Ajay ji
Across major ecosystems like Solana, Base and countless others, memecoins have not only captured attention and liquidity, but also become the most visible on-ramp to Web3. This has triggered a broader debate: what kind of culture are we building — and how will it be perceived?
The Rise (Again) of Memecoins
Memecoins are nothing new. From $DOGE and $SHIBA to $PEPE, they’ve always existed at the intersection of humor, speculation, and community. But in the current cycle — particularly across Solana and Base — memecoins have reached an entirely new velocity.
Crypto Tracker
On Solana, memecoins accounted for over 85% of new token launches in Q1 2024, driven by tools like Pump.fun that enable instant, low-cost deployment. At the peak of the frenzy, tokens like $WIF (Dogwifhat), $BOME, and $POPCAT were collectively driving over $3B in 24-hour trading volume, occasionally outpacing Solana’s DeFi and NFT activity combined.
Meanwhile, Base, an Ethereum L2, has experienced a parallel cultural wave. Its accessibility, strong Farcaster-native communities, and low fees have made it a magnet for memecoin experimentation. Projects like $DEGEN and $TOSHI have seen enormous traction, and on-chain data shows that Base saw some of its highest user activity and transaction volume during memecoin trading spikes in Q1 2025.
To be clear — both Solana and Base are also home to serious developers, infrastructure teams, and long-term projects. But the current social layer of crypto is being shaped disproportionately by memecoin culture, and with that comes a set of deeper challenges.
The Edgelord Problem
In some corners of this trend, we’ve seen a sharp erosion of boundaries between meme-driven fun and cultural insensitivity.
There have been tokens launched referencing tragic real-world events, racial slurs, and disturbing figures. In one recent case, a token was launched immediately after the death of Pope Benedict XVI, trading on the back of the news as a meme. In another, the official Base Twitter handle (in a now-deleted tweet) leaned into the cultural moment by saying, “Twitter is for pimping, Farcaster is for building,” — a line that some took as a tongue-in-cheek community signal, while others viewed it as emblematic of the market’s shifting tone.
Prominent voices have raised concerns about this, pointing to how quickly memecoins with shock-value themes gain traction — even when there is no underlying value or intent beyond virality.
It’s not just about being offended — it’s about what kind of precedent this sets, and what kind of market behavior it normalizes.
When Liquidity Chases Noise
There are also second-order effects. As memecoins consume social attention, they pull liquidity away from foundational projects. Builders working on RWA protocols, identity layers, or public infrastructure may struggle to raise, hire, or scale — not because they aren’t building value, but because the dopamine loop of memes crowds them out.
The consequence is that the crypto market begins to resemble a high-speed content economy, where the most outrageous ideas win — even if only for a moment. And when that moment ends, it often leaves retail users holding the bag, burned by pump-and-dumps or social rugs.
For regulators and institutions already struggling to differentiate speculation from substance, this doesn’t help.
Memes to Meaning: A Better Path Forward
To be clear, memecoins are not inherently bad. In fact, they often serve as the first touchpoint for users who later explore DeFi, DAOs, and governance.
But culture without structure risks drifting into chaos. If Web3 wants to onboard billions, it can’t just be about attention — it must also be about intention.
That means:
- Building better on-ramps from memes to long-term products
- Establishing community norms that balance free expression with ethics
- Creating incentive designs that reward value, not just virality
Because credibility in crypto won’t be determined just by what we build — it will be shaped by what we amplify.
A Moment to Reflect
The memecoin mania currently sweeping Solana, Base, and other networks is a powerful cultural signal. It shows what crypto is good at — speed, permissionless expression, viral coordination.
But it also shows what we still need — filters, principles, and leadership that guide this energy toward productive ends.
As this cycle matures, the question isn’t whether memecoins should exist. The question is: what comes after?
(The author Aishwary Gupta is Global Head of Payments, Polygon Labs. This is the author’s personal view and has no affiliation with his professional work place.)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
