Ten times as many memecoins were launched in April 2024 compared to April 2023. But on Ethereum, most are still trading PEPE.
Memecoins launched on low-cost blockchains like Solana, Base, and Blast have dominated the sector in recent months. But on Ethereum, one veteran memecoin continues to pique traders’ interest.
According to a Dune dashboard, PEPE transaction volumes were $84 million in the last 14 days, exceeding by more than 500% not only its closest competitor, GROK (with $14 million), but most other memecoins on Ethereum. In fact, the top 10 memecoins by transaction volume all fluctuated between $3.7 million and $14 million, with PEPE in the top spot by far.
These numbers tell an interesting story.
While degen traders have been flocking to Solana, Base, and Blast for the shiniest – and sometimes most outrageous – new memecoin, Ethereum traders continue to bet on one of the more established tokens. Even if it means paying more in gas fees than they would on other networks, showcasing that so-called “blue chip” tokens still have staying power.
Memecoins Go Parabolic
Launching new memecoins seems to be the name of the game in 2024.
According to onchain analyst Crypto Koryo, new memecoins listed on CoinMarketCap reached 138 in April, registering a nearly tenfold increase from the same month last year, when 18 memecoins were listed.
But Koryo points out that the number is likely even higher: “CMC captures less than 10% of all tokens so real numbers are much higher,” he wrote.
The analyst also revealed that Solana is now home to the largest number of memecoins, even though Coinbase’s Layer-2, Base, has been enjoying considerable interest from traders.
Memecoins have become a staple of the crypto industry in recent months, with private funds now establishing a memecoin investment strategy.
BitMex founder Arthur Hayes recently explained that his family office, Maelstrom, is deploying capital targeting Ordinals and the broader memecoin sector.
In fact, Hayes personally purchased a Bitcoin Ordinals NFT project that celebrates the iconic magic internet money meme that toured the Bitcoin world in 2013 – and has since become a symbol of the blossoming Ordinals ecosystem.
Despite some criticizing the alleged stupidity of buying memecoins, others are quick to point out that the strategy has nuance.
“Established memecoins such as Pepe, Doge, Shiba inu, etc are just crypto with high beta so the 25% [in response to a poll that placed a hypothetical million-dollar investment strategy in PEPE] isn’t as stupid as many people might think,” posted crypto investor Tyler Reynolds.
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