Bitcoin above $100k while memecoins are set to become mainstream

Bitcoin broke through the mythical $100k barrier last night. The reason for the sudden increase was the positivism in the market (the Trump victory and the launch of the Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year) as well as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell who responded to a question from the New York Times about Bitcoin. Although he doesn’t see it as a competitor to the dollar, Powell admitted it is comparable to gold.

BREAKING: 🇺🇸 Fed Chair Jerome Powell says #Bitcoin is a competitor to gold, not the US dollar. pic.twitter.com/YQHFiThTBo

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) December 4, 2024

The way forward as from this point is difficult to predict for the short term. I believe there will be FOMO but beware of sudden moves back below $100k as well.

Memecoins become mainstream

While we should definitely start with a warning that this isn’t financial advice as it is about memecoins, at the same time we have to acknowledge that memecoins (which are incredibly volatile) are becoming more and more mainstream as of late. Gen Z, whose members have a very short attention span, seems to be crazy about them as in their world of hype and TikTok, these memecoins work very well.

In CoinMarketCap’s top 100, I counted 9 of them at one point this week. Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe and Bonk are apparently here to stay. Moo Deng, Peanut The Squirrel and Mog Coin are likely fads that will eventually go away. Many others are simply scams. Be careful with memecoins.

Sushi and Hot Dog

During the bull run of 2020 and 2021, we noticed for the first time how fast and volatile memecoins could rise and fall. Food coins suddenly became very trendy during the summer of 2021 and we saw rug pulls with coins called ‘Sushi’, ‘Kimchi’ and ‘Hot Dog’.

That has been quite different in 2024. As Gen Z is very fond of short videos and hypes, memecoins are very popular. They are cheap, incredibly volatile and always created by a popular hype. In recent months we have seen, for example, Moo Deng, made because a pygmy hippopotamus in Thailand suddenly became world news, and Peanut The Squirrel, created as a political response to the death of a squirrel by the New York police.

Musk

But the only one that has consistently remained in the top 10 is Dogecoin. That one really went parabolic in 2021 when Elon Musk promised to talk about it during his (now legendary) appearance on Saturday Night Live. The memecoin reached its highest level ever during that television program and then collapsed again.

Elon had to deal with a lawsuit from dissatisfied investors who had jumped on the trend too late and therefore was ordered to talk less about Dogecoin on social media.

The richest man in the world is now getting revenge in his own way. Starting next year, he will lead a new government department in the Trump administration, called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

My prediction is that memecoins will also be a part of the news stories of 2025.