What Are Bitcoin Memecoins? The Meme Tokens Mania on Bitcoin Explained

Even without real-world use cases, memecoins have skyrocketed in popularity as speculative, community-driven tokens. 

Memecoins debuted on Bitcoin after the BRC-20 token standard launched in 2023 and gained further popularity with the introduction of the Runes Protocol—two technologies that have driven the creation and management of fungible tokens on Bitcoin.

Read on to learn about Bitcoin memecoins, their background, and how to buy your first meme token using Xverse Wallet.

What Are Memecoins? 

Memecoins are cryptocurrencies based on viral internet memes, jokes, or trending topics. They are designed to be fun, playful, and speculative and typically lack any utility or real-world applications.

Despite their highly speculative and volatile nature, memecoins have become incredibly popular in the crypto community.

Memecoin prices are generally driven by their communities and the social media hype they manage to create around their token. The more people are willing to rally behind a memecoin, the more successful it typically becomes—at least for a while.

The Rise of Meme Cryptocurrencies: From Dogecoin to Shiba Inu and Bonk

The origins of memecoins can be traced back to the original one: Dogecoin (DOGE). The cryptocurrency was launched in December 2013 by Bill Marcus and Jackson Palmer. 

The coin was based on the viral “doge” meme of a Shiba Inu dog captioned with snippets of a simple internal monologue written in Comic Sans font.

Dogecoin attracted its user base through a unique and humorous approach to cryptocurrencies, often poking jokes on Bitcoin.

The project was supposed to mock other cryptocurrencies with big plans to replace the traditional finance infrastructure. Armed with memes, a roadmap, and a massive community, DOGE reached its all-time high of $0.7376 in May 2021 after billionaire Elon Musk tweeted his support for the project.

Between the launch of DOGE and its huge Musk-backed rally, the ERC-20 standard was introduced within the Ethereum ecosystem, making it easier than before to build tokens without depending on mining.

A notable example based on ERC-20 is Shiba Inu (SHIB).

SHIB was created in August 2020 but saw its biggest rally in October 2021 after reaching an all-time high of $0.00008845. As of this writing, the token is the 13th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. It follows closely in the footsteps of DOGE, as its most recognizable feature is the very same dog breed that made DOGE popular.

The popularity of DOGE and SHIB  in 2021 and 2022 saw a huge boost in memecoin issuance, many of which simply added “Inu” to their names to set them apart from non-memecoins. Many of them were still based on the ERC-20 standard, native to the Ethereum blockchain, but very soon, other blockchains would follow.

Currently, there are also memecoins on Solana: notable examples include dogwifhat (WIF), which is based on the meme of a puppy with a hat on, and Bonk (BONK), based on the meme of a dog being hit on the head with a bat.

In 2023, memecoins also made their memetastic way onto Bitcoin.

What Are Memecoins on Bitcoin?

The launch of the Ordinals Protocol in early 2023 enabled the introduction of the BRC-20 token standard, which allows for the minting and trading of fungible tokens on Bitcoin.

Acting as Bitcoin's de facto equivalent of Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard, BRC-20 enabled builders to mint tokens on Bitcoin - and that’s how Bitcoin memecoins were born.  

However, BRC-20 had its share of issues, most notably the creation of junk outputs. These were soon rectified by the Runes Protocol, which launched in April 2024. 

The first memecoin that launched using the Runes Protocol was DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (DOG), which was airdropped to Runestone Ordinals holders.

Led by Ordinals influencer Leonidas, DOG has emerged as the most popular Bitcoin memecoins and runes token in the market today. 

But there are dozens of other memecoins on Bitcoin, looking to bring more meme token fun to the world’s largest and most secure blockchain.

Top Bitcoin Runes Memecoins 

Although there are many Bitcoin-based Runes memecoins available, we’ll take a closer look at some of the biggest names.

DOG 

DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (DOG) was the first Rune memecoin and the third Rune to be created. 

The memecoin’s name and the dog mascot are ubiquitous symbols in the crypto memecoin space. Although the token is not directly affiliated with the Leonidas of Ordinals fame, it has previously claimed to be “deeply inspired” by him.

PUPS 

PUPS•WORLD•PEACE (PUPS) is another memecoin based on the Runes Protocol.

PUPS first launched on BRC-20 in 2023, and thanks to bridging, the team has managed to convert some of the tokens to runes. The memecoin is another early Rune — number 13, to be exact — and the team behind the memecoin also announced a bridge between Bitcoin and Solana, enabling people to bridge thier tokens to and from Bitcoin. 

Billycat 

For a short break from dogs, another interesting project on Runes is BILLION•DOLLAR•CAT (BDC). 

The name refers both to the cat mascot that inspired the memecoin and a shared hope that the market cap will reach a billion US dollars. BILLION•DOLLAR•CAT provides an interface for creating memes and profile pictures using their recognizable B-shaped cat (where the B is also a Bitcoin sign). 

Satoshi Nakamoto (Rune 6) 

Another early Rune (in this case, number 6) is simply called SATOSHI•NAKAMOTO, after Bitcoin’s anonymous founder. 

Although we cannot confirm the project's ownership of this X account, the social media page appears to have taken on that role and hints that its followers will 'discover many mysteries of Bitcoin and its creator.' For now, the project presents itself as a non-animal memecoin, drawing inspiration from one of the most widely known and influential names in the crypto industry.

Trade Bitcoin Memecoins Using Xverse

Trading Runes-based memecoins is incredibly easy using Xverse, thanks to its Runes Swap Aggregator, which offers you the best runes prices from a range of different marketplaces. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Download and set up Xverse. Fund the wallet with BTC using the in-app fiat onramp feature or by sending bitcoin from another wallet or exchange to your Xverse wallet.  

• Next, tap on the ‘Swap Option’ button.

• Choose the base currency that you will use for payments by tapping on the ‘From’ dropdown field and clicking on BTC as the cryptocurrency you are converting from.

• The next step is choosing the runes token you want to buy by pressing the field marked ‘To’ and selecting the right asset. If you cannot see it from the list, use the search function.

• Then, enter the amount and click on Get Quote to see your price options.

• Once you’ve seen the price quotes and chosen the best offer, be sure to preview your transaction. Lastly, confirm the transaction details by tapping the ‘Swap’ button.

And that’s it! 

That’s how you can easily buy Rune memecoins directly from your Xverse wallet.

Manage Your Bitcoin Memecoins With Xverse 

Managing Bitcoin memecoins is easy with Xverse, thanks to its support for BRC-20 and Runes and its integrated Bitcoin DEX that allows you to seamlessly swap tokens.  

Download the Xverse wallet to begin your Bitcoin memecoin journey.