013-2016): In a time of great potential, the brave ones stand at the forefront; where the big waves wash away the sand, the unsuccessful quietly exit.

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

From a technical perspective, with a 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 have demonstrated 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 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.

ephemeral type

Mooncoin - An unfinished "moon landing" dream

As an entertainment-type memes coin with the slogan "登月(To the Moon)", its somewhat short life has failed to carry the ambition of this grand narrative. As Crypto Briefing stated in 2015: "Mooncoin has no actual use cases related to space or moon landing besides its name."

Looking back at its development trajectory from 2014 to 2018, mooncoin's early performance was stunning: it set a record of over 300% increase in a single day in its launch 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 called the "most serious joke coin" by Coindesk.

However, after the spotlight, there was a long silence: in 2015, the delisting by mainstream exchanges led to a market value drop of over 90%; the following year, the anonymous development team members announced "indefinite hibernation"; it wasn't until 2018 that the project experienced a brief revival - but this was not due to its own breakthroughs, rather it benefited from two external factors: first, the overall recovery of the cryptocurrency market; second, the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch rekindled the "To the Moon" network meme, and the "Mooncoin countdown to the moon" parody video created by community members unexpectedly brought in traffic.

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 did not materialize, and the so-called "metaverse game" was merely a Unity demo video. After that, with Bitcoin plummeting 60% in April 2018, market enthusiasm waned, and Mooncoin completely faded from the stage. As summarized in Delphi Digital's "Cryptocurrency Cycle Report" ( 2019): "This brief revival confirms the cruel rule of meme coins - projects lacking cultural accumulation, any technological update is merely a life-saving injection."

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"( subculture group of "keyboard warriors") on Reddit. This highly vertical positioning allowed it to quickly gain popularity within specific communities early on, but also laid the groundwork for potential limitations in its subsequent development.

On the technical level, TIPS adopted the more commonly used Scrypt algorithm at the time, and its design supporting GPU mining made it quite friendly to 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 for a time.

However, the good times did not last long, and TIPS soon faced a dilemma 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. Since 2015, as mainstream exchanges such as Cryptsy and Bittrex have gradually delisted TIPS, its liquidity has experienced a cliff-like decline. This is evident from the product's initial positioning to serve specific subcultural groups; although this approach precisely targeted the intended users, its niche attribute also made it difficult to expand into a broader market and subsequent marketing.

Although the cryptocurrency market overall rebounded in 2018, the price of TIPS briefly surged. Unfortunately, like mooncoin, TIPS was unable 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, and the last on-chain transaction record remained in November. In 2019, this once-prominent project was officially listed in the "dead list" by Deadcoins.

What it leaves to the crypto world is not only a vivid case of subcultural experimentation but also a mirror reflecting the essence of memes.

Nyancoin - A brief "rainbow" light effect

As the second meme coin after DOGE, Nyancoin was released on January 6, 2014, and within a month, it acquired the unique status of "the first officially licensed cryptocurrency in history," but 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" ( Nyan Cat ) meme on which Nyancoin is based has far less reach and cultural penetration than the "Shiba Inu" Doge meme of DOGE - before being exposed to these two cryptocurrencies, most people may have never seen the rainbow cat, but almost everyone has had their screens flooded by that charming Shiba Inu.

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 payment, tipping, charity, and more, while the application scenarios of Nyancoin, which are 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 - weak community support leads to sluggish project development, and stagnation further weakens community enthusiasm - ultimately leads Nyancoin to gradually decline.

The Nyancoin community r/nyancoins has only 1.5k subscribers, and the last active post dates back two years. This community disconnection directly led to mainstream data platforms stopping the update of Nyancoin's real-time data after 2019 - at that time, its 24-hour trading volume had long been below $10,000, and the depletion of liquidity gradually led to its delisting from exchanges. The case of Nyancoin is enough to prove a harsh market rule: in the era of attention economy, the endorsement of top IPs often has a more decisive effect than the technical characteristics of the project itself.

General of Ever Victorious Type

Dogecoin(DOGE) - An unexpected "grassroots carnival"

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

In terms of design philosophy and founding intention, it does not emphasize complex technology like other cryptocurrencies, nor does it 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.

Looking back at several peaks in DOGE's market value, it soared to $10 billion in early 2021 due to a surge of retail investor interest and strong community support; in May of the same year, under the influence of its biggest fan Elon Musk's continuous promotions on social media and the effects of the Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) show, DOGE's market value reached $80 billion.

In the following years, although the popularity and price of DOGE have both declined and even entered a downward trend, the overall market trend remains relatively stable, and it still maintains a certain 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 "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), with the aim of reducing government spending. However, the official abbreviation of this new department "DOGE" is completely consistent with the code for Dogecoin, which sparked heated discussions in the crypto community. Although Musk later clarified that there is no connection between the two, given his consistent style of action and long-standing admiration for DOGE, the outside world generally believes that this abbreviation choice is by no means a coincidence.

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 the excitement of the DOGE market; of course, it could also be, as he himself stated, merely an interesting coincidence. What real intentions are hidden behind this dramatic naming event may only be revealed with time. However, it is undeniable that this event once again highlights DOGE's unique position in cryptocurrency culture, as well as the intricate and complicated relationship between Musk and DOGE.

The development of DOGE perfectly showcases the duality of memes: 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.

However, what is impressive is that even in 2025, when the entire memes market is not doing well, DOGE still maintains a daily trading volume of over 1 billion USD, and its market cap remains stable in the top ten. Moreover, 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, ultimately forming a virtuous cycle.

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

Although the memes during this period show two completely different life cycles and survival states, it is undeniable that they all have their own glorious days, even though the former's