Are meme coins hurting the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies?

With cryptocurrencies gaining more and more popularity over the recent years, it’s become obvious that Bitcoin is no longer the star of the show. While it is true that the original coin is still the most dominant coin in the industry, people are more and more interested in other trends, such as the so-called meme coins. 

What are meme coins?

Joke coins are inspired by pop culture references, memes, gifs, pictures or viral videos. Two of the most popular coins in this category, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, are both inspired by the doge meme – a picture of a Shiba Inu dog accompanied by the dog’s internal monologue, purposely written in broken English and using comic sans, a famously bad font. 

Along the way, Dogecoin has been legitimized by the likes of Elon Musk, who once said he wants to send a ‘Doge-1 ship’ to the moon. As proven by Musk, a single tweet from one of the richest men in the universe could drive up the price of a coin insanely.  

Many amateur and professional traders alike have since given in to the joke in the hope of gaining a profit off the back of social media hype. While some crypto traders have decided to invest in the coins because they believe it to be the technology of the future, the online crypto frenzy recently appears to be driven by the hope to make a quick profit. This has been seen by some as a problem, since it can hurt the reputation that the cryptocurrencies industry has tried to build for itself for over a decade now. 

Experts argue that there are no fundamentals driving the prices of these coins, and that they mostly represent pump and dump coins instead of having any proper use cases. The meme coins are however still influencing the whole crypto market volumes as well, which could create problems.

However, there is no denying that these coins have brought a lot of attention and popularity to the crypto industry and have made crypto more widely accepted by the mainstream population. A reason behind it can be the fact these coins seem less scary and serious, and more approachable.

In addition, due to the coins’ lower prices and joking nature, investing in them gives new investors an easy way to enjoy their first experience with cryptocurrencies and learn about market volatility.

Most traditional retailers do not accept any cryptocurrency as a form of payment, let alone joke coins. However, there is speculation that the popularity of the meme coins would make it so that they become more widely accepted by stores. Why? Because these coins have a way louder and more dedicated fan base than your usual Bitcoin investor, and we all know the power or a fandom. For example, Dogecoin casinos already exist. 

No matter where you land within the debate, you cannot deny that there are benefits that these coins bring to the table. As long as traders are smart and safe with their investments, meme coins can be a fun hobby.