In this article, we discuss the 10 meme coins Reddit is buying for 2022.
The world of cryptocurrencies is naturally very volatile but the emergence of meme coins in the past few months has driven potential investors further away from the scene. Due in part to social media and celebrity buzz, meme coins exploded in popularity in 2021. Meme coins are usually coins that have no real-world use case but increase or decrease in value solely on hype. As 2022 begins, crypto experts predict meme coins to remain an essential part of the blockchain ecosystem. Redditors’ interest in meme coins has also pushed Wall Street into the meme coin game, the results of which could be devastating.
One of the most popular examples of a meme coin is DOGE, the cryptocurrency founded as a joke back in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmeras. The coin, endorsed by celebrities such as Elon Musk, Snoop Dog, and Gene Simmons, rose nearly 14,000% in 2021, before quickly losing more than half in value. The dramatic drop led to the creation of several other meme coins, like Shiba Inu, which briefly became one of the top ten coins in the world by market capitalization before slumping like DOGE.
The rise of these meme coins has led to the rise of meme investing, a type of investing where money is poured into potential assets that can “reach the moon” in internet lingo. Even as institutional investors invest in well-reputed firms like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), and CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) for exposure to the crypto economy, millions of dollars are regularly poured into meme coins as well, especially by the Reddit crowd.
Our Methodology
These coins were picked from a careful assessment of comments published on different Reddit forums over the past twenty-four hours.
The details of each cryptocurrency are mentioned alongside a discussion around top companies involved in crypto, to provide readers with some context for their investment decisions.
Data from around 900 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in Q3 2021 was used to identify the number of hedge funds that held stakes in each firm.
Photo by Executium on Unsplash
Forget Dogecoin: Meme Coins Reddit is Buying for 2022
10. Dogelon Mars
Dogelon Mars is a cryptocurrency that aims to replicate the success of the DOGE coin. The Dogelon Mars envisions success by referencing the efforts of Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, to colonize Mars. The founders of this coin, rapidly gaining in popularity on Reddit, have locked half of all the liquidity of the coin in a liquidity pool for Uniswap. Uniswap is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies with real-world usage.
One of the biggest cheerleaders of blockchain technology has been Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), a payments technology firm. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, 98 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $8.8 billion in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), up from 94 funds in the preceding quarter, holding stakes amounting to $10 billion in Block, Inc..
Just like Mastercard Incorporated, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., and CME Group Inc., Block, Inc. is one of the stocks that growth investors are flocking to.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, RiverPark Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Block, Inc. was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“We established a position in leading Financial Technology provider Square during the quarter. Through one integrated system, SQ is a hybrid of two businesses: its Seller Business (charging small and medium-sized businesses about 3% for transaction payment processing, plus other services such as instant funds access, and software for everything from customer engagement to payroll), and its Cash App (originally for person-to-person cash transfers and now a growing digital financial services provider for consumers).
The combined business has grown gross profit at a 37% CAGR over the past five years to $2.7 billion (due to pass through costs, gross profit is more reflective of top-line growth) and we believe that the company has an enormous long-term runway, as it has less than a 2% share of a more than $160 billion market. It is our view that the company’s Cash App (which has grown
from nothing in 2015 to $1.2 billion gross profit last year) has a particularly large opportunity with its powerful ecosystem of digital financial services including digital wallets, direct deposits, stock trading, bitcoin trading, and business and tax services, which are all relatively new. The vast majority of Cash App’s more than 36 million users are younger and, importantly, are willing to replace their bank and other financial services accounts with the app.
We estimate that the company can grow its gross profit more than 30% and EBITDA more than 50% annually for the foreseeable future, and while most of the company’s current profit is from its Seller Business, we believe most of Square’s future value will be from its Cash App business.”
9. Floki Inu
Floki Inu is another meme coin inspired by Elon Musk. The coin aims to replicate the success of dog-themed meme coins like DOGE and Shiba Inu. The coin got its name from the decision of Musk to name his dog Floki. The founders of the dog-themed coin aim to surpass both DOGE and Shiba Inu in terms of market capitalization. Although not much is known about the founders of this coin, it is believed that they were active members of the Shiba Inu fanbase and community on Reddit. Floki runs on the Ethereum blockchain and its fans are called Floki Vikings.
