PANews reported on February 9 that according to a report from Global Times, the Indian Express published an article titled "Dogecoin is no longer a 'joke currency'", which pointed out that two software engineers launched a cryptocurrency called "Dogecoin" (a virtual currency with a dog emoji) in 2013, marking the fusion of memes (emojis) and Bitcoin, and the birth of memecoins. To the engineers' surprise, "Dogecoin" later became a commonly used online transaction currency, beyond just a joke. American billionaire Elon Musk expressed his support for it in 2023, and the valuation of "Dogecoin" has since soared, reaching several tens of billions of dollars as of January 2025.
Under the influence of celebrity effect and other factors, various memecoins (emoji coins) have flourished. U.S. President Trump launched his own memecoin, with his photo and the slogan "Fight, fight, fight" printed on it, attracting public attention and its market value soaring to tens of billions of dollars. As a public figure, Trump's move was criticized by many as reckless - the memecoin market is volatile, and without effective regulation, the market lacks a complete protection mechanism, putting investors at risk of massive property losses.
With such high volatility and high risk, why are so many people rushing to invest in memecoins? Research by JPMorgan Chase Group shows that over the past decade, the proportion of people under 40 who invest a portion of their monthly personal income has more than doubled. But the financial system has certain thresholds, with many industry concepts and terminologies, which are not very friendly to inexperienced investors, while cryptocurrencies do not have this problem, and their ability to quickly see returns also further attracts people to participate. Although the memecoin market is currently hot, its future remains to be seen. Relevant regulatory authorities should introduce corresponding policies to regulate various cryptocurrencies, and investors should also further learn and understand financial instruments to avoid investment risks.
