What started off as a small playground for anonymous geeks has converted itself into a world stage, where we now have the likes of Donald Trump and Javier Milei launching their own memecoins.
Why are these world leaders promoting their own tokens, instead of backing Bitcoin or other established cryptocurrencies? Perhaps it has something to do with our innate human nature.
$TRUMP and $LIBRA
A few days before his 2025 presidential inauguration, Trump set a precedent by launching his own official $TRUMP memecoin on the Solana blockchain. Then, adding fuel to the fire, a couple of days later his wife launched her own memecoin $MELANIA.
Now the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, has become a participant in the memecoin craze by endorsing the Solana-based $LIBRA project. It turns out that he's now actually facing impeachment for tweeting about, and promoting, the project.
Memecoins vs. Bitcoin
Why endorse an existing cryptocurrency when you can simply create your own?
Leveraging their fame, celebrities and politicians can achieve amazing short-term results with the launch of their own cryptocurrencies, but the long-term value of their uninnovative tokens is questionable.
On the other hand, Bitcoin Maximalists think that everyone should focus solely on Bitcoin.
Aside from the fact that Bitcoin cannot support 8 billion users, let alone DEXs, smart contracts, and stablecoins, we also need to accept human nature. Similar to how you'll never convince everyone in the world to be a Christian, not everyone is going to agree on Bitcoin.
There are plenty of reasons why Bitcoin has more value than a memecoin, but that doesn't change the fact that humans are tribal animals who desire recognition and want to leave a legacy. Trump and Milei have set the precedent for more memecoin launches by both politicians and celebrities.
Entrenched Players
Celebrity-based crypto launches create a lot of buzz and distract from Bitcoin and other established projects temporarily. The ultimate question is, can these tokens compete long-term with the projects that have already been in the trenches for years?
Any new market always starts with many players, but eventually settles on a few winners.
Due to the need for both decentralization and scalability, I believe there is room for plenty of winners in the crypto market.
That said, eventually decentralized communities will settle on their favorite cryptocurrencies, which have proved to be resilient over time, and launching a new coin that replaces an existing winner will become increasingly difficult.
Bearing all that in mind, now is the time to hone in on the cryptocurrencies that will become household names in the next decade or two, and prepare accordingly.
Until next time...
If you learned something new from this article, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the Hive blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.