Overview of Memecoins – Criteria for Choosing High-Potential Memecoins

In the crypto market, alongside serious projects that build blockchain technology, launch products, generate real revenue, and provide practical use cases, there are also projects created simply “for fun.” These are what we call memecoins.

So, what exactly is a memecoin? And what criteria should you use to identify those with strong growth potential?

1.What is a Memecoin?

A memecoin is a token primarily created for entertainment purposes. It usually doesn’t come with a real product, specific functionality, or even a professional dev team. The value of memecoins relies heavily on community hype, FOMO, and virality — rather than profit commitments or real-world applications.

Memecoins can be born from random events, casual quotes, tweets by celebrities, or literally anything developers decide to turn into a meme.

Examples:

• When Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally and shouted “Fight, Fight, Fight”, a wave of tokens with tickers like $FIGHT and $EAR (ear) instantly launched on pump.fun.
• During speeches from the FED, Trump, or Elon Musk, trending memecoins often emerge from just a few words they say.
• Some memecoins have evolved beyond the joke and now run their own products or ecosystems:
  • $DEGEN: A Base-native memecoin with its own L3 chain and ecosystem including Degen Swap, Frog Swap, Zenon Finance, etc.
  • $SHIBA : Launched around the same time as Doge, now grown into a full ecosystem spanning DeFi, gaming, and news.
  • $SLERF: Started with NFTs, later expanded with Slerf Capital — a fund investing in promising meme projects.
  • $M: Memecore A hybrid between meme tokens and DeFi infrastructure, aiming to build core utilities rather than just chasing trends.
  • $FLOKI: Inspired by Doge but later expanded into a product suite with FlokiFi, Valhalla (metaverse game), University of Floki, etc.

Memecoins have become an inseparable “culture” of crypto, bringing excitement to an otherwise boring financial market. Both now and in the future, memecoins will remain one of the fastest-growing sectors.

Currently, according to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap of memecoins has reached $85 billion (5% of the entire crypto market) with over $7.3 billion in daily trading volume.

2.Where Does the Hype of Memecoins Come From?

The reason memecoins attract so much attention and FOMO is because they tap into the dream of “getting rich quick.” Instead of spending hours researching projects and markets, many people just buy because someone else told them they’d profit.

Memecoins thrive because they directly target the psychology of fast wealth. Their price action is often what draws the crowd.

• Narratives: Memecoins often create life-changing stories in just weeks or even days. Hearing about 1000x or 10,000x returns is not uncommon in the meme space.
• Price Action: When memecoins catch a bullish wave, they skyrocket. New ATHs every day. In a favorable market, meme rallies are absolute chaos. At that point, TA, FA, or on-chain analysis becomes meaningless — memecoins are nearly impossible to analyze.
• Simplicity: You don’t need deep blockchain knowledge to understand memecoins. As long as there’s a story, a funny meme, or mentions from KOLs/politicians, anyone (new or experienced) can ape in without much research.
• Psychology of ownership: Memecoins often have tiny unit prices, e.g., $0.00001/PEPE. With $1,000 you can buy millions of PEPE instead of just 0.01 BTC. New investors prefer holding huge quantities because it feels like having more wealth — imagining that if it ever hits $1, they’ll be millionaires. Nvidia once did a 1:10 stock split, dropping price from $1,000 to $100 per share. The real value didn’t change, but it made the stock feel “cheaper” and easier for retail to buy.

3.Risks of Investing in Memecoins

While the potential gains are massive, the risks are equally extreme. If a memecoin can 100x, it can also dump 100x. Some key risks:

• No fundamentals: Any type of analysis (FA/TA/on-chain) is only relative. Avoid DCA-ing heavily or over-allocating to memecoins, especially new ones.
• Opaque tokenomics: Supply distribution is often unclear, leaving room for heavy manipulation. If a small group controls most of the supply, TA loses reliability.
• High chance of failure: 99% of memecoins go to zero. Picking the right one is basically like winning the lottery. That’s why the community often says “lotto play” — only use small capital you’re willing to lose entirely.
• Extreme volatility: Price swings of ±90% in a matter of hours are common, especially for low-cap memecoins.

