Memecoins: The Intersection of Virality, Digital Culture, and Financial Speculation
Memes have come a long way since their conceptualization by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene (1976), where he defined them as ideas, behaviors, or styles that spread within a culture.
Nous avons besoin d’un nom pour ce nouveau réplicateur, un substantif qui évoque l’idée d’une unité de transmission culturelle ou d’une unité d’imitation. "Mimème" vient d’une racine grecque appropriée, mais je veux un mot monosyllabique qui ressemble un peu à "gène". J’espère que mes amis spécialistes des lettres classiques me pardonneront si j’abrège mimème en mème. Si cela peut les consoler, on pourrait aussi y voir un lien avec "mémoire" ou avec le mot français "même". Il doit être prononcé de manière à rimer avec "crème".
Des exemples de mèmes sont des mélodies, des idées, des slogans, des modes vestimentaires, des façons de fabriquer des pots ou de construire des arches. Tout comme les gènes se propagent dans le pool génétique en passant d’un corps à un autre via les spermatozoïdes ou les ovules, les mèmes se propagent dans le pool mémétique en passant d’un cerveau à un autre via un processus que, dans un sens large, on peut appeler imitation.
With the rise of the Internet, this term has taken on an entirely new dimension, now embodying images, videos, and text formats that spread across social platforms at lightning speed. Memes have become powerful tools for communication, conveying opinions, critiquing systems, and sparking cultural movements. Their simplicity, accessibility, and especially their viral nature make them an essential vehicle of contemporary popular culture.
A Universal Language
Today, memes are used as a visual language that transcends linguistic boundaries. A meme, with just one glance, can convey a complex message, play on shared cultural references, or make an ironic commentary on society. They are ubiquitous on platforms like Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, and beyond, and it is precisely this ability to encapsulate complex ideas in a compact visual format that makes them so effective.
From Underground Culture to Mainstream Culture
While memes initially emerged in underground spaces, particularly on sites like 4chan in the early 2000s, they gradually infiltrated mainstream culture. Formats such as Pepe the Frog or Doge started as inside jokes within certain online communities, but their viral spread propelled them to the status of globally recognized symbols. This shift of memes from niche to mainstream was driven by a combination of factors: the rise of social media, the constant search for engaging content, and the younger generation’s desire to carve out a unique cultural identity.
The Evolution of Memes in Culture
4chan: The Birthplace of Contemporary Memes
4chan, often described as the epicenter of controversial internet culture, played a pivotal role in the birth of many famous memes. Created in 2003 by Christopher Poole (aka moot), the site fostered a subculture where content creation was anonymous and where dark humor and provocation thrived. In this context, memes became vehicles for expressing controversial ideas and social critiques.
Originally, Pepe the Frog was simply a comic book character, but it was co-opted by troll communities on 4chan before being used for political purposes during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. During this period, it was sometimes associated with the pro-Donald Trump alt-right and various far-right groups, who hijacked its use to spread racist messages. However, it is important to note that this political appropriation does not necessarily reflect the original intent or meaning of the meme.
Generations Y, Z, and Alpha: The Evolution of a Visual Language
Generations Y and Z (born between the 1980s and 2010) grew up in a world of information overload, with increasingly faster communication tools and ever more instant exchanges. Memes have become their preferred way of communicating, as they allow large ideas or complex emotions to be condensed into a single visual or short video. This phenomenon has intensified with Generation Alpha (born after 2010), who are exposed from a very young age to platforms like TikTok, where short and catchy formats dominate.
Memes are not just a way to laugh, but also an identity tool. They allow users to affiliate with communities, express their political or social opinions, and stand out in the vast digital noise.
Why do memes go viral?
The success of memes is based on several psychological and sociological factors. They often leverage elements of repetition, humor, and cultural relevance. Memes are designed to be shared, which amplifies their viral potential. Platforms like Instagram and Twitter, with their interfaces focused on the rapid spread of images and videos, have facilitated this viral propagation.
