Elon Musk may be one of Dogecoin's biggest fans, but he doesn't think everyone should spend a lot of cash on them

Elon Musk may be known as one of Dogecoin's biggest fans, even naming his Department of Government Efficiency after the memecoin

Elon Musk may be known as one of Dogecoin's biggest fans—or at least, someone who enjoys a good time, which is how he put it Friday—but he doesn't think everyone should spend a lot of cash on meme coins.

The topic of meme coins—cryptocurrencies that are based on viral memes, trends, and pop culture references—came up during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan. During an exchange, both men compared buying the tokens to gambling in a casino, with Rogan expressing disbelief that meme coins are "still legal."

"It is so bananas that people dump real money into these coins and then you can just pump them up and sell them," Rogan said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, with Musk comparing buying and selling meme coins to playing musical chairs.

"If you expect to win at meme coins, you’re being foolish. You’re not gonna win at meme coins," Musk said. "If you want to have some fun, then play with meme coins... just don't bet the farm on a meme coin."

Meme coins are usually designed to capitalize on social media trends, are often worth just cents or fractions of a cent, and tend to be highly volatile. Often, such cryptocurrencies are used by their creators to make a quick buck through what's called a "pump and dump" scheme, where prices are artificially inflated before major sell-offs that leave late investors at a loss.

In recent months, several meme coins have gained short-term popularity, only to crash soon after. A popular type of memecoin is the celebrity meme coin, which tends to give insiders a quick buck and leave outsiders holding the bag.

For example, influencer Haliey Welch launched a "Hawk Tuah" coin, named after her own viral meme, in December. The coin reached a $490 million valuation before quickly falling to $29.1 million. As of Friday, Hawk Tuah coin has a $15,000 market cap.

More recently, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump launched $Trump and $Melania, Argentinian President Javier Millei backed $Libra, and Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra debuted $Car. The value of each has tanked over the past month, leading some in the crypto industry to declare an end to the "meme coin boom."

"People get shocked that somebody pumped and dumped," Rogan said, mocking people who attempt to cash in on meme coins but fail to make a profit. "It's just weird that it's legal still."

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday said that most meme coins "are akin to collectibles" and do not qualify as securities. As a result, neither meme coin buyers nor holders are protected by federal securities laws. However, the agency said it would still examine products it believes could be mislabeled as a meme coin to avoid regulation "by disguising a product that otherwise would constitute a