The yr opened with a sitting president launching his personal token three days earlier than inauguration and closed with researchers proving that one of many yr's “comeback tales” was managed by a couple of dozen wallets.
Between these bookends, 2025 turned memecoins from area of interest absurdity into crypto's most seen, and most embarrassing, nook. A sovereign chief rugpulled his residents on Valentine's Day, an AI chatbot's fart jokes spawned a billion-dollar token, Dogecoin acquired two regulated ETFs, and the platform that minted 9.4 million tokens turned the yr's de facto on line casino.
What made these ten tokens iconic wasn't high quality or innovation, however their capability to crystallize every thing damaged concerning the meme commerce. Collectively they traced a story arc from political grift by means of AI-driven mania, movie star fiascos, institutional crossover, and late-cycle manipulation.
TRUMP and MELANIA rekindled PolitiFi
On Jan. 17, three days earlier than President Donald Trump's second inauguration, the TRUMP token launched on the Solana blockchain. One billion cash had been created, and Trump-linked corporations retained 800 million.
Two days later, MELANIA went stay, hitting $2 billion in market cap inside hours. Collectively, they created the template for “official” political memecoins and sparked ethics debates about whether or not a sitting president ought to monetize his place by means of crypto tokens.
TRUMP and MELANIA mattered as a result of they formalized political memecoins as a product class. These tokens had been endorsed by the principals themselves, with no pretense of utility, simply pure monetization of political model fairness.
US lawmakers questioned the battle of curiosity, however no enforcement materialized. The precedent stood: if you happen to management sufficient consideration, you may launch a token, hold many of the provide, and let the market determine legality.
As of Dec. 23, TRUMP and MELANIA are down by over 99% since their peaks.
LIBRA turns the commerce right into a sovereign scandal
On Feb. 14, Argentina's President Javier Milei posted the LIBRA contract handle and urged residents to purchase in. The token jumped from $0.000001 to roughly $5.20 in 40 minutes, and hit $4.6 billion in market cap.
Nevertheless, LIBRA crashed 85% inside hours as insiders dumped 70% of the provision. By Feb. 18, the press known as it “Cryptogate,” buyers filed prison complaints, and opposition events pushed for impeachment.
LIBRA mattered as a result of it proved PolitiFi may go catastrophically flawed on the state stage. Milei crossed the road with direct endorsement, creating the looks of official backing whereas insiders positioned to exit.
The crash destroyed wealth and handed Milei's opponents a scandal. It additionally killed memecoin danger urge for food for months. Regulators cited LIBRA as proof that movie star and political endorsements create unacceptable client hurt.
As of press time, LIBRA is 98.5% down from its peak.
FARTCOIN and the AI meme revival
FARTCOIN emerged in April as a Solana memecoin born from the Reality Terminal AI chatbot, combining fart jokes and web tradition. By June, exchanges known as it “the memecoin that took the crypto world by storm.”
FARTCOIN turned shorthand for 2025's AI-linked memecoin comeback.
The token mattered as a result of it demonstrated that an AI narrative may revive memecoin mania after the LIBRA lull. It had no utility past “an AI made fart jokes, so we made a token.” That was sufficient. Reality Terminal's autonomy gave speculators a narrative that felt novel.
The truth that the content material was juvenile didn't undermine the commerce, as memecoins had been about consideration arbitrage, and an AI bot spamming fart jokes generated consideration at scale.
Put up-FARTCOIN, each AI-linked undertaking emphasised its chatbot, even when the AI part was faux. Most collapsed inside weeks, however FARTCOIN survived, probably as a result of it was first and absurd sufficient to develop into self-referential.
As of press time, FARTCOIN is down by 89.6% since its peak.
PUMP, the on line casino chip
By early June, Pump.enjoyable was getting ready a PUMP token sale that might increase about $1 billion. On July 12, the platform launched PUMP by way of ICO, positioning it because the native token of Solana's largest meme launchpad.
By way of the second half of the yr, PUMP traded as a meta-meme: not a joke a few canine or president, however a guess on the “on line casino” itself, at the same time as some described Pump.enjoyable as a Ponzi-like spectacle of livestreamed pump-and-dumps.