An iconic example is the Distracted Boyfriend meme, which went viral in 2017. This meme, based on a simple stock photo of a man turning away from his girlfriend to look at another woman, was creatively reused thousands of times to represent the idea of temptation or distraction in various contexts. Its easy-to-understand structure and adaptability to countless situations contributed to its widespread popularity on social media, demonstrating how a simple visual meme can quickly become a global cultural phenomenon.
Memecoins: From Simple Jokes to Phenomenal Market Capitalizations
Dogecoin: A Joke That Became Serious
The entry of memes into the world of cryptocurrency can be directly traced to the creation of Dogecoin in 2013. What started as a joke — a parody of serious cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — evolved into a true financial and cultural phenomenon. Dogecoin’s creator, Billy Markus, an IBM engineer, simply wanted to create a fun and accessible alternative to Bitcoin. Dogecoin was based on the Doge meme, featuring a smiling Shiba Inu, widely used in internet jokes at the time.
Despite its humorous origin, Dogecoin quickly gained a dedicated community on platforms like Reddit. One of the driving forces behind Dogecoin’s rise was the community’s commitment to using the currency for philanthropic causes, such as funding NASCAR driver Josh Wise with $55,000 in 2014.
DOGE: A Spectacular Rise
Dogecoin is now one of the most iconic cryptocurrencies. In 2021, its market cap soared to unprecedented heights, at times exceeding $80 billion. This growth can partly be attributed to the influence of public figures, particularly Elon Musk, whose tweets frequently caused Dogecoin’s price to surge. By tapping into the virality and humor of memes, Musk turned Dogecoin into a global talking point, contributing to its rise — far more than the NASCAR sponsorship had a few years earlier.
The virality of memecoins is largely facilitated and fueled by social media. For several years, Elon Musk has directly influenced Dogecoin’s price through his tweets. His interventions have led to spectacular price spikes, but also to sharp declines when the excitement fades.
SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2021
Department
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 12, 2024
Of
Government
Efficiency
Community and Virality: The Driving Forces Behind Memecoins
The success of Dogecoin paved the way for many other memecoins, many of which rely on the power of community. Memecoins like Shiba Inu or Pepe Coin are often supported by highly active online communities that drive their viral spread through networks such as Twitter and Discord. These communities generate hype around their coins, leading to sudden and dramatic increases in their value.
It is also crucial to highlight that the success of these coins often relies on the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) effect. Investors, witnessing the rapid rise in the value of these assets, rush to buy in before it’s too late, creating a self-perpetuating loop of increasing demand.
Why Are Memecoins So Appealing?
Psychology and Market Dynamics
Memecoins captivate investors through deep psychological mechanisms, largely tied to cognitive biases studied in behavioral psychology. A key factor is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), which drives individuals to act impulsively to avoid missing out on a perceived opportunity, often amplified by online virality. According to the research of Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman, prospect theory shows that individuals are more likely to take risks to avoid potential losses than to seek gains. Kahneman, who passed away at age 90 on March 27, 2024, revealed that our decisions are often influenced by irrational factors—such as a tweet from Elon Musk—contrary to traditional economic theory, which assumes rationality in human choices.
Additionally, memecoins exploit the phenomenon of instant gratification, a bias studied by George Ainslie in the context of hyperbolic discounting theory, where the promise of quick gains outweighs long-term rational analysis. Investors are drawn to spectacular price surges, often accompanied by groupthink and intense social pressure, amplifying the notion that “everyone is winning” except them if they don’t act.
Mimetic behavior, a concept well illustrated in Gustave Le Bon’s essay The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, is pervasive in memecoins. When individuals see others succeed, the psychological bandwagon effect drives them to imitate, often without a real analysis of the fundamentals. This mimicry is reinforced by online communities, particularly on platforms like Reddit or Twitter, where group dynamics take precedence over individual reflection. This phenomenon of speculative bubbles is well-known in behavioral finance, where rapid asset increases lead to sharp corrections, exposing their speculative nature.
