Memecoins Make Millionaires—But are they Bitcoin-friendly?
Memecoins Make Millionaires—But are they Bitcoin-friendly? The comeback of the crypto bull market brings with it the symbol that everyone loves to hate or finds most comforting: memecoins. Crazy tales of traders turning relatively little money into multimillion-dollar prizes by investing early in a token that ultimately explodes have circled the headlines. However, for every person who strikes it rich, there is a resourceful person who loses a tonne of money by placing an excessive wager on the wrong coin.
Everyone appears to have a strong opinion on memecoins, whether they believe they add a fun and joyful element to cryptocurrency that is frequently lacking or that they divert attention from the problems that blockchain technology aims to tackle in the real world.
The inventor of the no-sign-up cryptocurrency exchange SideShift.ai, Andreas Brekken, talks with hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond on episode 14 of The Agenda about the advantages and disadvantages of the memecoin craze as well as what it all means for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.
Benefits of Memecoin Hype
Memecoins, in Brekken’s opinion, are “a completely harmless way to use crypto” with friends and “a super easy and friendly way for normal people to get involved in crypto just using your phone.”
Memecoins, he claimed, are a net benefit to the cryptocurrency ecosystem since they encourage user interaction with blockchain technology and educate users on how cryptocurrencies operate. They serve as a practical testing ground for the technology as well:
“We’re testing real stuff because the same technology we can use to trade memecoins is the same technology we use to trade any other assets on-chain or cross-chain.”
For instance, the Solana chain-congestion frenzy will push the network to increase speed and dependability, which would eventually help the blockchain in the long run, according to Brekken.
Brekken expressed his admiration for memecoins’ ability to establish robust communities quickly, responding to a question on what more serious crypto projects may learn from them. To ensure that their initial liquidity cannot be lost, many memecoin developers burn their liquidity provider tokens, which shows their dedication to the project and is something other developers might want to emulate in the future.
Memecoin Gambling
The majority of memecoins are indeed worthless in the actual world. As a result, many people view them as a kind of gambling where they could win enormous sums of money. But many memecoin initiatives are complete frauds and rug pulls, so investors risk losing their money.
Brekken likened betting on memecoins to wagering on sports or in Las Vegas: While some people cash out their life savings, lose everything they have on black, and are left with nothing but regrets, others go to casinos with little money and enjoy themselves with their friends regardless of the outcome.
He added, however, that one must zoom out to get the bigger picture rather than being upset at memecoins themselves: “Maybe, the bigger question is, why are people gambling so much? I think one way to look at this is it may be that people are gambling because they don’t trust the system to give them a fair chance, and they’re looking at the inflation, and your money is becoming worthless all the time, and your salary is not going up. So it could be a symptom of a financial system people don’t trust.”
