Why are Shiba Inu internet memes worth billions of dollars? Unveiling the cultural code of Meme coins.

A Decade of Transformation from Jokes to Wealth

In 2013, two programmers, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, decided to create a cryptocurrency using the internet's most popular Shiba Inu meme. They named it Dogecoin and deliberately set an unlimited supply – which at the time was a mockery of the entire crypto world. No one took it seriously.

In 2021, eight years later, this currency, which was treated as a joke, surged into the top ten of the global cryptocurrency market capitalization. At its peak, it once exceeded a market cap of $85 billion, with a price soaring to $0.74. Millions of people looked at this Shiba Inu and asked the same question: Why does it have value?

The answer is hidden in the countless forwarded memes, in every comment of “To the Moon.”

Community is worth more than technology

What truly kept Dogecoin alive was never some black technology or high-end operations. Reddit users began using it to tip for interesting content, community members spontaneously organized charitable donations, and even crowdfunded to sponsor NASCAR drivers and the Jamaican bobsled team.

There is no white paper, nor can it be said to have technological innovation. What exists is simply the purest community enthusiasm—people gather because they like the image of this dog. When Elon Musk's tweets raise the heat, what truly supports it are those fans willing to create memes and organize events. It has survived a decade-long bear market, relying on this cultural stickiness.

The Profiteering Magic of Cultural Symbols

If Dogecoin was a lucky accident, then Shiba Inu (SHIB), which appeared in 2020, was a deliberate experiment. It directly claimed to be the “Dogecoin killer,” yet used the same tricks – a cute dog image and the collective identity of the “SHIB Army,” making each holder feel like they were part of a cultural movement.

What was the result? In 2021, SHIB soared 120,000 times, reaching a market cap of 36 billion dollars at one point.

Even crazier is the PEPE coin of 2023. This token, based on the “Sad Frog” meme, has no project backing and relies purely on voluntary dissemination by netizens, with a market value surpassing 7 billion USD within two weeks.

The logic behind these numbers is simple: the price of Meme coins does not come from the code, but from the breadth of cultural symbol dissemination. Just like Disney made money for decades with Mickey Mouse, Meme coins turn memes into tradable cultural assets. The more people recognize a symbol, the more frequently it is used, and the wider its dissemination, the more valuable it becomes.

You are the “dealer”, not the “chives”

Many newcomers start asking in the group, “When will the pump happen?” after buying Meme coins. However, if you truly understand the nature of these coins, you'll realize that this question is misguided.

Meme coins are fundamentally different from stocks and Bitcoin. Stocks have company financial reports behind them, Bitcoin is backed by blockchain technology, while the “fundamentals” of Meme coins consist of only one thing—community consensus and cultural dissemination. The project team is at most a catalyst; the real engine is every holder.

PEPE is the best example. It has no founder, no operating team, everything is driven spontaneously by netizens on Twitter and Telegram. When you retweet a PEPE meme, when you discuss with friends how funny this frog is, you are actually empowering it – every retweet increases the market awareness of this cultural symbol.

Conversely, if the community just passively waits for the project party to “pump the price”, it is like a group of people guarding a fish pond that cannot self-reproduce, and sooner or later they will run out of resources. Just look at the hundreds of new Meme coins that are born daily on Pump.fun — 99% do not survive a week, and the reason is harsh: there is code but no culture, there is launch but no dissemination.

New Rules of the Attention Era

In this era of information overload, people's attention is the scarcest commodity. Meme coins are essentially about “securitizing attention”—turning netizens' attention, discussions, and shares into tradable assets.

Social media algorithms inherently favor engaging content. A funny meme spreads more easily than a ten-thousand-word white paper, and a shout of “To the Moon” hits the FOMO nerve more effectively than technical specifications. The moment you post a SHIB meme in your circle of friends, you are actually helping it capture attention share from its competitors— and this attention ultimately turns into real money.

Meme coins on Solana and Base chains are particularly popular because these platforms offer fast transactions and low fees, making them inherently suitable for retail investors to trade and spread frequently. Technology is just the infrastructure; the real engine has always been the “social currency” produced by the community.

Three Self-Rescue Guidelines

If you really want to participate in this game, remember that these are more important than staring at the candlestick chart:

First, choose the cultural symbols you truly resonate with. Don't buy Meme coins that you don't understand. If a meme seems boring to you, don't expect others to share it wildly. The main holders of PEPE are Gen Z individuals who grew up with this frog; they share it because they genuinely like it, not just to make money. Authenticity is contagious.

Secondly, be a promoter instead of a speculator. Instead of asking “when will it explode” every day, think about how to get more people to know about this coin. Design an interesting meme, write a joke, and leave comments under relevant topics. Every creative promotion you do adds value to the tokens you hold.

Finally, approach all of this with a playful mindset. Meme coins are essentially “cultural lottery tickets”; although they have more cultural substance than pure gambling, their speculative nature is very strong. Always invest only what you can afford to lose, treating it like buying a ticket to an amusement park—having fun is the most important thing, and making money is just a pleasant surprise.

The Financial Era of Internet Culture

The moment when memes become cryptocurrencies is actually the internet culture going public. Every surge in meme coins is a breakthrough of the underlying culture against the traditional financial order.

Remember this: without dissemination, there is no value. The promises of the project team and the calls from KOLs cannot match the power of that meme you are ready to post on your social media. Rather than waiting for a “pump”, why not open a drawing software now and create a financial culture that belongs to this era.

In this era where attention is money, everyone can be their own dealer.