PUMP mattered as a result of it financialized the infrastructure of memecoin creation. Proudly owning PUMP wasn't a guess on any particular person token, however a guess on the platform's capability to maintain spinning up tokens, attracting quantity, and extracting charges.
The ICO raised large capital whereas the platform confronted authorized strain, with a class-action lawsuit accusing Pump.enjoyable of enabling systematic fraud.
PUMP turned criticism right into a buying and selling alternative: for buyers who believed the platform would hold working regardless of controversy, shopping for PUMP was the transfer.
The token ICO additionally uncovered structural irony. Pump.enjoyable had democratized token launches to absurdity, as anybody may create a coin in minutes with no vetting.
PUMP, against this, was a gated ICO that raised 9 figures. The platform that lets tens of millions launch tokens with out permission required accredited consumers for its personal providing.
PUMP holders had been betting they'd be nearer to the home than the gamblers, which is the one rational guess in a rigged on line casino. As of Dec. 23, it isn’t going effectively, as PUMP trades 57% under its ICO worth and almost 81% since its peak.
YZY exhibits how dangerous movie star drops can go
On Aug. 21, Kanye West launched YZY on Solana with “A NEW ECONOMY, BUILT ON CHAIN” branding. The token's market cap spiked above $2 billion, then crashed greater than 60% inside hours.
Blockchain analytics flagged suspicious buying and selling patterns and certain insider exercise. YZY turned the defining 2025 movie star token fiasco: a giant title, an bold pitch, a launch grand for insiders and brutal for followers.
YZY mixed most movie star wattage with most extraction. The “new financial system” pitch prompt one thing larger, maybe a token tied to Yeezy merchandise or music rights. As an alternative, the launch delivered an ordinary Solana token with no utility, no lock-ups, and no mechanism to forestall coordinated dumping.
Early wallets, probably linked to the launch crew, offered into retail demand inside hours. Followers who purchased on the peak misplaced as much as 70% of their funding instantly. The collapse hardened sentiment in opposition to movie star tokens throughout the board.
Exchanges began delisting movie star tokens extra aggressively. The narrative shifted from “celebrities are bringing adoption” to “celebrities are utilizing their followers as exit liquidity.”
YZY proved that fame plus blockchain doesn't equal legitimacy. It simply means an even bigger viewers to use.
Since its peak, the token is down by 87.6%.
DOGE crosses into ETF land
On Sept. 18, REX-Osprey's DOJE launched as the primary US ETF devoted to Dogecoin. By late November, Grayscale's GDOG spot Dogecoin ETF was listed on NYSE Arca.
DOGE represented the ETF push: the unique joke coin was now out there by means of a number of regulated funds, and memecoins had formally joined the ETF period that started with Bitcoin and Ethereum.
DOGE's ETF crossover legitimized the memecoin class in ways in which undermined its personal premise. Dogecoin began as a parody, utilizing a well-liked meme on the time.
Two ETFs on main US exchanges meant institutional buyers and retirement accounts may now allocate to it by means of acquainted wrappers with regulatory oversight.
That was both final validation, which means memecoins are actual belongings now, or final absurdity represented by a joke token has been financialized.
The ETFs additionally created a valuation ground. Earlier than the ETF, Dogecoin's worth relied on retail sentiment and Elon Musk's tweets. Put up-ETF, the token had structural bid from funds holding the underlying asset.
It set a precedent: if Dogecoin may get ETFs, different high-volume memecoins would possibly comply with. The road between “severe crypto” and “meme rubbish” had already blurred.
4 and the BNB Chain meme season
In early October, BNB Chain-based launchpad 4.meme briefly surpassed Solana's Pump.enjoyable in every day protocol charges and token creation.
Days later, Binance highlighted the token 4 as “the principle image of the meme season on BNB Chain,” noting whales had been accumulating as its market cap approached $200 million.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao's long-running “4” in-joke crystallized right into a ticker capturing a whole mini-cycle on a non-Solana chain.
4 proved the meme commerce wasn't Solana-exclusive, at the least for a couple of days. All through 2025, Solana had dominated memecoin quantity. 4.meme and the 4 token confirmed BNB Chain may host its personal ecosystem with comparable velocity.
