Are Memecoins Dead?

Meme coins are the most talked about asset in the crypto industry. Some call it a pure form of gambling while some call it a part of pop culture.

Meme coins have been a hot topic in the crypto industry, with some seeing them as a new form of gambling while others view them as a part of pop culture. Love them or hate them, you can’t ignore them.

These “joke coins” also form a major chunk of the crypto industry with over $48.37 billion in market cap and they are endorsed by some biggest influential personalities such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Snoop Dogg and many more. In fact, the US president has his own meme coin named “OFFICIAL TRUMP”.

However, despite their popularity, memecoins have also faced significant criticism in recent times, both within the industry and from the outsiders. The reasons for this criticism vary, ranging from allegations of insider trading to the underlying theoretical issue of utility with memecoins.

To top it all, recent bad performance of top meme coins including Dogecoin, Trump and Melania have worsened the fears that this might be the end of the road for memecoins phenomenon.

After the recent debacle over meme coins launched by President Trump and Argentina President Javier Milei and critical statements from CZ, Brian Armstrong, Cathy Woods and other prominent folks, many in the industry are speculating that this might be the end of meme coins.

The debate began when the U.S. President launched its meme coin known as $TRUMP. Despite the initial buzz and robust price boost, it tanked badly. Trump was also under fierce criticism from the political cordons as well as the crypto community. James Thurber, the founder and former director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies stated,” “There are shameful and major conflicts of interest concerning his family business benefiting from his cryptocurrency policies,”

Another event that fueled this discussion was the promotion of the $LIBRA coin by Argentina’s president Javier Milei on February 14, 2025. Argentina’s president endorsed $LIBRA token on his official X account which turned out to be an alleged scam. This promotional post by Milei snowballed into a huge controversy and investors lost approximately $4 billion shortly after its launch, leading to a judicial investigation for potential fraud.

Many industry leaders including Binance former CEO Changpeng Zhao, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Influential American investor Cathie Wood Cathy Woods have suggested buyers to beware of such “joke” coins. Even Cathie Wood believes that a majority of meme coins circulating in the crypto market will likely be worthless soon.

On memecoins…Memecoins have generated a lot of buzz recently, and I’ve gotten some questions on how I think about them. I am personally not a memecoin trader (beyond a few test trades), but they’ve become hugely popular. Arguably, they’ve been with us since the beginning –…

— Brian Armstrong (@brianarmstrong) February 16, 2025

In a February X post, Brian Armstrong Co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, stated that he is also skeptical about the rising trend of meme coins and advised users many times to take caution while investing in it. He advised users to build a long-term mindset and choose their investment decisions wisely.

Not only this, former CEO of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao also publicly criticized meme coins. In Nov 2024 post CZ said “I am not against memes, but meme coins are getting ‘a little’ weird now. Let’s build real applications using blockchain.”

I am not against memes. But meme coins are getting "a little" weird now. Let's build real applications using blockchain. We have the technology and the community to do amazing things that can change the world for the better. What do you think?

— Changpeng Zhao (@binancechain) November 20, 2024

Experts also criticized the performance of top memecoins as they haven’t given any return in the last few months. Meanwhile, some experts believes that these top meme coins are dead. The vast majority of investors lose money in the memecoins and they are too volatile and short lives.

So is this the