Is 2023 The Year For Meme Coins As SHIB Becomes 14th Largest Coin

News | May 19, 2022, 7:32 AM | The content is supplied by a Guest author

Not investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results

The SHIB coin was long regarded as nothing more than a meme coin, and it still is. But that meme coin has become the 14th largest coin on the market, slowly making its way up the ranking as people become more interested in the cute yet lucrative investment. But, the SHIB is only the 14th-largest coin by market cap. SHIB overtook Avalanche (AVAX), its price acce;;erating to a 24-hour high on 04/18/23. At that moment, despite being the 14th-largest coin on the market, its value still sat at a mere $0.00001166. Compare that to the current Bitcoin Price of $29,436.20, and you can see that it's by no means the 14th-largest coin by value.

Still, with cryptocurrency, value is by no means the be-all and end-all. If you'd have put $100 on SHIB at the beginning of 2023, you'd have almost doubled your investment thanks to the 43% increase in value since the beginning of the year.

Does this mean it's the year of the meme coin? Below, we'll explore the humble origins of meme coins and SHIB and why 2023 might finally be the year of the meme coin.

What Are Meme Coins?

Meme coins were not necessarily designed to be anything more than joke coins. They're a type of cryptocurrency based on popular memes and jokes with the odd cultural reference. They are often created as a way of mocking traditional cryptocurrencies, but some have gained significant attention and value, making them far from a joke anymore.

Some of the most popular meme coins include Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and SafeMoon (SAFEMOON). These coins typically have low value and are traded on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap or PancakeSwap. They often have unique features like automatic liquidity generation, reflections, or rewards for holding. It is important to note that meme coins are highly volatile and speculative investments - they're not exactly backed in the same way that traditional cryptocurrencies are.

After all, the idea behind most of them is to be merely a joke, and you'll notice it's media hype and social media trends that influence the fluctuation in the value of these coins. Most of them aren't backed by any tangible assets or fundamentals. As such, investing in meme coins can be risky and should be approached with caution.

Why Is SHIB Doing So Well

August 2020. It is a decentralized cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and features the popular internet meme of the Shiba Inu dog. The token was created by an anonymous developer with the pseudo name "Ryoshi" and had the concept of being a fun and lighthearted alternative to other cryptocurrencies.

The SHIB token has gained much attention in the last 12 months, particularly in May 2021, when its value surged dramatically. This sudden surge in popularity was largely driven by a tweet from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who referenced the token in a tweet and caused a flurry of interest from his followers. Elon has done that numerous times with both SHIB and Dogecoin.

In 2023, experts believe SHIB is soaring again because investors aren't as risk-averse as they were in 2022. However, many believe the insane leaps as it did in 2021, fuelled by Elon Musk, won't happen again. Some experts believe, however, another spike is on the way as Shibarium, the SHIBS layer-two network, will have a full public launch this year.

Other Meme Coins On The Market

Dogecoin and SafeMoon are the other two popular meme coins on the market, with Dogecoin being the most successful.

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2013 by two software engineers. It has the same Shiba Inu dog as its logo as SHIB. The cryptocurrency operates on a decentralized peer-to-peer network with a limited supply of 129 billion coins. The current value on the market is $0.09, so although minimal compared to some, it's still higher in value than SHIB.

One of the factors that has contributed to Dogecoin's popularity is its strong community of supporters, who are known for their lighthearted and fun approach to cryptocurrency. The community has raised money for charitable causes, sponsored NASCAR races, and even sent a satellite into space.

SafeMoon is a relatively new cryptocurrency that launched in March 2021. It has gained popularity over the last few months, particularly among those looking to invest in emerging digital assets.

One of the main features of SafeMoon is its deflationary tokenomics model. That means every transaction incurs a 10% fee, with 5% of that fee being distributed to existing SafeMoon holders and the other 5% being burned or permanently removed from circulation. That should create scarcity of the token over time, which could potentially drive up its value. The current value of SafeMoon is $0.0000000070.

Is 2023 The Year Of The Meme Coin?

In general, meme coins tend to underperform compared to other cryptos - but when you consider the DOGE is up 21% this year and SHIB 40%, it doesn't seem like a totally crazy idea not to explore the investment, even if only for fun. They're not necessarily a solid investment but are an excellent utility coin in your portfolio. So far, however, 2023 is the year of the meme coin.

2023 is the year to diversify your investment portfolio, and if you throw in a meme coin or for fun to see what happens, there's no harm done. Research suggests you shouldn't expect the coins to become the next Bitcoin or even XRP, but you should explore them as a potential utility coin.