Bitcoin has struggled recently, but Thursday's slight rally is certainly a welcome sign for traders. However, Bitcoin's modest rise has been overshadowed by a cryptocurrency category that is gaining traction today: meme coins.
Pepe (PEPE) was the biggest winner, surging more than 22% in the past day, according to data from CoinGecko. The Ethereum-based token has not seen much price movement over the past week, but it is still up more than 8% in the past 30 days.
And longtime meme coins Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ethereum-based Shiba Inu (SHIB) each rose about 9% in 24 hours, adding to the meme coin frenzy on Thursday.
The boom in meme coins and tokens comes at a time when the broader cryptocurrency market is in free fall. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies tumbled this week as investors withdrew cash from popular Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pointing to stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation. found.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $59,000 after falling nearly 8% in seven days. It is currently well below its all-time high of nearly $74,000 per coin in March.
Meme coin and token markets are dangerous. New cryptocurrencies disappear almost as quickly as they appear, giving traders huge profits or huge losses.
Eddie Lazarin, chief technology officer at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, last week described the sphere as a “dangerous casino” that will “damage” the crypto world.
A lot of it started as a joke. Dogecoin is the largest meme coin in existence, with a market capitalization of $18.8 billion, and its developers say it was created to poke fun at the serious world of Bitcoin.
It is currently the 9th largest digital asset by market capitalization. And they have countless followers and a combined market value in the billions of dollars.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
The views and opinions expressed by the authors are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
