2024 has seen a dramatic surge in interest in meme coins, with almost a third of investor interest focused on speculative tokens rather than fundamental projects.
In 2024, one narrative appeared to dominate the crypto space more than any other: meme coins. These tokens, often deemed as dumb coins made for jokes or community-driven projects, have captured more than 30% of global investor interest, according to the latest survey conducted by crypto price aggregator CoinGecko.
In total, the meme coin narrative claimed 14.36% of global crypto narrative interest in 2024, nearly doubling the figure from the previous year’s 8.32%. But it’s not just about the rise of Dogecoin (DOGE) anymore; a whole array of animal-themed, personality-driven coins have emerged, too.
“Almost a third of crypto narrative interest this year was focused on more speculative opportunities with less emphasis on fundamentals,” CoinGecko notes. And it’s no surprise these assets are so popular among retail traders. In a moment, meme coins even outperformed crypto majors, becoming an easy way to win a digital lottery for ordinary crypto users.
The Solana moment
One of the brightest examples of the meme coin craze has been the role of Solana, a network that was once on the brink of collapse after the notorious bankruptcy of the FTX crypto exchange.
It’s worth noting that meme coins have been on for a while on Solana, though it is fair to say that they gained huge popularity through platforms like pump.fun, which played a big role in the narrative shift. As a result of that boost, Solana meme coins ranked 4th in investor interest, per CoinGecko’s rating, holding a 7.65% share of crypto narrative discussions in 2024.
Copycat effect
But the success of Solana meme coins has not gone unnoticed. Other blockchain networks have tried to replicate Solana’s approach as well. For instance, Coinbase’s Base network, launched as a layer-2 solution on the Ethereum blockchain, also saw its own meme coins in 2024. However, it’s not clear whether these coins captured the same level of interest as their Solana rivals.
Base meme coins ranked 11th with a 2.13% share of global crypto narrative interest, which, while respectable, still pales in comparison to Solana’s 7.65%. While some new projects — like the emergence of cat-themed meme coins and AI meme coins — have also appeared in the top 20 crypto narratives, the hype surrounding them has yet to reach the heights of Solana’s meme coin surge.
“I see the damage every day”
Despite their popularity, meme coins are not without their critics. For some, they represent a pointless distraction in an otherwise promising technological space. For instance, as crypto.news reported earlier, Eddy Lazzarin, the chief technology officer for a16z crypto, shared his concerns about the negative impact of meme coins on the broader crypto industry.
He particularly has compared meme coins to a “risky casino” rather than a useful product. In a series of X posts, Lazzarin expressed alarm that meme coins are reshaping perceptions of the crypto market in a negative way, noting that this sector “at best” looks like a “risky casino.”
Lazzarin believes that the rise of meme coins could have long-term consequences for how the public, regulators, and entrepreneurs view the crypto space.
The speculative frenzy surrounding meme coins — driven by quick profits rather than innovative technology or real-world applications — can mislead new investors and damage the credibility of the crypto industry. In mid-December, for instance, following a warning from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, pump.fun barred British users from accessing its website.
“I see the damage every day,” Lazzarin warned, adding that while there may be a future for crypto products and protocols that bring real value, the meme coin bubble could set back the space significantly.
Casino always wins
In many ways, the rise of meme coins in 2024 marks a pivotal moment in the crypto narrative. As blockchain ecosystems like Solana and Base attempt to harness the power of meme coin culture, the market continues to evolve.
Whether meme coins continue to dominate the narrative or whether the crypto space returns to its roots remains to be seen. For now, however, the casino is open — and many are willing to roll the dice. CoinGecko’s study examined interest in crypto narratives based on its own categories’ non-botted global web traffic from Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 21, this year.
