Top 3 Most Popular Meme Coins

Previously, we discussed the phenomenon of meme cryptocurrencies and the prospects for investing in this type of digital asset. Now let’s look at the most popular projects in this category to see how the meme coin market develops and its prospects.

The rating is based on data from CoinGecko. The statistics are as of March 23, 2023.

Dogecoin (DOGE)

The forefather of all meme coins was created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer in 2013, based on the popular Doge meme. Dogecoin is a fork of Litecoin. It uses the Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism, but the token issuance isn’t limited. Due to the fact that DOGE uses a separate blockchain, it stands out from similar coins using third-party blockchains.

DOGE has a market cap of ~$10.3 billion and a token value of $0.077. The meme coin ranks eighth in terms of market capitalization. There are over 138 billion DOGE in circulation, and a successful miner can mine ~10,000 DOGE (~$770) every minute.

However, Dogecoin is far from becoming a top 10 cryptocurrency right away. Until 2021, its quotes never rose above $0.003, even though there was quite a big community around the token by that time. The catalyst behind the price hike was the participation of celebrities. Tweets by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who was even dubbed “Dogefather,” were the biggest booster. Thanks to him, the token grew by 8,000% within a short period of time. In May 2021, the SpaceX mission was financed with DOGE, allowing the token to hit the ATH (All Time High) mark of $0.73. 

Now Dogecoin can be used as payment for some goods on Tesla’s official website, and the global cinema chain AMC offers an opportunity to pay for their services via DOGE. The Dallas Mavericks basketball club accepts Dogecoin for game tickets.

The project even has a division of the Dogecoin Foundation responsible for the charity. DOGE has been used for fundraising on numerous occasions thanks to the community. For instance, in 2014, about $25,000 in DOGE was donated to the Jamaican bobsleigh team. 

The Dogecoin community is actively developing the meme coin’s infrastructure. For example, in August 2022, the project team launched an EVM-enabled blockchain to expand DOGE’s investment capabilities and named it Dogechain. On its basis, developers can release NFTs and create DeFi platforms, GameFi projects, and other decentralized apps, where DOGE acts as a basis for the economic system. 

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

DOGE’s growing popularity spawned another meme coin, whose prototype was a dog. An anonymous developer nicknamed Ryoshi created the cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB) in 2020 and called it the “Dogecoin killer.” The white paper of the project, called Woof Paper by SHIB’s creator, describes the coin as “an experiment on decentralized spontaneous community building.” Ryoshi set a goal to launch the project without spending a single dollar to create and promote it.

SHIB, unlike DOGE, has the ERC-20 standard, operates on Ethereum, and has a limited supply of tokens amounting to 1 quadrillion. Half of the initial issuance (505 trillion SHIB) was sent by developers to Vitalik Buterin’s wallet. He spent about 50 trillion SHIB (~$1.14 billion) as a charitable contribution for the anti-coronavirus campaign in India and burned the rest (~$6.5 billion).

SHIB has a market cap of ~$6.3 billion and a token value of $0.000011. The meme coin ranks 15th in terms of market capitalization. Around 60% of the issue is in circulation, i.e., over 589 trillion SHIB.

The meme coin has built a large community around itself, with followers calling themselves ShibArmy. The Shiba Inu ecosystem includes:

• ShibaSwap. A decentralized crypto exchange (DEX) that allows users to trade Ethereum tokens, store digital assets, and earn income in the form of transaction fees on the exchange. One of the key benefits of ShibaSwap is the ability to earn SHIB as a reward for providing liquidity. DEX also provides the tools to create new ERC-20 tokens and launch new projects based on Shiba Inu.
• Shiboshis. A collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain created in October 2021. According to CryptoSlam, as of this writing, a total of 3,720 NFTs have been sold, with the most expensive Shiboshis #717 purchased for 0.57 ETH ($987). However, users generate quite high activity on the secondary market, so the collection has sales of over $53 million.
• Shiba Eternity. A GameFi project for SHIB owners that was released in October 2022. A free collectible card game created by PlaySide Studios and available for Android and iOS devices. The game is based on Japanese martial arts principles, and the character is a virtual warrior dog. 
• Shibaverse. A Metaverse that is scheduled to launch in 2023. The virtual space will allow users to play various games, earn SHIB and other tokens, actively participate in the life of ShibArmy, and interact with each other. In Shibaverse, users will be able to collect in-game resources and earn rewards and passive income from leasing Shiboshis. Shibaverse will also be a space to create and manage various projects via SHIB tokens. You can buy a virtual plot of land in Shibaverse now.
• Shibarium. A layer 2 blockchain whose main goal is to increase the scalability of the Ethereum network and reduce commission fees. The project is in beta testing, planned to launch in mid-2023.