The psychology of memecoins is thus based on a set of cognitive biases — FOMO, instant gratification, and mimetic behavior — which, combined with digital virality, fuel their volatility and make them particularly speculative.
Excerpt from a Discord conversation about $GIKO (usernames and group have been anonymized):
P'tain j'ai tellement envie de balancer la baraque sur le giko là Le teasing de @Pierre et @Jacques me donne tellement envie
La baraque est déjà dessus sinon j'en aurai fais de même Franchement elle peut nous mytho mais elle sait l'audience qu'on a elle l'a très bien vu et elle sait qu'on va OMEGA GIGA FUD si elle nous a pris pour des cons donc autant rien nous dire plutôt que nous dire de la merde car on peut envoyer le truc à 0 mdr
D'accord avec toi, d'autant que ce serait le fumble de l'année de merder à ce moment du memecoin supercycle.
Philosophy and Memecoins: Modernity, Simulacrum, and the Reinvented Social Contract
Memecoins represent a reinvention of the collective myth, where the hero is no longer an exceptional figure but a viral symbol carried by the community. This new hero embodies contemporary uncertainty, reinforcing the notion that internet culture is redefining traditional values. Drawing on Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of simulacrum and hyperreality, memecoins become speculative objects detached from traditional economic realities. They reflect an economy where value is shaped by virality and collective perceptions, creating a new reality where representation prevails over essence.
In parallel, memecoins contribute to the reinvention of the social contract in the world of cryptocurrencies. In his work, Jean-Jacques Rousseau defines the social contract as an implicit agreement between citizens and the state, where individuals agree to relinquish part of their freedom in exchange for protection and laws that ensure the common good. In the context of memecoins, this model is reimagined: the contract is no longer based on a central authority, but on decentralized communities. Here, user participation replaces traditional institutions, and value is co-created through community influence, thus redefining the role of power. Anonymous users collectively generate economic dynamics where value is determined by community engagement, reshaping the role of financial intermediaries and traditional power structures.
This phenomenon, blending virality, finance, and digital culture, reinvents both economic rules and social foundations, while blurring the boundaries between reality and representation.
Market Manipulations
Memecoins are particularly vulnerable to market manipulations, especially through pump and dump schemes. These manipulations involve a small group buying large quantities of an asset, causing an artificial price increase. Once the peak is reached, these actors quickly sell off their positions, leaving other investors—often less experienced—with assets whose value plummets. This phenomenon exploits speculative hype and the illusion of rapid, continuous growth, often at the expense of newcomers.
The Risks of Manipulation: The Pump and Dump Trap
The pump and dump often starts with a small group of insiders or influential investors who organize to buy a large quantity of an asset, in this case, a memecoin. This initial accumulation creates upward pressure on the price, giving the illusion of growing interest in the asset. In many cases, this process is accompanied by an aggressive and misleading marketing campaign on social media or specialized forums (Reddit, Discord, or Telegram), where community members encourage other investors to buy by creating a false sense of scarcity or promising massive returns.
These campaigns may include techniques such as:
- FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): The fear of missing an investment opportunity, prompting inexperienced investors to buy quickly.
- FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt): Spreading false information to scare asset holders into selling, causing prices to drop, allowing manipulators to buy back at lower prices.
- Social Influence: Using celebrities or influencers to endorse the asset, creating the impression that the investment is legitimate and popular.
Once the asset’s price has risen sufficiently and reached a point where the manipulators deem their profit to be maximal, they begin selling off their positions in bulk, triggering a sharp price drop. This massive sell-off causes panic among the remaining investors, who also try to offload their assets, further exacerbating the decline in value. This phenomenon, known as the dump, often leaves the majority of investors holding assets whose value has plummeted.
Impact on Novice Investors
The investors most affected by these schemes are usually inexperienced individuals who lack the knowledge or tools to identify early warning signs of market manipulation. These investors are often lured by promises of quick and impressive returns, leading them to buy assets at prices that are already heavily inflated. Once the price drop begins, it is often too late for them to respond, and they incur significant losses.
