Jeo Boden to Doland Tremp: How Parody Cryptocurrencies Became 2024’s Biggest Hit
Parody tokens are the latest meme coin trend. Photo by Gilly on Unsplash.
Key Takeaways
- A host of meme coins have emerged parodying politicians and celebrities.
- Jeo Boden and Doland Tremp have amassed a market capitalization of over $100 million each.
- Most parody coins are minted on Solana.
In the history of crypto, parody and tribute have often come hand in hand. Shiba Inu first emerged as a kind of homage to Dogecoin, but at the same time, it playfully threatened to steal its older sibling’s meme coin crown. More recently, DogWifHood referenced DogWifHat in a way that is both ridiculous and, in its own way, respectful.
But what about coins that find their comic fodder in the serious worlds of business and politics? In recent months, a new generation of parody coins has emerged, turning internet in-jokes into tokens worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Crypto Embraces Political Parody
Besides riffing off real-world political figures, Jeo Boden, Doland Tremp and Chadimir Putni have several other commonalities.
Each one is minted as an SPL token on Solana, where they trade on Raydium and other DeXs.
They are also aesthetically, drawing inspiration from the more cultish corners of crypto Twitter and 4chan’s /biz/, and combining meme-speak colloquialisms with the internet ugly aesthetic .
Not Just Politicians
Obviously, parody tokens don’t require any actual political allegiance and you don’t have to be a bona fide MAGA voter to “mek memes gret agen.”
Neither do they only riff off politicians. Tooker Kurlson, Elawn Moosk and Petur Shiff are all part of the same trend. As are Steep Jubs, Ju Rugan and Zeck Murris.
Unsurprisingly, degens have a special affinity for crypto celebrities and there are meme coins parodying Sam Bankman-Fried (Bankmeme-Fried), Brian Armstrong (Briun Armstrung) and Vitalik Buterin (Vitalek Buterin), as well as some more offensive ones targeting Elizabeth Warren and Garry Gensler.
While the vast majority of parody coins are minted on Solana, they can also be found on other chains.
After launching on Base in April, Coinye West climbed to a market capitalization of over $25 million at its peak.
Similar projects can also be found on other Layer 2s.
A Short Lifespan
Like most meme coins, parody tokens that do take off tend to do so explosively and then crash back down to earth. After launch, so far tokens have typically peaked within a month or two.
Of the cryptocurrencies listed above, Jeo Boden has the highest market cap at $135 million. After that, Doland Tremp’s currently stands at $108 million while Tooker Kurlson is worth $37 million.
But the overall market remains tiny, with just a handful of parody coins amassing a market capitalization of more than a million dollars.
Will the joke grow stale before any of them enter the ranks of billion-dollar meme coins? So far, only six tokens have been elevated to recognizable names: Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Floki, Pepe, Bonk, and DogWifHat. Maybe a parody cryptocurrency will be the next member of the exclusive club.
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