The memecoin hall of shame: 10 tokens that defined 2025 wildest trades
The 12 months opened with a sitting president launching his personal token three days earlier than inauguration and closed with researchers proving that one of the 12 months’s “comeback tales” was managed by a number 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 bought two regulated ETFs, and the platform that minted 9.4 million tokens turned the 12 months’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 in regards to the meme commerce. Together they traced a story arc from political grift via 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 have been created, and Trump-linked corporations retained 800 million.
Two days later, MELANIA went reside, hitting $2 billion in market cap inside hours. Together, they created the template for “official” political memecoins and sparked ethics debates about whether or not a sitting president ought to monetize his place via crypto tokens.
TRUMP and MELANIA mattered as a result of they formalized political memecoins as a product class. These tokens have 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: when you management sufficient consideration, you possibly can launch a token, hold most of the availability, 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 tackle 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.
However, (*10*) as insiders dumped 70% of the availability. By Feb. 18, the press referred to as it “Cryptogate,” buyers filed legal complaints, and opposition events pushed for impeachment.
LIBRA mattered as a result of it proved PolitiFi might 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 shopper 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 Truth Terminal AI chatbot, combining fart jokes and web tradition. By June, exchanges referred to 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 might 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. Truth Terminal’s autonomy gave speculators a narrative that felt novel.
The reality that the content material was juvenile did not undermine the commerce, as memecoins have been about consideration arbitrage, and an AI bot spamming fart jokes generated consideration at scale.
Post-FARTCOIN, each AI-linked undertaking emphasised its chatbot, even when the AI part was pretend. Most collapsed inside weeks, however FARTCOIN survived, doubtless as a result of it was first and absurd sufficient to turn 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.fun was making 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.
Through the second half of the 12 months, PUMP traded as a meta-meme: not a joke a few canine or president, however a wager on the “on line casino” itself, whilst 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. Owning PUMP wasn’t a wager on any particular person token, however a wager on the platform’s means to maintain spinning up tokens, attracting quantity, and extracting charges.
The ICO raised huge 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 might create a coin in minutes with no vetting.
PUMP, against this, was a gated ICO that raised 9 figures. The platform that lets hundreds of thousands launch tokens with out permission required accredited patrons for its personal providing.
PUMP holders have been betting they’d be nearer to the home than the gamblers, which is the one rational wager in a rigged on line casino. As of Dec. 23, it’s not going properly, as PUMP trades 57% beneath its ICO worth and almost 81% since its peak.
YZY reveals 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 likely insider activity. 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 economic system” pitch instructed one thing larger, maybe a token tied to Yeezy merchandise or music rights. Instead, the launch delivered an ordinary Solana token with no utility, no lock-ups, and no mechanism to forestall coordinated dumping.
Early wallets, doubtless linked to the launch workforce, bought into retail demand inside hours. Fans 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 does not equal legitimacy. It simply means an even bigger viewers to take advantage of.
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 obtainable via 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 methods that 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 might now allocate to it via acquainted wrappers with regulatory oversight.
That was both final validation, which means memecoins are actual property now, or final absurdity represented by a joke token has been financialized.
The ETFs additionally created a valuation flooring. Before the ETF, Dogecoin’s worth relied on retail sentiment and Elon Musk’s tweets. Post-ETF, the token had structural bid from funds holding the underlying asset.
It set a precedent: if Dogecoin might get ETFs, different high-volume memecoins would possibly observe. The line between “critical crypto” and “meme rubbish” had already blurred.
4 and the BNB Chain meme season
In early October, BNB Chain-based launchpad Four.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 have 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 very least for a number of days. Throughout 2025, Solana had dominated memecoin quantity. Four.meme and the 4 token confirmed BNB Chain might 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 the height moments of 2025 for memecoins.
The BNB meme season additionally highlighted how chain-specific these cycles had turn into. Each ecosystem developed its personal launchpads, influencers, and narrative cycles.
4’s rise meant memecoins have 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 sensible contract controls.
MOTHER was not a hit story, however a masterclass in failing ahead. Launched in 2024, it adopted the identical boom-and-bust sample as different movie star cash, leaving a lot of late patrons holding heavy luggage as liquidity thinned and costs cratered.
What makes it stand out in 2025 is not that it handled buyers higher, because it did not, however that Azalea managed to spin the entire episode right into a branding asset.
She stored selling the token whilst 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 traditional 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 possibly can 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 knowledge suggested a few dozen wallets managed near half the availability, 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.
However, on-chain forensics revealed the reality: a small group coordinated the comeback, accrued provide at depressed costs, and marketed the token as a real resurgence to lure new patrons.
By the time the manipulation turned public, the coordinating wallets had already begun to exit. PIPPIN turned shorthand for “if it seems too good in memecoins, verify the pockets distribution.”
The token captured a year-end realization: essentially the most profitable memecoins of 2025 weren’t those with the very best memes, however the ones with the best-coordinated manipulation.
GIven the latest 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 via AI mania, movie star fiascos, institutional crossover, and late-cycle manipulation.
TRUMP and MELANIA confirmed political figures might monetize manufacturers instantly via tokens with no authorized penalties. LIBRA confirmed sovereign endorsement might flip a memecoin right into a nationwide scandal.
FARTCOIN confirmed that an AI narrative might revive hypothesis after crashes, and PUMP confirmed that the platform layer might financialize the on line casino itself.
YZY confirmed movie star tokens might destroy wealth at scale with no accountability, whereas DOGE confirmed even joke tokens might cross into regulated ETF merchandise.
4 confirmed memecoins have been now multi-chain infrastructure performs, and MOTHER confirmed some celebrities have 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 harm will set off a regulatory crackdown.
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