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On Dec. 6, 2013, Dogecoin was created, taking inspiration from the famous Doge meme: an image of a very adorable Shiba Inu dog with multi-colored comic sans text that appears as the dog’s "thought bubbles."
Although owing its genesis to a joke, Dogecoin quickly developed into a massive and passionate cryptocurrency community.
Dogecoin's success paved the way for a myriad of animal-inspired tokens. While some investors have profited immensely from these tokens, others question the sustainability and true value of meme coins.
Recently, a user on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) expressed skepticism about meme coins. "I don’t think I can ever buy a regular animal meme coin again," he wrote, adding further, "Give me good tech." The comment hints at a growing desire among some investors for tokens backed by innovative technology rather than simply hype.
good tech is whatever makes people money
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) October 28, 2024
This comment attracted the attention of Dogecoin cofounder Billy Markus, who goes by the name "Shibetoshi Nakamoto" on X, to which he responded, "Good tech is whatever makes people money."
Meme coin mania
Meme coins have trounced all other sectors in the crypto space in 2024 and show no signs of slowing anytime soon. Millions of new tokens have been generated since the beginning of the year, with new tokens appearing on Ethereum and more meme coins being launched on Solana.
While cat-themed coins have been gaining steam in recent weeks, there is ongoing hype around "sentient" AI bots promoting cryptocurrencies.
The crypto community is reacting to these AI-themed meme coins as part of a new trend, with some seeing it as an innovative community interaction tool, while others see it as another momentum-trading opportunity that aligns with meme coins' speculative nature.
GOAT, a Solana-based meme coin, saw its market capitalization increase from $3 million to almost $800 million as a result of social media interactions and endorsements from the AI bot Terminal of Truths on X.
However, keep in mind that these bots might be large language models (LLMs) impacted by user input rather than truly sentient entities.