Turning an inside joke from crypto's most influential entrepreneur right into a tradable token was one of many peak moments of 2025 for memecoins.
The BNB meme season additionally highlighted how chain-specific these cycles had develop into. Every ecosystem developed its personal launchpads, influencers, and narrative cycles.
4's rise meant memecoins had been not a single commerce however a multi-chain phenomenon, with every chain competing for consideration and costs. The token's drawdown since its peak is 92.8%.
MOTHER retains movie star tokens alive
On Nov. 5, studies confirmed Iggy Azalea had joined Thrust, a brand new Solana-based movie star token launchpad, as artistic director, with plans emigrate her MOTHER memecoin to the platform.
Thrust marketed itself as an effort to make movie star tokens much less predatory by introducing clearer authorized phrases and good contract controls.
MOTHER was not successful story, however a masterclass in failing ahead. Launched in 2024, it adopted the identical boom-and-bust sample as different movie star cash, leaving loads of late consumers holding heavy luggage as liquidity thinned and costs cratered.
What makes it stand out in 2025 isn't that it handled buyers higher, because it didn't, however that Azalea managed to spin the entire episode right into a branding asset.
She stored selling the token at the same time as holders went underwater, then parlayed that notoriety right into a creative-director position at Thrust, positioning herself because the “skilled face” of movie star cash. It's nonetheless a basic movie star memecoin story with pump, dump, and bagholders.
The quirky twist is how successfully the artist leveraged a controversial token to advance her personal profession, whereas the individuals who purchased MOTHER remained caught with their losses.
MOTHER proved you may rug your followers and switch it right into a resume line.
PIPPIN because the final large “rigged” meme
In early December, analysis confirmed PIPPIN had roared again after an enormous 2024 crash, with recent inflows and aggressive social campaigns.
By mid-December, analyses confirmed PIPPIN up roughly 400% for 2025, whereas on-chain information prompt a couple of dozen wallets managed near half the provision, implying coordinated market manipulation.
PIPPIN arrived at year-end because the archetypal late-cycle, closely gamed memecoin. The 2025 revival seemed natural: social engagement spiked, new wallets appeared, buying and selling quantity surged.
Nevertheless, on-chain forensics revealed the reality: a small group coordinated the comeback, gathered provide at depressed costs, and marketed the token as a real resurgence to lure new consumers.
By the point the manipulation turned public, the coordinating wallets had already begun to exit. PIPPIN turned shorthand for “if it appears to be like too good in memecoins, examine the pockets distribution.”
The token captured a year-end realization: essentially the most profitable memecoins of 2025 weren't those with one of the best memes, however the ones with the best-coordinated manipulation.
GIven the current episode of worth manipulation, PIPPIN is down by simply 12% since its peak.
What the ten tokens proved
These ten tokens traced memecoin evolution from political controversy by means of AI mania, movie star fiascos, institutional crossover, and late-cycle manipulation.
TRUMP and MELANIA confirmed political figures may monetize manufacturers immediately by means of tokens with no authorized penalties. LIBRA confirmed sovereign endorsement may flip a memecoin right into a nationwide scandal.
FARTCOIN confirmed that an AI narrative may revive hypothesis after crashes, and PUMP confirmed that the platform layer may financialize the on line casino itself.
YZY confirmed movie star tokens may destroy wealth at scale with no accountability, whereas DOGE confirmed even joke tokens may cross into regulated ETF merchandise.
4 confirmed memecoins had been now multi-chain infrastructure performs, and MOTHER confirmed some celebrities had been making an attempt to construct one thing much less predatory.
PIPPIN confirmed the neatest operators weren't the loudest, however the ones quietly coordinating provide.
What 2025 settled is that memecoins aren't going away. They generate an excessive amount of quantity, too many charges, and an excessive amount of consideration for platforms to desert them. They've crossed into regulated merchandise, state-level politics, and multi-billion-dollar market caps.
What 2025 left unresolved: whether or not memecoins can exist with out structural extraction, whether or not movie star and political tokens can keep away from changing into scams, and whether or not the sector's reputational injury will set off a regulatory crackdown.
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