The exploitation of herd behavior (when individuals follow others’ decisions without conducting their own analysis) is a key factor in this type of manipulation. In speculative bubbles, memecoins appear to offer quick wealth opportunities, driving investors to act irrationally, guided more by emotion than by an objective assessment of risks. This behavior is especially evident among novice investors who lack perspective or an understanding of market mechanisms.
Despite their inherent risks, memecoins continue to attract interest due to their viral nature and playful dimension. Participating in a memecoin feels like joining a cultural performance, where humor, financial speculation, and community effect converge. Some investors even perceive a quasi-artistic dimension, an implicit critique of market volatility and the absurdity of traditional financial systems. Their accessibility and the promise of quick gains only further enhance their appeal.
Recent Examples of Memecoins (2024)
The Case of $GIKO
Giko Cat ($GIKO) is a recent example of a feline-themed memecoin that illustrates how projects can skyrocket in valuation due to unique market dynamics, despite their high volatility. With a limited supply of only 10 million tokens, $GIKO sets itself apart from other memecoins, which often create billions of tokens. This low supply gives it a potential advantage in terms of scarcity, which could influence the perception of its long-term value.
With an increase of over 1500% in 30 days between September 15, 2024, and October 15, 2024, the recent gains recorded by $GIKO are impressive. While these numbers may suggest significant upward potential, it is crucial to emphasize that $GIKO remains a high-risk cryptocurrency. Its extreme volatility is evident, with a notable drop of nearly 80% observed between July 30 and September 30, 2024.
Technical Features and Security
One aspect of $GIKO—like most memecoins created in 2024—is the renunciation of smart contract ownership (where developers relinquish all control over the contract’s code after deployment), thereby mitigating certain risks commonly associated with memecoins, such as rug pulls (scams where developers withdraw liquidity from a project, leaving investors with worthless assets). Additionally, a portion of $GIKO’s liquidity has been locked on Raydium, a decentralized exchange (DEx) on the Solana network. This reduces risks for investors and adds a layer of security to the project. However, the fact that $GIKO is currently supported only by one decentralized exchange (and has not yet been listed on centralized platforms as of October 2024) could hinder its broader adoption.
Like Cats and Dogs
Regardless of any financial analysis—since the concept of memecoins is primarily driven by a community’s ability to support them—the memecoin universe remains largely dominated by dog-themed projects, such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and more recently, Floki Inu. However, a rise in the popularity of cat coins is emerging, with these feline-themed cryptocurrencies being seen by some high-risk investors as a credible alternative. These investors believe dog coins are now overvalued. With more modest market capitalizations, cat coins offer an attractive potential for growth.
For instance, Popcat was the first feline project to reach a market capitalization of one billion dollars, although this remains far below the 80 billion achieved by Dogecoin. In this context, and perhaps in light of a cultural and sociological analysis that highlights the significance of cats in internet culture, projects like Giko, Toshi, or Mochi could experience continued growth.
The Case of $FATGF
More recently, the FATGF project draws on a controversial interpretation of memes associated with the “fat wojack girlfriend” (or Fat GF / Fat Doomer Girl), a concept initially rooted in body stereotypes. Far from fostering constructive social critique or encouraging self-acceptance, these memes often embody crude humor, now being commercialized within the memecoin space for financial gain. This commercialization illustrates a drift where even tasteless memes are transformed into lucrative tools.
Narrative and Symbolism of the Meme
Rather than offering a critical reflection on social norms, $FATGF exploits memes that, under the guise of humor, perpetuate stereotypes about women’s bodies and interpersonal relationships. These memes, initially associated with fetishes such as feederism and weight gain, are repurposed here for purely speculative purposes, highlighting a cynical approach to the virality of memes.
Originally mocking and stereotypical, these memes are now being instrumentalized for mercantile purposes. Many memes related to Fat GF stray from any social analysis, turning into mere caricatures. This drift illustrates how memecoins exploit popular concepts without regard for the underlying messages, transforming everything into a profit opportunity.
