In recent years, meme coins fueled by internet culture, jokes and social trends have exploded in popularity amongst the world of cryptocurrency. The exact number of meme coins is always changing as new projects are launched and some of the less popular ones collapse, but it’s evident that meme coins are a big chunk of the overall crypto market. After all, how many are there meme coins and what makes them so everywhere?

This is a look at how many meme coins are in circulation, their growth, and what is driving this new boom in this class of coins.

Meme Coins: the Rapid Proliferation

Dogecoin (DOGE), which began in 2013 as a joke, was an unexpected success for meme coins, which became a phenomenon following its launch. This lighthearted take on the world, combined with a community driven growth inspired a wave of copycat tokens, all seeking to hitch a ride on the humor, crowd accessibility, and social media hype trick.

According to website Coinmarketcap, as of December 24th, 2024 there are now more than 1,000 meme coins listed on different blockchain networks like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and others. The coins on offer are wildly popular, for purpose as well as market cap.

The Major Factors Behind the Proliferation

The sheer number of meme coins can be attributed to several factors:

1. Ease of Creation

Today it’s become relatively easy to launch a cryptocurrency on Ethereum or the Binance Smart Chain, which provides a platform where developers can launch tokens without building a whole new blockchain. There are tons of tools and templates already available to create tokens that it doesn’t take a seasoned developer to create a meme coin within hours.

2. Low Barriers to Entry

Meme coins, unlike more serious crypto project where you either need innovative technologies or some complicated financial models, are often funny, memes, branding. If you have a clever name for the meme coin or manages to come up with a viral concept that attracts the eyes of a community or social media influencer, a meme coin can be very successful.

3. Speculative Appeal

The more meme coins, the more people want quick profits (investors). Buying a coin at the top of the hype cycle and selling when it reaches the bottom gives many people the idea that they can earn a ton more money. This type of (speculative) nature encourages new coins to be made and dreamed up by developers trying to make the new coin the next ‘Dogecoin’ or ‘Shiba Inu’, which in turn would boost the coin’s value.

4. Social and Community Media Trends

Its life also depends on community bonding and social media trends. Meme coins have also been propagated by platforms such as Twitter and Reddit where communities joined roads with certain tokens. The reason there are more meme coins is to ride on various online trends’ potential of going viral.

What is the impact of popular Meme Coins?

Some of the most notable meme coins have achieved remarkable success, inspiring countless imitators:

1. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Launched: 2013
Blockchain: Dogecoin Blockchain
Impact: The success of Dogecoin as a light-hearted cryptocurrency has turned it into the bitcoin parody, and the movement has spurred imitation. Now an integral part of crypto history, its endorsements from celebrities such as Elon Musk, and community driven approach, have sealed its fate.

2. Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Launched: 2020
Blockchain: Ethereum (ERC-20)
Impact: Shiba Inu marketed as ‘the dogecoin killer’ offered features like decentralized finance (DeFi) and staking to give the meme coin concept layers of functionality.

3. PepeCoin (PEPE)

Launched: 2023
Blockchain: Ethereum
Impact: This coin grabbed the popularity of the Pepe the Frog meme quickly and became one of the fastest growing coins of all time. Indeed, it was a demonstration of the unending power of internet culture strengthening crypto market monkeys.

How many meme coins are listed?

The exact number of meme coins is difficult to determine, but here are some statistics to consider:

1. Major Cryptocurrency Market place

There are websites like CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, that track many thousands of meme coins.
Currently (December 2024), we have over 10,000 cryptocurrencies, with most being meme coins, listed on these platforms.

2. Blockchain Ecosystems

Ethereum: ERC 20 standard has been the backbone for a lot of meme coins as it has an easy to use ecosystem and a vast community.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC): Many meme coins are hosted on the BSC simply due to the low fee and fast processing times of the network.

3. New Listings Daily

During periods of high market activity particularly, dozens of new meme coins are released every day. Many of these coins don’t go anywhere or rise to the top initially but if they are successful enough to build up community interest they pick up speed faster than one can imagine.

Tracking Meme Coins Challenges

Tracking the exact number of meme coins is challenging for several reasons:

• High Turnover Rate: A lot of meme coins are worthless as soon as they are created and completely disappear after a couple of weeks or months.
• Scams and Rug Pulls: Add on, some meme coins are built as a scam to take advantage of gullible investors making it even harder to figure out what’s a real project.
• Fragmentation Across Blockchains: There are meme coins in various ones … but it is hard to aggregate a list of meme coins from all blockchain networks.

What about All Meme Coins?

Meme coins aren’t created equal and a lot don’t live up to initial hype to deliver any value other than that initial miracle of the first marketing moment. Meme coins are not the best of things for investors. You should approach them with caution and good research before investing. Some factors to consider include:

• Community Strength: An interesting meme coin can attract participants who give a lifetime of interest to further strengthen and act as strong and active communities.
• Utility: While most meme coins are just that — coins — some are creating ecosystems with real-world utility.
• Transparency: Check if a team behind development projects is open or not, as well as developing a roadmap.

Conclusion

There are thousands of meme coins currently and more everyday being created. Meme coins are popular but a risky investment due to their speculative nature and high turnover rate, while the popularity of meme coins, demonstrates just how powerful internet cultre and community engagement can be.

If you’re looking into the world of meme coins, focus on proven, large projects with large communities or unique features. The market does not guarantee with these meme coins, and can be extremely volatile, so always invest what you can afford to lose.