Meme Coin Mania: What's Going On and What Are the Risks?

To the disinterested onlooker, the crypto winter may look like it’s over, as a particular frog-themed coin ascends to dizzying heights and the familiar aroma of FOMO permeates Crypto Twitter. But what’s really going on here?
Tokens like Pepe, Wojack, and WSB are the latest sensation among degens, a crypto-specific term for traders with an insatiable appetite for risk, willing to bet big on obscure tokens that have had little time to cultivate a reputation.

Cryptocurrencies are often billed as part of a permissionless ecosystem, where blockchains are open and anyone can create a token. And as a result, one could say that passing judgment on whether or not a coin is dangerous for investors goes against the ideals of Web3.

There may be a new meme coin every minute, but meme coins as a category aren't new. Launched in 2013 as a joke, Dogecoin was one of the first notable examples, and it has since achieved a market cap of nearly $11 billion, as of this writing, according to CoinGecko.
Its success has opened the door to a cadre of canine-themed coins, whether that’s tokens like Shiba Inu or, more recently, Bonk. And though Pepe is an amphibious phenomenon, it shares similar characteristics with other meme coins.

The sense of hype surrounding Pepe is undeniable.