Tokenomics and Security for Investors
Despite the controversy, $FATGF has a simple structure with a total supply of 1 billion tokens — a larger quantity of tokens in circulation means each unit can have a lower initial value, making it more accessible and potentially encouraging broader adoption. An important element for investors is that 100% of the liquidity has been burned 1, meaning the developers have relinquished any possibility of withdrawing funds from the liquidity pool. This eliminates the risk of a rug pull, a common practice in high-risk projects where creators suddenly withdraw liquidity, leaving investors with worthless assets. The project, therefore, positions itself within a framework of security for investors.
Basic Gamification Approach
Another aspect of the project — though relegated to the bottom of the homepage on fatgf.xyz — is its online game titled Trampoline Game, where the player must help a girlfriend avoid hamburgers, causing her to gain weight with each failure. This game relies on openly mocking and stereotypical depictions of overweight women, staying true to the spirit of the original meme, which has always leaned on provocative, often vulgar humor to spark interest and amusement.
Market performance
$FATGF has experienced impressive growth in recent weeks, with a gain of over 1000% over the past 30 days (from September 17 to October 17, 2024). However, as with all memecoins, it is important to note that such surges can be extremely volatile and risky.
The $FATGF project is based less on social critique and more on ironic, provocative humor, staying true to the original spirit of the Fat Wojak Girlfriend meme. Far from challenging body norms, it relies on caricatured and vulgar representations. The tokenomics structure, with 100% of liquidity burned, attracts investors drawn to the virality of memecoins, while leveraging primarily mocking content to generate interest.
Future prospects for memecoins
A fleeting phenomenon or a lasting trend?
Memecoins represent a unique cultural and financial phenomenon, but their longevity remains uncertain. While some, like Dogecoin, enjoy strong community support, it is difficult to predict whether other memecoins will manage to thrive sustainably. Their extreme volatility, coupled with a lack of solid technical fundamentals, makes them susceptible to sharp market corrections, leaving them particularly vulnerable to instability.
Furthermore, obvious market manipulations have long-term consequences on investor confidence and the reputation of memecoins. Cryptocurrency markets in general, and memecoins in particular, are often perceived as the financial Wild West, where regulations are unclear or nonexistent. Financial regulators in several countries have attempted to take measures to curb such abuses, but the relative anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies makes these practices difficult to eradicate.
The consequences of these manipulations extend beyond financial losses. They also undermine the credibility of cryptocurrencies among institutional investors and the general public. If memecoins become permanently associated with fraudulent schemes, it could hinder their widespread adoption and limit their potential to become legitimate digital assets in the financial landscape.
Memecoins: Between Speculation and Digital Art
Beyond their financial aspect, memecoins certainly fit into a cultural dynamic driven by the virality of memes, but it is important to recognize that this association can often harm the intrinsic nature of memes. These projects, built on viral symbols, risk distorting the spontaneous and humorous character of memes by trapping them in a speculative framework. Instead of enhancing the cultural dimension of memes, memecoins may, in fact, undermine it by conferring a purely financial perception. This excessive financialization compromises the essence of memes, which were once self-sufficient as vectors of social commentary and humorous critique, without the need for market value. In particular, the market manipulation schemes often associated with memecoins tarnish the image of these cultural symbols, reducing them to tools of speculation, which ultimately weakens their true cultural and artistic significance.
For those who choose to invest in a highly uncertain, often manipulated, and purely speculative context with no real financial foundation or project, it is at least advisable to focus on memecoins that carry a significant digital cultural message or that have—through the original meme—demonstrated proven viral potential.
1 When a project states that 100% of the liquidity has been burned, it means that the associated funds have been sent to an irreversibly inaccessible address, making any withdrawal or manipulation impossible. This process is distinct from liquidity locking, where the funds are temporarily blocked but remain accessible after a defined period. The liquidity burn aims to prevent manipulations, such as rug pulls, by ensuring that the creators no longer have control over the funds, thus providing increased stability to the project.
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