Meme coins remain a hot crypto narrative during this year’s second quarter, following staggering runs for popular tokens like Dogwifhat in the first quarter.
Blockchain researcher Crypto Koryo noted that CoinMarketCap captured over 138 new memecoins launched under the ERC-20 standard last month.
While the number grew more than seven times from April last year, CoinMarketCap only lists a fraction of deployed tokens. In other words, the number of new memecoins entering the market in the previous 30 days was likely much higher.
Meme coin speculation boosted by advanced tooling
Launching a meme coin, or any cryptocurrency, was more complex two years ago and required technical expertise that few had. However, emerging blockchain solutions and tools have made it possible in a few clicks, encouraging more creators to foray into the market.
New token standards have lowered the entry barrier, with developers fielding wrappers like the Runes protocol on Bitcoin (BTC) and inscription types like SRC-20, DRC-20, and ASC-20 on EVM chains. Introducing new standards and optimized on-chain transactions has also redirected liquidity from giants like Ethereum (ETH) to competitors like Solana (SOL).
Crypto Koryo, citing CoinMarketCap data, highlighted Solana as the current meme token hub, effectively dominating the space since last year. Three years ago, users had to speculate nearly solely on ETH-based projects like Dogecoin (DOGE), Floki Inu (FLOKI), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) to find ample liquidity.
Meme coin oversaturation fears
The ability to attract new users and capital into a broader spectrum of meme plays has certainly increased, but the new paradigm presents its unique pain points despite easier access.
Better tools and improved decentralized networks have led to an oversaturated memecoin market. Crypto Koryo remarked on X that most of these tokens will go to zero, making it difficult for traders to search for rewards.
“This is not just a bull market thing. The number of memecoins is just too high now and continues to go higher at a rapid pace. Even in terms of strategies, if you go with the fully on-chain approach and try to be early, RR is great when it works but the win rate is low. Conversely, if you go with the social approach of waiting for it to take over CT, the win rate would be higher but you would miss most of the RR.”
Crypto Koryo, blockchain researcher
