The world of meme coins has had a tumultuous week, with big developments like regulatory probes and celebrity token goofs.
But there’s been some surprising market action as well. Let’s get into the latest events in this wacky corner of the crypto landscape.
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A Week of Highs, Lows, and Surprising Turns in Meme Coin Markets
The meme coin market experienced some fluctuations this week but ended with promising signs of recovery. Our overall market cap dropped by 5%, settling at $44.67 billion. However, the good news for investors came as meme coins rebounded with a notable 16% increase from their lowest points in recent days.
This recovery has sparked some optimism, especially as we explore how the sector is now outperforming major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and even NFTs, as per the DeFiLlama rankings. For the first time in several months, meme coins have shown positive momentum—which is a welcome change after a long period of underperformance.
The increase in meme coins is driven by big players such as Fartcoin, which has posted impressive gains across various blockchains. The token saw a 76% increase on Solana (SOL), strengthening its position in the meme coin market. Other Solana-based tokens, like Giga (+5%), also had a solid performance, helping the chain recover nicely from a period of underperformance. Meanwhile, on Ethereum (ETH), tokens like SPX (+5%) and MOG (+2%) had solid gains, and over on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), tokens like TST (+22%) and TUT (+12%) had a nice pop. Overall, it was a pretty good week for the meme coin market.
A key feature of the week was the sustained stability and even ascendance in price of Fartcoin across several networks. Fartcoin registered a 13% increase on Base, a layer-2 scaling solution, and a 7% uptick in MIGGLES, another joke product. (I’ll bet there are some significant trading correlations between these two.) Fartcoin and its stable price are indeed something to write home about. But is it charting a course for serious meme-based economic fiction?
🚀 Week in Memes: Trump Says Ape Now, Conor McGregor Coin KO’d.
Trump halts tariffs! FARTCOIN soars 71%! McGregor's coin KO'd! Melania team dumps $30M tokens!
Let's dive into this week's meme rollercoaster 🧵
1/6 pic.twitter.com/WDQVY0wYPw
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) April 11, 2025
Celebrity Tokens and Their Unpredictable Fates
Although the market overall has been resilient, some celebrity-backed tokens have not lived up to expectations. REAL coin, launched by MMA fighter Conor McGregor, was supposed to leverage the star’s notoriety to become a lucrative project. Instead, the REAL coin launch plummeted, raising just over $392k and not even close to its $1 million goal; it had the backing of some well-known entities, like KuCoin Labs, and Animoca, a gaming company that tries to find value in the metaverse. After it became clear that the project was a bust, McGregor and his team refunded all investor funds.
This outcome may seem more like a death knell than a success story for celebrity-led crypto ventures. It is a stark reminder that bit parts in a bull market can happen; but even the best names in entertainment—and their associated brands—are not a guarantee for success among the meme coins and tokens of the crypto world.
At the same time, Melania Trump’s NFT project found itself dealing with some challenges of its own. Bubblemaps has reported that her team may have sold off $30 million worth of community tokens, sending them to exchanges and using sales that actuate the community in some suspicious looking (if not quite illegal) ways. This move could stir up controversy, especially when you consider the optics of celebrity involvement in crypto projects. Shouldn’t we be wondering, for instance, if Melania Trump’s project is beneficial for the community she claims to serve? Or if it’s just another attempt to monetize her brand.
Regulatory Actions Heat Up
Besides the attention that celebrity coins are getting, the regulatory landscape is also getting more intense. One of the biggest developments this week came from Argentina, where the Chamber of Deputies is now conducting a formal investigation into the LIBRA project. That investigation was prompted by the massive losses seen in the token’s market segment, which have impacted over 75,000 investors. The estimated damage in this debacle is as high as $280 million in lost funds that some believe might not ever be recovered. That has raised red flags about the safety of meme coin investments, at least in some countries.
The Argentine government has passed three resolutions related to this case: the creation of an investigative commission; the formal questioning of key figures behind LIBRA; and the demand for detailed reports on the token’s activities. The investigation might have significant implications for the future of meme coins and the cryptocurrency market in Latin America. It could also signal that more governments are paying closer attention to the largely unregulated meme coin sector.
The Road Ahead for Meme Coins
The meme coin market is not static. Some coins are deepening their foothold, some are hopelessly searching for a way out, and others are finding themselves under the microscope of regulators. The big wins may just as easily turn into big losses or vice versa. Investors looking to penetrate this market must understand that the coin space will continue to be a very exciting corner of crypto, but one that’s also going to be very roughly regulated and subject to massive swings in fortune.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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