Key Takeaways
- More than 75% of memecoins were created in 2024, and over 97% are dead.
- The memecoin market cap now stands at over $120 billion.
- Pump.fun memecoins have accounted for more than 50% of all monthly transactions on the Solana network since Aug. 2024.
In 2024, memecoins reign supreme. But very few of them achieve any degree of “supremacy.”
Whether touted by social media influencers, created on Pump.fun, or rising in popularity through the sheer magic of memes, an ever-increasing majority of them fail.
Under the Influence
As per a study from CoinWire, just 1% of influencers have managed to promote a memecoin to a 10x increase. Furthermore, just 3% of memecoins touted by influencers will ever achieve that 10x pump.
The study, which examined 1,500 tokens promoted across 377 American Twitter influencer accounts, found that 76% of these influencers promoted dead meme token projects, and 86% of those dropped by 90% within 3 months.
It’s a troubling statistic for a market currently “in bloom.” According to CoinMarketCap, meme tokens currently represent over $120 billion of the total crypto market cap.
Pump.fun
Launched in Jan. 2024, Pump.fun has since dominated the memecoin market, for better or worse. According to Dune analytics, Pump.fun transactions account for over 50% of all transactions on Solana.
Similarly to the initial coin offering (ICO) craze that swarmed Ethereum in 2018 or the NFT bubble that emerged in 2021, meme tokens represent the best and worst of the crypto market.
Pump.fun, a Solana-based memecoin-creating platform, is the primary driver behind the explosive growth of memecoins. According to Dune, 3.8 million Pump.fun tokens have been created, with 48,945 launched in the last 24 hours alone.
Of these, just 614 tokens, or a dismal 0.016% of Pump.fun memecoins have “graduated,” meaning they never exceeded a $69,000 market value and could then be transferred to Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX), Raydium.
Memecoin Saturation
Memecoin creators and investors do not care if the market is saturated. It’s about capitalizing on the moment, with very little consideration for the long-term.
Naturally, those meme tokens that do “graduate” or rake in the riches will continue to inspire others to create their own or at least invest in some.
A vast majority of memecoins were created this year, and this figure is expected to continue to rise.
Eddie is a gaming and crypto writer at CCN. Covering the often weird and wonderful world of Web3 with an adoring, but skeptical eye.
Prior to CCN, Eddie has spent the past seven years working his way through the crypto, finance, and technology industry. He began with PR and journalism with Bitcoin PR Buzz and BitcoinNews.com, eventually working his way to become a copywriter with a dozen firms, including the likes of Polkadot before returning to journalism in 2023.
Having studied Radio production and journalism at University in the UK, Eddie spent a few years making podcasts and presenting on a local London radio station as he built up his writing chops.
A lifelong skateboarder, Eddie can often be found at the skatepark or touring the streets looking for something new to try. That, or kicking back playing JRPGs on his original PSP.