Cryptocurrencies are gaining mainstream recognition through efforts of firms like NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), a visual computing company. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, 83 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $10 billion in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), compared to 86 in the preceding quarter worth $9 billion.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Vulcan Value Partners, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and NVIDIA Corporation was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“NVIDIA Corp. is the dominant supplier of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) worldwide. NVIDIA’s GPUs are at the intersection of a number of important computing trends including the movement to the Cloud, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, edge computing, gaming, and more. We previously owned NVIDIA and sold it in the third quarter of 2020 as the price to value gap closed and our margin of safety was reduced. As with all our MVP companies, we continued to follow NVIDIA closely. Since that time, NVIDIA reported excellent results and its value has compounded rapidly. The technology selloff at the beginning of the year negatively affected the stock price while our estimate of NVIDIA’s value per share increased. This happy combination of events created a margin of safety and an opportunity to once again add NVIDIA to the portfolio.”
8. GamingDoge
GamingDoge is one of the meme coins inspired by the success of DOGE that aims to be more than just a meme currency. The coin brings together DOGE enthusiasts and gamers. The founders of the coin want to develop an ecosystem which includes an exchange, an NFT marketplace, and NFT Games as a one-stop solution for gamers and eventually grow into the largest community in the crypto world. The coin envisions being a “lighthouse” for gamers on the DeFi system. It has a market cap of more than $2.5 million.
One of the earliest adopters of crypto has been PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), a financial technology firm based in California. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, 123 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $12.8 billion in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), compared to 143 in the preceding quarter worth $16.4 billion.
In its Q4 2020 investor letter, Polen Capital Management, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and PayPal Holdings, Inc. was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“For the full year 2020, one of the top performers was PayPal, which we purchased in 2019, the company continues to take market share in digital payments and has seen an acceleration in user adoption and engagement, especially within their “silver tech” or older user demographic. We expect many more years of ongoing double-digit growth from their various business segments and new initiatives.”
7. Kishu Inu
Kishu Inu is one of many dog-inspired meme coins aiming to replicate the success of the DOGE coin. The coin uses the Kishu Inu dog breed as its mascot. This dog breed is especially popular in Japan. The coin aims to be more than just a meme coin and plans to make a case for itself as the longest-running DOGE successor. The coin is available for trading on wallets like Metamask, TrustWallet, and Coinbase Wallet. It has a market cap of $215 million.
Crypto exchanges like Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) have made trading digital coins much easier. Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey in Q3 2021, New York-based firm ARK Investment Management is a leading shareholder in Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN), with 6.9 million shares worth more than $1.5 billion.
In its Q3 2021 investor letter, Hayden Capital, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Coinbase Global, Inc. was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“Coinbase (COIN): We established a new position in Coinbase, the dominant US crypto exchange and brokerage, this quarter. Given the misperceptions and early-stage nature of the industry, I thought it would be helpful for our partners’ understanding to share a report outlining our thesis, which we published on October 31st.
At a high level, we believe the crypto economy is in the middle of “crossing the chasm” into mainstream adoption & use cases, which will result in millions of mainstream users needing to transact in crypto in some form.
Coinbase is well positioned in the Western, regulated markets to capture this influx – considering their dominant market share / mindshare, their focus on the casual user and thus superior user experience compared to alternatives, and their position as a “toll-booth” for this industry. Longer-term, we also believe Coinbase has “super-app” ambitions, and will be the primary gateway for both the general population and institutions to interact with the crypto economy…” (Click here to see the full text)
6. Gamerse
Gamerse is one of the meme coins with possible real-world usages. It is the cryptocurrency of the Gamerse platform that aims to be the go-to place for gamers, both socially and as a marketplace where they can trade NFTs. Redditors have been piling into the currency over the past few weeks and it is one of the most-discussed meme coins on the forum. The Gamerse social platform, which will act as the basis for the marketplace that the founders eventually develop, already boasts services such as groups, live feed, and direct messaging.
One of the firms heavily invested in crypto is MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), a company that provides analytics software and services. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, 16 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $181 million in MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), compared to the same number of funds in the previous quarter, holding stakes in MicroStrategy Incorporated totalling $91 million.
Along with Mastercard Incorporated, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., and CME Group Inc., MicroStrategy Incorporated is one of the stocks on the radar of elite hedge funds.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Alger, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and MicroStrategy Incorporated was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“MicroStrategy Incorporated was among the top contributors to performance. MicroStrategy is a global leader in enterprise analytics software and services. MicroStrategy’s core software platform provides customers with visualization and reporting capabilities, mobility features and custom applications to help with complex business questions. Today, MicroStrategy has over 4,000 customers worldwide. In August 2020, MicroStrategy decided to make bitcoin its preferred reserve currency. To date, MicroStrategy has purchased over 90,000 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $2.17 bi11 ion and an average price of over $23,985 per bitcoin. Going forward, MicroStrategy plans to use excess cash generated by its core business to purchase additional bitcoin.
