What are Meme Coins? Dogecoin, SHIBA INU, Dogelon Mars, and MORE

Isabella James, Tech Times 10 November 2021, 01:11 pm

Whether or not you are deep into cryptocurrency, you have probably heard of terms like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance. Chances are you have also heard of terms such as Dogecoin, SHIBA INU, and Dogelon Mars also. The latter three are actually known as Meme Coins, which will dive deeper into in a short while.

What is Cryptocurrency?

Before we talk about what meme coins are, let us first define what cryptocurrency is.

Cryptocurrency is pretty much a digital currency that makes use of blockchain technology. Cryptos are not issued by a central authority. An example of a central authority is a country's central bank.

Crypto has unstable volatility, which makes investing in it a risk. Still, the crypto market has seen a rise, especially this year. Popular examples of cryptocurrency include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance, Cardano, Tether, and XRP.

Related Article: NFT vs Cryptocurrency: Are They the Same Thing?

What are Meme Coins?

If you have scratched beyond the surface of cryptocurrency, then there is a chance that you have heard of the term Altcoin, a portmanteau of alternative and coin. The term is basically used for coins that are an alternative to Bitcoin, according to an article by Investopedia.

One popular type of Altcoin in the market today actually happens to be Meme Coins, which Investopedia has described as "inspired by a joke or a silly take on other well-known cryptocurrencies."

Examples of Meme Coins

There are a handful of meme coins that are available in the market these days. You might even know some of them because you're a fan of dogs, Elon Musk, or even both. Here are some examples of meme coins:

Dogecoin

If you are looking for an example of a meme coin that started as a joke, one of the best examples is Dogecoin. According to an article by Forbes, this meme coin began in 2013 and had a dedicated community.

Dogecoin is considered as the first meme coin by many people and Forbes pegs its price at $0.29 as of October 31, 2021. Per Forbes, that value is an almost 145,000% increase from its price in 2017.

Dogelon Mars

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become an influential figure in the world of cryptocurrency. Because of this, it is not a surprise that a meme coin has been named after him. This meme coin is known as Dogelon Mars.

Dogelon Mars, otherwise known simply as ELON, has a market cap of $971 million, according to CoinMarketCap. It is priced at $0.00000175 as of press time. . Dogelon Mars has a circulating supply of 557,528,013,986,286 ELON coins.

SHIBA INU

SHIBA INU is a meme coin that was created in 2020 and runs on the Ethereum network, according to Forbes. SHIBA INU is one of the two meme coins that are often talked about by Elon Musk. The other meme coin often associated with Musk is the Dogecoin.

Per Investopedia, the value of the SHIBA INU rose by 91% sometime in October 2021 simply because Elon Musk tweeted a photo of his pet shiba inu on a Tesla.

The SHIBA INU's initial price was at $0.0000000014. As of October 31, 2021, the price rose to $0.00007567, which is a 5,400,000% increase, according to Forbes.

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Written by Isabella James