A meme coin is a cryptocurrency inspired by an Internet meme, a joke, or a viral phenomenon, usually created without any real technological utility at the outset. These cryptos rely more on community, virality, and buzz than on solid use cases or technical innovation.

Dogecoin (DOGE), launched in 2013 as a parody of Bitcoin featuring the famous Shiba Inu dog, is considered the first meme coin. Since then, many others have emerged, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe (PEPE), or Floki (FLOKI), often driven by campaigns on social media and the herd effect.

Typical characteristics of meme coins:

• Low initial value, high volatility,

• Strong influence from online communities (X, Reddit, etc.),

• Sometimes without a serious technological project at the outset, but sometimes evolving towards more concrete use cases.

Meme coins can experience spectacular rises… but also equally rapid falls.