The Development History and Value Logic of meme coin

Meme coin is one of the most unique entities in the cryptocurrency field, possessing both cultural attributes and financial characteristics. Looking back at its development history, it can be divided into three key stages:

1. Breaking Ground/Foundational Work(2013-2016)

This period witnessed the original innovation process of meme coins from zero to one, presenting a unique ecology where wild growth coexists with natural selection. Marked by the birth of DOGE in December 2013 and ending with the maturity of Ethereum smart contract technology in 2016, it constitutes the purest "Genesis Era" in the history of meme coin development.

Main features:

• The technical aspect mainly focuses on forking the code of Bitcoin or Litecoin.
• The market shows polarized performance, with an average survival period of only 11.7 months.
• Laid the foundation for meme coin, preserving the most precious spirit of innovation

Typical case:

1. Ephemeral type: Mooncoin, Fedoracoin ( TIPS ), Nyancoin, etc.
2. Invincible General Type: Dogecoin( DOGE)

2. Hibernation/Outbreak ( 2017-2021)

The past five years have witnessed the transformation of meme coin from a fringe subculture to a mainstream financial asset. The maturity of smart contracts has restructured the issuance logic of meme coins, and the popularization of the ERC-20 standard has lowered the issuance threshold.

Main features:

• Technically, most use the ERC-20 standard or rely on other protocols.
• The market size is expanding rapidly, with the meme coin sector accounting for the highest trading volume at 12.3%.
• Value perception reconstruction, from "internet joke" to "phenomenon-level investment target"

Typical case:

1. Meteor Shining Type: Useless Ethereum Token ( UET ), Hoge Finance ( HOGE ), etc.
2. Stellar Everbright Type: Shiba Inu(SHIB)
3. Transformational Breakthrough: Floki Inu ( FLOKI ), Samoyedcoin ( SAMO ), etc.

3. Precipitation/Reconstruction (2022-2025)

The meme coin market is starting to transition from frenzy to rationality, undergoing deep adjustments. New projects are increasingly relying on public chain ecosystems, with new narratives emerging such as political finance ( PolitiFi ), AI, etc.

Main features:

• The overall market capitalization has seen a significant pullback, but top projects still remain strong.
• Emerging public chain ecosystems ( such as Solana ) have become important incubators for meme coins.
• New concepts such as AI and politics are integrated into the narrative of meme coins.

Typical case:

1. Short-term speculation type: Trump( TRUMP)
2. Ecological-driven: Dogwifhat( WIF), BONK
3. Narrative Innovation Type: Goatseus Maximus(GOAT)
4. Cultural Symbol Type: MOODENG

Core Value Logic

Unlike traditional financial assets, the core value of meme coins is represented by "cultural dissemination × community consensus", rather than relying solely on technology or practical value. Its uniqueness lies in:

1. A typical product of the attention economy, the power of dissemination determines value.
2. Community consensus is the core driving force, emotional value is greater than actual application.
3. Technological innovation ( such as AI ) and community building are key factors for the future.

Despite the market undergoing adjustments, meme coins will still maintain their unique position and influence in the cryptocurrency sector. Future developments will focus more on balancing hype and substance, and truly high-quality projects are expected to stand out in this reshuffling.