2021 has been a breakthrough year for the cryptocurrency sector as the move to the first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund is a sign that cryptocurrencies are becoming more popular and may lead to increased risk exposure for investors. BTC.
The influx of new entrants into the market throughout the year has had a profound impact on the overall culture of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Ideas of privacy and secure storage of value have been overshadowed by meme culture as PePe and Wojacks have become endemic to crypto-Twitter, where frigers say to each other “gm” every day and refer to each other respectfully as “cm”.
And now, the rising price of dog-themed meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) has once again caught the attention of the market, driving the despair of Bitcoin extremists. Even mainstream news sources can’t help but discuss the topic, promoting the growing culture of cryptocurrencies for a wider audience.
Here is a look at how cryptocurrencies are changing as the interests of new entrants to the ecosystem are changing the overall landscape of the crypto sector.
Google search tells a story
The power of the meme and the shift it has brought about in crypto and non-crypto investor perceptions can be seen in data provided by a recent study by Bacancy Technology that found Dogecoin was the most sought after cryptocurrency in the US in 2021 with an additional 2.3 million searches. Bitcoin, which came in second place.
The ten most popular cryptocurrencies in the US in 2021. Source: Bacancy Technology.
Dogecoin is a pre-2017 token that was originally created as a joke and has the token of the cute and loving Shiba Inu dog.
Until recently, the Dogecoin code had seen little development and there were no roadmaps to talk about, but the return of the community-led project in 2021 has pushed the price of DOGE from under $0.01 to an all-time high of $0.738, Elon frequent reviews The Mask Get meme status for tokens. The new success of the project prompted several development teams to explore ways to upgrade the network and make it usable.
Shiba Inu is the fourth most sought after cryptocurrency in the United States, despite the fact that its popularity and price did not start to rise significantly until April of this year, when it toppled all other major teams and decentralized. Financial Protocols (DeFi) as well as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Dog-themed meme coins are gaining in popularity
The masses of newly arrived cryptocurrency investors do not seem to be looking for a financial product that will give them additional returns, or the more popular token that serves as a store of value, but rather a large supply token associated with “the best of humanity.” Buddy’ and the promise of fortune overnight.
Meme tokens have become so popular that CoinMarketCap has dedicated a page to ranking the “Best Doggone Doggerel Tokens,” which has now grown into a growing list of over 118 tokens.
Top 4 dog-themed symbols by market capitalization. Source: CoinMarketCap
Regardless of how some Bitcoin fanatics or fundamental analysts feel about this booming sector and its futility, big financial companies like Robinhood have branded DOGE and also generated significant trading income, which means the tokens caught the eye. other brokerage firms. Who need a share of the income from collecting trading commissions and attracting new users.
Coinbase listed DOGE and SHIB, the latter of which recently caused a system crash on the largest US cryptocurrency exchange due to excessive user demand as the price of the token skyrocketed on October 27.
It is entirely possible that younger investors will see bitcoin as an old currency that can rise in value but will not make them rich at the moment. Meanwhile, SHIB stock is up 1,000% in less than a month, and its small unit cost continues to pique the interest of many retail investors.
The future of meme coins
If memecoins are not going anywhere, it can be useful for an experienced cryptocurrency investor to understand how they affect the market and what may come from them in the future.
In a way, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu represent an important macro shift in the blockchain ecosystem from the original Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism used by Bitcoin and Dogecoin to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus, and smart contracts. And the opportunities they are opening are available on Ethereum 2.0 (Eth2) and used by SHIB.
Dogecoin is the meme coin for the legacy crypto audience that prefers a secure network that can securely store and trade assets, while Shiba Inu is a next-generation meme coin that brought together the worlds of DeFi and NFT along with the launch of the decentralized Shiba Swap. Exchange and Shiboshi NFT line.