4.Common Types of Memecoins

The meme universe is huge, drawing inspiration from all sorts of things. But most fall into these categories:

4.1 Animal-Themed Memecoins

Many of the biggest memes are animals that people find cute or relatable.

• Dogs & Cats: Dogecoin, Floki, Shiba Inu (dogs); $WEN, $POPCAT (cats). According to CoinGecko, cat-themed memecoins have ~$2B market cap, while dog-themed memecoins exceed $48B.
• Frogs: Inspired by the famous Telegram sticker, leading to tokens like $PEPE and $BOME.

4.2 Celebrity/KOL Memecoins

Some tokens are based on famous figures. During the U.S. presidential election, $MAGA, $TRUMP, and $BODEN exploded, representing Trump and Biden.

From 2024–2025, celebrity-backed memecoins also started trending, like $JENNER (Caitlyn Jenner) or $YZY (Kanye West). However, most celeb-backed tokens crashed heavily, nearly going to zero.This causes KOLs who issue tokens to be heavily criticized for getting rich on the trust of fans.

4.3 Culture-Based Memecoins

Some argue that memecoins are a form of cultural identity for specific communities. The more active the culture, the stronger and longer-lasting the coin’s value.

Example: $FARTCOIN, representing “toilet humor” and shitpost culture — which resonates deeply with crypto degens.

5. Criteria for Choosing High-Potential Memecoins

Memecoins have proven capable of insane returns across multiple cycles. If chosen wisely, here are key criteria based on past success stories (DOGE, SHIBA, FARTCOIN, etc.):

5.1 The Original Meme Must Be Recognizable

The meme has to be simple, familiar, and widely loved.

• Example: $DOGE used the viral shiba dog image that was instantly recognizable and funny.

=> The more recognizable the meme, the higher the chance of success.

5.2 Strong Virality & Easy to Spread

Even if the meme is recognizable, it won’t pump unless it spreads fast. Virality comes when communities constantly create content, making the meme an “inside joke.”

• Example: $WIF (the dog with a pink beanie) became a Solana icon. $PNUT struck a human emotional chord and went viral through constant news mentions.

=> If a meme goes viral naturally, trends on social media platforms, and creates empathy, that’s a strong signal.

5.3 Large Community & KOL Support

A good memecoin has a large fan base and ideally a recognizable figure pushing it. The bigger the KOLs, the stronger the spread.

• Example: $DOGE was pushed by Reddit, Twitter, and Elon Musk himself — turning it global. $SPX6900 was shilled by memecoin KOL Murad in this cycle.

=>Community is the most important factor. Memecoin needs an active core community, supported by influential KOLs, to thrive.

5.4 Distinct Cultural Identity

A successful memecoin doesn’t just rely on its original meme — it evolves into its own culture. That culture keeps holders engaged long-term. It could be humor, self-mockery, shitposting, or representing a movement.

• Example: $FARTCOIN represents universal toilet humor and shitpost culture, which is deeply ingrained in degen communities.
• =>A sustainable memecoin makes holders feel part of a movement, not just investors chasing gains.

5.5 Launching at the Right Time

Timing plays a massive role in the success or failure of a memecoin. Even if the meme is good and the community is strong, launching during a downtrend or when the narrative isn’t aligned makes it hard to spark a rally. On the flip side, hitting the perfect timing can trigger an explosive run beyond anyone’s expectations.

Examples:

• $DOGE: Propelled by Elon Musk during a bullrun → the market FOMO’d hard, creating a snowball effect.
• $BONK: Emerged right after the FTX collapse, when Solana desperately needed a meme to revive community spirit → became a symbol of Solana’s comeback.

=>This criterion is extremely hard to predict. But if you manage to catch the narrative inflection point and the right market backdrop, the chances of a memecoin going 1000x are very real.

And finally, please note that MEXC always lists potential memecoins the earliest. If you want to search for memecoin gems, use MEXC.

6.Conclusion

Memecoins are high-risk, high-reward. They offer x100 or x1000 potential that few altcoins can match. Behind the wild pumps isn’t technology, but pure FOMO, virality, strong communities, KOL support, unique cultural identity, and perfect timing.

Disclaimer: This content does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial, or accounting advice. MEXC shares information purely for educational purposes. Always DYOR, understand the risks, and invest responsibly.