Shares of MicroStrategy outperformed in the first quarter due to the appreciation of the company’s bitcoin asset, as the price of
bitcoin relative to the U.S. dollar rose materially in the quarter. This bitcoin appreciation was driven by concerns about U.S. dollar inflation as well as other public companies deciding to acquire bitcoin to diversify reserve assets. MicroStrategy is establishing itself as a thought leader in the bitcoin space, and the company hosted an event at its February user conference to help other organizations understand the benefits of bitcoin as a reserve asset. MicroStrategy’s core software business is also benefiting from its status as a leader in the bitcoin space, with the increased public attention aiding MicroStrategy’s recruitment and marketing efforts as the software business continues to transition to a cloud-based subscription model.”
5. Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu is one of the oldest DOGE-inspired meme coins. It features the Shiba Inu breed of dogs, native to Japan, as its mascot. Over the past year, it is one of the meme coins that has gained the most and remains one of the hottest items on Reddit. Shiba Inu was launched in late 2020 by a group of developers known as Ryoshi. Like DOGE, Shiba has risen to prominence by becoming one of the ten largest cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization. It briefly attained this honor in October 2021 after the price of the coin increased by more than 1,000% in a matter of weeks, before fading away like other meme coins.
Shiba Inu initially became popular when Elon Musk tweeted a picture of his dog Floki, which is a Shiba Inu breed. The dog would eventually get its own meme coin but the Shiba Inu coin gained a lot of traction from that tweet. The market cap of Shiba even crossed DOGE at one point last year but has since lagged behind the original meme coin.
4. Akita Inu
Akita Inu is a meme coin based on the Ethereum blockchain. It was launched in February 2021. The founders envisioned the coin as a “community-driven” experiment with no team tokens. The founders claim to have sent half the total Akita tokens to Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, and lost the other half in a Uniswap liquidity pool when their keys burned. Akita Inu is very similar to Shiba Inu, one of the most popular meme coins.
Akita Inu is available for trading on exchanges like MXC, HotBot, and Poloniex, among others. The coin gathered around 15,000 investors within three months of launching as nearly 20,000 joined the Telegram channel for the parent Akita network. The coin has a market cap of over $118 million and a volume of around 10 million.
3. Catgirl
Catgirl is a community-driven, NFT-focused cryptocurrency that aims to demonstrate real-world usage instead of being just a meme coin. The Catgirl Marketplace uses the coin to sell collectible NFTs made by talented designers and artists. The developers of the coin, through the Catgirl website, acknowledge that their project is perceived as a meme coin. However, they aim to offer rewards and other benefits to investors to outline their long-term commitment to the project.
Catgirl has a market cap of over $67 million and a trading volume of nearly 1.3 million. It is ranked 3,172 in terms of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The price of the coin, like other meme coins, is very volatile and has changed nearly 5% between February 6th and February 7th.
2. SafeMoon
SafeMoon is a cryptocurrency launched in 2021 and was created on the Binance Smart Chain blockchain. It is well-known for charging a high transaction fees of 10% but has generated a lot of social media hype in the past few months, especially on Reddit forums. In order to encourage a long-term mindset within users, the SafeMoon network distributes half of the 10% transaction fees among long-term holders. It is also one of the reasons why this meme coin is a lot more stable than most others in the market.
SafeMoon is described as a meme coin because it has no unique usage case. The value of the coin depends solely on the investors who buy in. The coin has been promoted by celebrities like Lil Yachty, Jake Paul, and Dave Portnoy. SafeMoon has a market cap of more than $765 million but a volume of just around 319,000.
1. Gamebox
Gamebox is a cryptocurrency designed to integrate blockchain games, trading markets, and providing related cryptocurrency services. The network on which the coin operates aims to be the best gaming website on the internet. When fully functional, the website will allow gamers to win money, trade NFTs, and become part of a “metaverse” where users will be able to bring their NFTs to life in the gaming world.
Gamebox was launched in October 2021 and has high processing fees of 10% per transaction. This fee is distributed among marketing, development, and holders of the coin. Nearly 4% goes to team members. It has a market cap of $167 million and a trading volume of 631,000.
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.