The world of cryptocurrencies is often associated with quick and easy money. Even despite the recognition of Bitcoin by large investment banks and funds, this impression is largely true. Endless financial pyramids, projects without ideas and meaning, fan tokens, and, finally, billions of dollars invested in them – all this is the reality of the crypto market, to which more and more people are coming. Such financial innovations are more often called by experts as a gamble than an opportunity for reliable investments, but neither advice nor obvious risks can keep millions of people from it.

Beyond the Radars

Investors are attracted by the possibility of trading without intermediaries, primarily banks, as well as a decentralized data storage system (blockchain), which is available to everyone but does not belong to anyone. Besides, anonymity reigns in the cryptocurrency world especially in the bitcoin casinos UK – the holder of digital coins is not obliged to bind personal data to the wallet, and when transferring, it is enough to indicate the account numbers of the sender and recipient.

Interest in the new payment system went beyond the local IT communities after the success of Bitcoin (BTC). For the first time, a deal with Bitcoins was made in May 2010 – the American Laszlo Hanech ordered pizza delivery, paying 10 thousand BTC. Then Hanech spent about $40-50, but now the purchase would have cost him $630 million, since then the demand for digital currency has steadily increased.

Memes for Money

However, while stable giants like Bitcoin and Etherium grew in value, some developers began to use the popularity that surrounded the cryptocurrency market. Their plans did not include the creation of innovative IT projects – they saw the digital market primarily as an opportunity to make quick money. New market participants began to use cryptocurrency not as money, but as virtual shares. The creators of new currencies understood that their potential investors were primarily Internet users. Therefore, they began to associate their projects with memes – viral images or ideas.

Some of the “meme” currencies are not full-fledged cryptocurrencies, but tokens. Anyone can issue a digital coin without even purchasing computing equipment – according to CoinMarketCap, the number of meme tokens is approaching seven thousand. Unlike cryptocurrencies, tokens can be issued by one person in unlimited quantities, and it is not necessary to use the blockchain in the process of their creation.

The most famous and even relatively stable meme coin is Dogecoin. It was created as a joke based on the popular Shiba Inu dog meme in 2013. At the moment, one coin costs $0.2648, and the market capitalization of the project has exceeded $34.9 billion. This is because the token attracted the attention of Tesla founder Elon Musk: the billionaire regularly writes about it on Twitter, and once even called Dogecoin his favourite cryptocurrency (on that day, the token rate increased by 24%). Musk’s publications increased the value of the altcoin by 1,330% from February to April 2021. Later, the businessman explained why he liked Dogecoin, “It has memes and dogs, while other projects do not.”

Risky Trading

Investing in meme currency is very risky and looks more like a gamble than a real investment. Interest in such tokens is growing during calm periods in the sector of larger and more stable cryptocurrencies when traders want to trade more actively and get more “quick” income. Meme cryptocurrencies provide an opportunity to enjoy risky trading, the pleasure of such trading is a lot like gambling, and it is fun for the amateur. Speculation on them is a very gambling and exciting game, which gives a chance to increase your assets.

At the same time, it is not worth investing all your savings in such crypto assets. You should be careful with meme tokens as the prospects for their development are almost impossible to predict. Cryptocurrency memes are a great demonstration that an asset is valuable solely because it has value in the eyes of market participants. The excitement about any meme token can be caused by the most unpredictable and unobvious factors, for example, statements of media people.

Going Crypto for Fun

Nowadays, you can find many coins created for fun. For example, Jesus Coin, for the purchase of which the developers promised a place in paradise. The team even negotiated with several Christian churches of different directions to be able to forgive sins for buying coins. The site stated that the creator of the token is Jesus Christ, his confidant is Judas, and the Apostle Peter is engaged in advertising. In 2018, the project managed to reach a capitalization of $1.57 million, but by now it has already disappeared.

At one time, tokens created in honour of presidents enjoyed the love of crypto investors. Coins featuring the Russian President Vladimir Putin, PutinCoin, and former US President Donald Trump, TrumpCoin, had some commercial success in 2017-2018. PutinCoin’s price peak was on November 29, 2017 – $0.192, and the maximum capitalization of $12.33 million was registered in January 2018. TrumpCoin managed to achieve even greater value: on January 6, 2018, the coin was worth as much as $1.67 with a capitalization of about $5 billion.

There is No Profit if There is No Risk

In October 2021, the crypto market capitalization reached a record $2.6 trillion. Analysts still consider Bitcoin to be the main driver of the industry’s development. On October 20, the cryptocurrency updated its historical maximum, its rate exceeded $66.9 thousand. So far there are no prerequisites for a global trend change in the main cryptocurrency, therefore, the largest currencies, primarily Bitcoin and Etherium, remain the safest options for investing.

Alternative tokens can show significant growth only after these market leaders will significantly increase in price. In addition, a crypto project is promising if it is revolutionary, but most altcoins cannot offer users any innovative solutions. Meme currencies and other low-liquid tokens may be of interest only to those who want to take risks and get rich quickly since the growth of market giants is too “calm” for a quick profit.