Are Meme Coins a Joke, or Are We the Joke?

By RafiOnChain | Tales From the Chain | 20 May 2025


The chaotic truth about crypto’s wildest frontier.

It started with a meme.
A dog. A frog. A pixelated Wojak.
I clicked, I scrolled, I laughed.
Then I bought. And just like that, I was in.


🧠 What Even Is a Meme Coin?

Let’s be honest. Meme coins don’t follow logic.
They don’t always have a roadmap.
Most times, they don’t even pretend to.

But they have one thing that most "serious" crypto projects don’t:

💥 Emotion. Humor. Virality. And a community that just feels alive.


🐶 DOGE – The Original King of Memes

Back in 2013, Dogecoin was launched to mock Bitcoin.
It was literally made as a joke.
But people didn’t just buy it—they adopted it.

They used it to tip creators, fund charity, and have fun.
DOGE taught us that money can be lighthearted—and that a Shiba Inu could unite the internet.


🐕‍🦺 SHIB – The Meme That Made Millionaires

Shiba Inu came out in 2020. I remember people calling it a scam.
Then it mooned. Like, unreasonably mooned.
$100 turned into $1,000… then $10,000…

My Telegram was full of “Bro, SHIB is flying!” and screenshots of 5-figure gains.

Sure, some paper-handed. Others held too long.
But SHIB changed lives—and proved meme coins weren’t just side characters.


🐸 PEPE – The Frog That Ruled 2023

In 2023, the streets were quiet. Bears roamed.
Then came PEPE. No presale. No VCs. No promises.
Just a meme and a dream.

My group chat was chaos.
I bought in late. Got a 3x. Dumped too soon.
My friend? Held it to a 50x. We still laugh about it.

PEPE wasn’t about utility.
It was about energy. Timing. Vibes.


🦮 BONK – Solana’s Barking Comeback

Solana had just survived FTX’s collapse.
People were calling it dead.

Then BONK came barking into the scene.
The first major meme coin on Solana—airdropped to NFT holders.

It wasn’t just hype—it was hope.
The SOL community rallied. And BONK? It became a symbol of survival.


🪙 More Meme Coins That Rocked (or Rugged) Us:

  • WOJAK – The emotional trader we all relate to

  • LADYS – Meme’d from Milady NFTs, went viral overnight

  • TURBO – Made by AI, community-led, zero marketing budget

  • FLOKI – Named after Elon’s dog. Need I say more?

  • HARRY POTTER OBAMA SONIC 10 INU – Yeah, that was real. And it pumped.

These weren’t just tokens.
They were in-jokes turned liquid assets.


😵‍💫 But Let’s Be Real: Not All Memes Moon

I’ve chased rugs.
Bought coins with 12 zeroes in the name.
Got rugged while brushing my teeth.

Some coins had:

  • No community

  • No liquidity

  • And no soul

It’s part of the game.

You learn. You cry. You screenshot the chart.
Then you get back in—because that next meme might be the one.


🧠 Why Meme Coins Matter More Than We Admit

Meme coins aren’t about “utility.”
They’re about:

  • 🤝 Belonging

  • 📢 Virality

  • 🎭 Internet culture turned financial markets

  • 🚀 Pure speculative adrenaline

In a way, meme coins are the most honest coins.
They don’t pretend to fix the world.
They just ask:

“Wen moon?”
“Wen lambo?”
“You in or out?”


🏁 My Personal Truth About Meme Coins

They’ve drained my wallet.
They’ve made me dance at 3AM.
They’ve taught me to research harder.
And they’ve reminded me that finance can still be fun.

In a world of layer-2 rollups and zkEVM bridges, sometimes you just need a frog coin with no roadmap.

And you know what?

That’s okay.


🔮 Meme Coins Aren’t Going Away. They’re Evolving.

The next cycle might bring:

  • Tokenized meme influencers

  • Cross-chain meme wars

  • AI-generated meme economies

  • Even serious projects embracing memetics

Because memes move culture.
And culture moves markets.

We’re no longer early.
But we’re still in the arena.
And somewhere out there, the next $1,000-to-$1M coin is waiting in a Telegram group with 12 people and no pinned messages.


💬 What Was Your First Meme Coin?

Mine was Doge. I bought it with zero research.
Lost 20%, laughed it off.
Now I track contracts before I ape.

But deep down, I still chase that feeling…
That “maybe this stupid frog coin could change everything.”

How do you rate this article?

18


RafiOnChain
RafiOnChain

Hey, I’m RafiOnChain — a crypto enthusiast, storyteller, and Web3 explorer. I write about the strange, the deep, and the unexpected. Stick around if you love unique stories and on-chain vibes.


Tales From the Chain
Tales From the Chain

Welcome to Tales From the Chain — a space where crypto meets creativity. I’m Rafi, sharing original stories, thoughts, and insights inspired by Web3, blockchain, and the digital world. No fluff, no hype—just raw ideas straight from the ledger.

Send a $0.01 microtip in crypto to the author, and earn yourself as you read!

20% to author / 80% to me.
We pay the tips from our rewards pool.