Meme coins are the most talked about asset in the crypto industry. Some call it a pure form of gambling while some call it a part of pop culture. Memecoins have a cult community, but they also face significant criticism. These “joke coins” are a parable for the attention economy.
Love memecoins or hate memecoins but you can’t ignore them, as they form a major chunk of the crypto industry with over $48.37 billion in market cap. These coins are endorsed by some biggest influential personalities such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Snoop Dogg and many more. In fact, the US president has his own meme coin named “OFFICIAL TRUMP”.
However, despite being popular, memecoins are under tremendous criticism recent times, both within the industry and from the outsiders. Reasons are many, ranging from allegations of insider trading to the underlying theoretical issue of utility with memecoins.
To top it all, recent bad performance of top meme coins including Dogecoin, Trump and Melania have worsened the fears that this might be the end of the road for memecoins phenomenon.
After the recent debacle over meme coins launched by President Trump and Argentina President Javier Milei and critical statements from CZ, Brian Armstrong, Cathy Woods and other prominent folks, many in the industry are speculating that this might be the end of meme coins.
US President Donald Trump and Argentina President Javier Milei Memecoins Controversy
The debate began when the U.S. President launched its meme coin known as $TRUMP. Despite the initial buzz and robust price boost, it tanked badly. Trump was under fierce criticism from the political cordons as well as the crypto community. James Thurber, the founder and former director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies stated,” “There are shameful and major conflicts of interest concerning his family business benefiting from his cryptocurrency policies,”
Another event that fueled this debate was the promotion of the $LIBRA coin by Argentina’s president Javier Milei on February 14, 2025. Argentina’s president endorsed $LIBRA token on his official X account which turned out to be an alleged scam. This promotional post by Milei snowballed into a huge controversy and investors lost approximately $4 billion shortly after its launch, leading to a judicial investigation for potential fraud.
Crypto Industry Stalwarts Speak Out Against Memecoins
Many industry leaders including Binance former CEO Changpeng Zhao, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Influential American investor Cathie Wood Cathy Woods have suggested buyers to beware of such “joke” coins. Even Cathie Wood believes that a majority of meme coins circulating in the crypto market will likely be worthless soon.
In a February X post, Brian Armstrong Co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, stated that he is also skeptical about the rising trend of meme coins and advised users many times to take caution while investing in it. He advised users to build a long-term mindset and choose their investment decisions wisely.
Not only this, former CEO of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao also publicly criticized meme coins. In Nov 2024 post CZ said “I am not against memes, but meme coins are getting ‘a little’ weird now. Let’s build real applications using blockchain.”
Experts also criticized the performance of top memecoins as they haven’t given any return in the last few months. Meanwhile, some experts believe that these top meme coins are dead. The vast majority of investors lose money in the memecoins and they are too volatile and short lives.
So is this the end of memecoin? Are these coins are dead, lets find out!
Q1 2025 Performance of Top Memecoins
According to CoinMarketCap data, currently, Memecoin’s market cap is at $48.93 billion with an intraday surge of 2.15%. In the last 30 days, the market was down by approximately 27.24%.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Looking at the top meme coins Dogecoin holds the top position with with $25.16 billion market cap. Shiba Inu (SHIB) comes second with a $7.52 billion market cap and PEPE is in third position with a $3.1 billion market cap. Newly launched OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP) has a market cap of $2.23 billion and comes in fourth position. At fifth comes BONK with a $850.58 million market cap.
In Q1 2025 the performance of these top memecoins was lacklusturous. These top meme coins fell badly in the last few months and gave zero returns to investors.
Source: Santiment “Price Performance comparison of top 5 meme coins”
Dogecoin (DOGE): In December 2024 DOGE hit a high of $0.48442 and from then it has been continuously in a bearish trend. From its December high it is down by approximately 68% showcasing bearish signs. DOGE hit its all-time high of $0.7376 on May 08, 2021, and from its all-time high, it is down by almost 76.79%.
Shiba Inu (SHIB): In December 2024 Shiba Inu (SHIB) hit a high of $0.00003330 and from then it is continuously in a downtrend. At the time of writing it was trading at $0.00001279. From its December high it’s almost down by 66%. SHIB hit it all-time high of $0.00001282 on October 28, 2021, about three years ago and it is 85.54% down from its all-time high price.
Pepe (PEPE): PEPE hit a high of $0.00002825 in December 2024 and from then it has been continuously in a bearish trend. Currently, it is trading at $0.00000745. From its December high it’s decreased by 73%. PEPE hit it all-time high of $0.00002825 on December 09, 2024, about three months ago and it is 73.51% down from its all-time high price. PEPE showcases how volatile meme coins are as it is down by 73.51% in just 3 months.
OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP): OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP) is a newly launched meme coin. It is the official cryptocurrency of US President Donald Trump. Just after its launch the price of TRUMP meme coin boosted and reached an all-time high price of $75.35. However, as the hype faded price crashed badly and currently it is 85% down from its all-time high price. As per CMC data, Currently, TRUMP price is trading at $11.18.
Bonk (BONK): BONK is one of the popular meme coins and comes in fifth place in terms of market cap. At the time of writing BONK is trading at $0.00001094. BONK hit its all-time high of $0.00005916 on November 20, 2024, and currently trading 81.5% below its all-time high price.
Final Thoughts
While the current bear market performance of top memecoins like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and even President Trump’s OFFICIAL TRUMP token has raised serious questions about their longevity, it would be premature to declare the complete end of memecoins. The volatile nature of these assets has always been their defining characteristic – with dramatic rises followed by equally dramatic falls.
However, concerns are real and investor choose their investment decision wisely. But now memecoin is an integral part of the crypto planet. At last, believe it or not Memecoins are here to stay.
“They laugh at memecoins until they don’t, then they cry when they miss out, then they laugh again when they crash. The circle of crypto life continues, with or without our approval.”
Also Read: $TRUMP Price Pumps 13% in an Hour After Truth Social Post
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