“Not a single new $1B meme coin in 2026.” Today, people are turning that into “memes are dead.” But I think the most painful number on this chart isn’t the 0 for 2026—it’s the 3 for 2025.
The list compiled by @MrketInsider: 2023: PEPE, BONK. 2024: WIF, BRETT, POPCAT, GOAT, PNUT, MEW, MOG, BOME, FARTCOIN, NEIRO, PENGU, AI6Z—12 in total. 2025: TRUMP, MELANIA, LIBRA.
Look closely: not one of those three in 2025 grew organically from a community. They were all celebrity- and politician-backed plays. Everyone knows who held the tokens and who got out first. We haven’t forgotten what happened with LIBRA, have we?
So it’s not that the meme coin path is closed. It’s that the 2024 environment—where “retail could lift a coin to $1B on its own”—is gone. From here on, the only coins that can take off are those issued by big names with built-in audiences. Retail has gone from carrying the palanquin to holding the bag.
Now look at where the money went. A roundup of X news: meme coins’ total market cap is now around $28–30 billion, down from a peak of about $150 billion at the end of 2024. Pump.fun has earned over $1 billion in fees from January 2024 to now. Coins are launching every day, platforms are collecting money every day, but not one has grown into something big.
One more thing: the original post got 34,000 views, but didn’t cite a single source for its data, and a bunch of accounts reposted it verbatim. I used it for the chart because the list checks out—not because the numbers are necessarily exact.
If you’re still looking for “the next PEPE,” ask yourself first: what coin have you seen this year that wasn’t dumped on by the early holders as soon as it launched?
#meme #PumpFun
The list compiled by @MrketInsider: 2023: PEPE, BONK. 2024: WIF, BRETT, POPCAT, GOAT, PNUT, MEW, MOG, BOME, FARTCOIN, NEIRO, PENGU, AI6Z—12 in total. 2025: TRUMP, MELANIA, LIBRA.
Look closely: not one of those three in 2025 grew organically from a community. They were all celebrity- and politician-backed plays. Everyone knows who held the tokens and who got out first. We haven’t forgotten what happened with LIBRA, have we?
So it’s not that the meme coin path is closed. It’s that the 2024 environment—where “retail could lift a coin to $1B on its own”—is gone. From here on, the only coins that can take off are those issued by big names with built-in audiences. Retail has gone from carrying the palanquin to holding the bag.
Now look at where the money went. A roundup of X news: meme coins’ total market cap is now around $28–30 billion, down from a peak of about $150 billion at the end of 2024. Pump.fun has earned over $1 billion in fees from January 2024 to now. Coins are launching every day, platforms are collecting money every day, but not one has grown into something big.
One more thing: the original post got 34,000 views, but didn’t cite a single source for its data, and a bunch of accounts reposted it verbatim. I used it for the chart because the list checks out—not because the numbers are necessarily exact.
If you’re still looking for “the next PEPE,” ask yourself first: what coin have you seen this year that wasn’t dumped on by the early holders as soon as it launched?
#meme #PumpFun
