Memecoin Mania: Over one million new crypto tokens since April

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The crypto market is experiencing a frenzy around memecoins. Since April 1st, over a million new tokens have been launched, nearly half of which are on the Solana network alone. This trend has generated as much enthusiasm as criticism.

The memecoin frenzy is in full swing

The crypto market has seen an explosion in the number of new tokens since April 1, 2024, with over 372,000 tokens created on Ethereum, mainly on Coinbase’s layer 2, and over 643,000 on Solana, the majority of which are memecoins.

Conor Grogan, Coinbase’s director, also pointed out that the number of tokens created on Ethereum in one month was double those created between 2015 and 2023.

This frenzy for memecoins has led to a significant increase in the total value locked (TVL) on Base, which has surged by 630% since the beginning of the year. CoinMarketCap, which lists the 500 most recent tokens, confirms this trend, with a predominance of memecoins.

CoinGecko has even created a dedicated category for memecoins, which now represent a total market capitalization of $52.7 billion.

New tokens launched on Ethereum and associated blockchains. Source: Dune analysis — *New tokens launched on Ethereum and associated blockchains. Source:* Dune

A controversial trend within the crypto community

The enthusiasm for memecoins has sparked strong reactions within the crypto community. Many consider this enthusiasm to be a “net negative” as it leads to a proliferation of scams and diverts funds that could have financed more legitimate projects.

Additionally, some denounce the spam generated by “sniper bots” trying to automatically scoop up new memecoins in the hope of a windfall.

A survey by Cointelegraph revealed that one in six new base memecoins was a scam and that more than 90% had vulnerabilities. Despite these concerns, memecoins were the most profitable cryptocurrency in the first quarter of 2024.

In sum, the explosion of new tokens, driven by the memecoin mania, raises questions about the market’s evolution. While some see it as a way to make easy gains, others fear the multiplication of scams and the diversion of investments to the detriment of credible projects.