Besides SHIB, there are several other coins operating in the Shiba Inu ecosystem:

• Bone ShibaSwap (BONE). The management token of Doggy DAO. There’s ~92% of the issuance of BONE in circulation — 230 million coins. The token has a market cap of $246 million. The price is $1.08. BONE is the primary coin of ShibaSwap and will also be used to create apps on Shibarium.
• Doge Killer (LEASH). A special token for loyal supporters of the ecosystem. The maximum coin supply is only 107,647 coins. LEASH has a market cap of $43.8 million and a token price of $406.50. LEASH is mostly used to provide liquidity on ShibaSwap and mint Shiboshis, and it can also be used to purchase an exclusive piece of land in Shibaverse.
• Good Doge (TREAT). The newest token in the ecosystem, whose main purpose is to become the basic payment currency within Shibaverse. It can also be used on ShibaSwap instead of BONE. The maximum coin supply is 100 million, and the price of TREAT is $0.0021.
• Shina Inu (SHI). A coin that was planned as a stablecoin for the Shiba Inu ecosystem and will be the support for TREAT tokens. Currently, there are over 14 trillion SHI in circulation, and the coin is worth only $0.00000144.

Floki Inu (FLOKI)

The third on the list of the most popular meme coins is FLOKI, a cryptocurrency created by Elon Musk’s fans and named after his Shiba Inu puppy he introduced in June 2021. Members of the FLOKI community call themselves Floki Vikings.

Floki Inu tokens were issued on Ethereum with the ERC-20 standard and on BNB Chain with the BEP-20 standard. The community refers to this meme coin as a bridge between blockchains. FLOKI’s market cap is ~$375 million and its value is $0.00003817. The meme coin ranks 119th in terms of market capitalization. Nearly 100% of the issue is in circulation, i.e., 9.8 trillion FLOKI.

Floki Vikings claim that the project is mainly focused on usefulness, that’s why the Floki Inu ecosystem includes:

• Valhalla. The Metaverse, which, according to the developers’ idea, will give an opportunity to play and earn. The virtual world will be available for all FLOKI users, and the token can also be earned in battles and used as currency for in-game purchases. Valhalla is currently in a beta testing stage.
• FlokiFi Locker. The decentralized protocol for digital asset security certified by Certik. It provides security for staked assets. The project team plans to build its own FLOKI staking solution based on FlokiFi Locker.
• FlokiPlace. The marketplace for fast and efficient trading of NFTs and commercial goods for crypto. The team works with Binance Pay to accept payments in multiple cryptocurrencies.
• University of Floki. The educational platform for everyone wishing to learn about cryptocurrencies and blockchain. FLOKI will be the main utility token of the platform, through which one can get access to exclusive training programs.
• FlokiNFT. The project team built three NFT collections that provide holders with special benefits in the Floki Inu ecosystem. According to OpenSea:

• The Flokitars collection has 2,239 NFTs with a total value of 355 ETH (~$655,000); 
• The Diamond Hands collection, consisting of four categories (Ruby, Diamond, Silver, and Bronze), has over 4,000 NFTs worth 669 ETH (~$1.2 million); 
• The Gemstones collection has 244 NFTs with a total value of 13 ETH (~$24,000).

According to the project’s white paper, Floki Vikings are committed to making a real difference, so philanthropy is an integral part of the Floki Inu ecosystem. For example, the community has already funded the construction of schools in Guatemala, Ghana, Laos, and Nigeria and plans to expand the initiative to build modern schools on every continent.

In summary, it’s worth noting that all of the participants in our top were created for fun, but despite this, the community around them makes the projects far from humorous. The total daily trading volume of DOGE, SHIB, and FLOKI is $1.47 billion, about a third more than the coins of the top Play-to-Earn projects.