What the numbers say: Crypto data website CoinGecko has recently analyzed the total number of page view shares year-to-date for the largest 15 meme coins by market cap, including Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepe Coin (PEPE), to identify the top 10 countries where meme coins are most popular. The results have shown that the U.S. is leading the way in the meme coin craze, with a 23.58% rate. On the top 3, India and the U.K. followed the U.S., with 20.31% and 16.35%, respectively. The analysis has also revealed that these three countries host more than half of the meme coin fans worldwide.
What it means: A meme coin is a type of cryptocurrency originating from an internet meme and mostly having some humorous characteristics. The first meme coin was DOGE, and it was created as just a parody of Bitcoin (BTC), though it later became enormously famous in its own right. This type of cryptocurrency has gained massive popularity over the past years, especially after Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly showed his support for DOGE and SHIB.
Relevance: Meme coins have recently gained traction again following the release of PEPE, which has become the third-largest meme coin after DOGE and SHIB in just two weeks since its launch on April 17. Earlier in May, the coin’s market cap jumped to $502M following a 2,100% price increase. It has also proved it is a strong rival for the largest meme coin by overtaking DOGE in trading volumes for two days on May 1 and 2. On the first day of May, PEPE reached $522.8M in daily trading volume and surpassed the $325.6M volume of DOGE, marking a first in its short history. However, DOGE beat PEPE in trading volume again on May 3, turning to its usual performance.
Brands that should care: With the reincreased popularity of meme coins, the major crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and OKX, are expected to see a massive amount of meme coin inflow in the upcoming days.