How memecoins entertained and offended their way to a $116bn market

In early 2024, memecoins were pretty meh.

Then last March, a number of the joke tokens soared to billions in market value within weeks.

The reason?

Hard to say, but through the summer it became clear that Bitcoin’s surge toward $100,000, Donald Trump’s embrace of crypto, and lots of bullishness triggered a market phenomenon that is now worth $116 billion, according to CoinGecko.

And for all the cute coins such as DogWifHat, there were a slew of disturbing ones that hosted extreme content on accompanying livestreams.

There was a livestream suicide that turned out to be fake, and a developer who set himself on fire for his TruthorDare memecoin. Another memecoiner named Trevv livestreamed a dose of Fentanyl for his token with the ticker Crack Head Dev.

Here are a few insane memecoin episodes of 2024:

Hawk Tuah

Haliey Welch is an online personality who went viral after she used the phrase “hawk tuah” to describe a sex act on a TikTok video in June.

She wasted little time in monetising her moment of fame by launching a memecoin called HAWK on Solana on December 4. Its value soared to $500 million after more than 16,000 fans bought the token.

But the project quickly turned south as the token’s value crashed below $50 million less than 30 minutes after launching.

Even as investors demanded answers on a now-deleted X Spaces session, Welch appeared to be unfazed by the tumult. “Anyhoo I’m going to bed and see you guys tomorrow,” she said and signed off.

It turned out bots had apparently gotten a hold of Welch’s wallet addresses, swiped her funds moments after launch, and caused a 97% drop.

Welch said she is now cooperating with law enforcement officials to go after the culprits who tanked the project.

Jeo Boden vs DJT

Memecoins enjoyed their own US presidential contest.

In March, Jeo Boden, a riff on Joe Biden, surfaced. In less than two weeks since inception, Boden rose to a $650 million market cap.

The memecoin gained notoriety when a self-proclaimed part-time degen ponzi investor dubbed Barky, said he had made millions from a $260 investment.

“Jeo Boden is really gonna pay off my student loan debt i am in disbelief,” Barky wrote.

In May, Trump-themed memecoins sprang to life as well.

TREMP, MAGA, and DJT all amassed hundred-million market values in 2024.

DJT was caught in a particular whirlwind after hedge fund felon Martin Shkreli claimed he had worked with Donald Trump’s son Barron to create and launch the token.

It jumped to a $100 million market value even though the Trump campaign denied Shkreli’s claim.

Beni

In late November, a man named Beni appeared on a livestream in a wig, fake beard, and black clothes with a rope around his neck.

Beni threatened to commit suicide unless traders bought his cryptocurrency. A few hours later, Beni had seemingly ended his life, and Pump.fun disabled its new livestream feature.

But it was all staged, DL News reported in November.

One of the memecoin promoters behind the stunt said it was all a ploy — one successful enough to bring down the new feature.

The purported suicide showed how memecoin mania had spun out of control.

PNUT

A far less controversial memecoin was Peanut the Squirrel.

Peanut was a squirrel found and rescued by Matt Longo, the owner of an animal sanctuary in Pine City, New York, after Longo saw the squirrel’s mother get run over by another driver.

On November 1, Peanut was taken and euthanised by New York State animal welfare officials.

A memecoin based on Peanut went viral shortly afterward following a number of online celebrities, including Elon Musk, began to spread news of Peanut’s death.

“If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine,” said Musk on X, signing the quote as Obi PNut Kenobi.

“If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine” Obi PNut Kenobi pic.twitter.com/dD2Xo0fSkr

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2024

Within days it had skyrocketed to a $120 million market cap, with one lucky trader turning $17 into $3 million.

Two weeks later, the token had amassed a whopping $1.8 billion valuation. Now it’s down 65% to $670 million.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.