A meme coin (also spelled memecoin) is a cryptocurrency that originated from an Internet meme or has some other humorous characteristic.

The term is sometimes used interchangeably with the term shitcoin, which typically refers to a cryptocurrency with little to no value, authenticity, or utility. It may be used in the broadest sense as a critique of the cryptocurrency market in its entirety—those based on particular memes such as "doge coins", celebrities like Coinye, and pump-and-dump schemes such as BitConnect—or it may be used to make cryptocurrency more accessible.

The term is often used dismissively, comparing the value or performances of those cryptocurrencies to that of mainstream digital assets. Supporters, on the other hand, observe that some memecoins have acquired social currency and high market capitalizations.

In late 2013, Dogecoin was released after being created as a joke on the Doge meme by software engineers. This sparked the creation of several subsequent meme coins. In October 2021, there were about 124 meme coins circulating in the market. Notable examples include Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.

In late 2021, advertisements promoting the meme coin Floki Inu in London led to subsequent investigations around promoting the meme coin, considered to be an unregulated financial product by the United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Some countries have taken steps to regulate meme coins. In early 2021, Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission banned meme coins as part of a crackdown on digital goods with "no clear objective or substance".

Meme coins have surged in popularity since Elon Musk endorsed the use of Dogecoin, one of the first meme coins. He continued to post tweets about Dogecoin in 2022, including one in January where he stated he would eat a Happy Meal from McDonald's on live TV if they started accepting Dogecoin as payment. While the risk of losing money is significant, some projects seem to be successful and sustainable over time.

Meme coins have seen a resurgence following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election. One such example is Fartcoin, whose valuation briefly surpassed $1 billion dollars in December 2024. Trump himself launched the meme coin $Trump three days before his second inauguration as president of the United States.

American investor David Einhorn stated, “We have reached the ‘Fartcoin’ stage of the market cycle...Other than trading and speculation, it serves no other obvious purpose and fulfills no need that is not served elsewhere.”

This list includes meme coins that have received significant amounts of media coverage:

• $HAWK - It was released by Hailey Welch in December 2024, an American woman who became viral online for the "hawk tuah" meme, and reached a peak of $490 million before plummeting to $25 million. She received large accusations of promoting a pump-and-dump, and engaging in a rug pull scheme and insider trading.
• $Fartcoin - As of January 25, 2025, the market cap of $Fartcoin is $1.28 billion and it is the 7th largest meme coin by market cap on the Kraken exchange.
• $Trump - It was publicly announced on President Trump's X and Truth Social accounts three days before his second presidential inauguration. A day later, the market cap reached $27 billion, with Trump' companies holdings at $20 billion.
• $Melania - On January 19, 2025, Trump's wife Melania launched and announced her own meme coin, $Melania.
• Dogecoin - A cryptocurrency that reached a peak market cap of $85 billion and was frequently tweeted about and referenced by Elon Musk. His tweets include "Dogecoin is the people's crypto", "No highs, no low, only Doge", and "One Word: Doge", and were preceded by an increase in trading volume and value of the currency. On November 14, 2024, Trump announced that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead a new Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE for short, which is an acronym that shares the name of the currency.

• Meme stock