Because of the recent fury between SHIB and DOGE, other meme coins have gained traction

October was an eventful month for cryptocurrency investors. First, the bitcoin price reached an all-time high by touching US$67,000 after which ethereum followed suit. To everybody's surprise, Shiba Inu rose to record growth and stunned the cryptocurrency sphere. However, after SHIB took over Dogecoin's ninth position in the market, DOGE investors geared up their game and tried their best to retain the memecoin's crown. Owing to the spite over meme coins' domination, without much noise, they have got far better than many major cryptocurrencies.

But what are meme coins and why are they making headlines recently? Memecoins are digital tokens inspired by popular social media jokes, sarcasm, puns, and memes. According to Coinmarketcap, there are over 130 memecoins in circulation today. Unlike major cryptocurrencies that are created with a purpose, memecoins don't have a goal and specific reason. While mainstream digital tokens are born to enhance blockchain technology, promote decentralization, and shield transactions from manipulation, memecoins like dogecoin and Shiba Inu just exist to entertain investors. Comparatively, memecoins are way too volatile than the actual cryptocurrencies as they lead to sudden growth and fall in a short period of time. Since mainstream virtual tokens have had the upper hand for a long time, we failed to notice the growth of memecoins on the sideline. In 2021, the joke-theme cryptocurrencies have performed far beyond anybody's anticipation and are at the brink of outperforming major cryptocurrencies.

How did this happen?

Although dogecoin is the first and foremost currency to emerge from the memecoin circle, the recent wave of its uprise is highly contributed to Shiba Inu. However, dogecoin is the first memecoin to bring the joke-themed concept to light. Incepted in 2013, dogecoin is the revolutionary coin that brought memecoins to dominance among mainstream crypto investors. However, DOGE didn't gain traction right away after it was launched. It stayed in the shadow for over seven years before getting the attention it deserved in 2020.

The inclusion of Dogecoin in sports and acceptance in AMC theaters have attracted more investors to try their hand on the memecoin. Besides, big names like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban are also major supporters of the Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency. Owing to all these improvements, dogecoin's adoption has drastically surged since 2020. Today, some countries own more dogecoin than bitcoin or ethereum. A recent report conducted across 22 countries has found that DOGE's adoption rate in the US surpasses that of other mainstream cryptocurrencies. Over 30.6% of the total people who participated in the survey have answered that they own dogecoin. This shows how much the meme-currency has come into usage over a short span.

But this is not what triggered the recent memecoin wave. Although dogecoin has contributed to the growth, Shiba Inu gained a whopping 800% last month, which put other memecoins under the spotlight. Usually, whenever Elon posts a picture of his Shiba Inu puppy, it is dogecoin that goes crazy. But to everybody's surprise, his recent tweet triggered SHIB's price in October beginning. However, nobody realized that it indicated a major upcoming price surge. After getting 300,000 signatures in a petition to add SHIB in Robinhood and its announcement of NFTs, Shiba Inu's price skyrocketed like never before and broke many records. At a certain point, SHIB overtook dogecoin and became the top memecoin in the list. Shiba Inu and Dogecoin had a tough fight over dominance, which eventually triggered the price of other memecoins as well.

Memecoins With the Potential to Grow

MonaCoin: Based on an open-source peer-to-peer payment network, MonaCoin is the most appealing memecoin after DOGE and SHIB. During the 2017 crypto bubble, MONA reached US$17 but fell back to its previous price later. However, if it ever gets to raise to the same value again, investors will get their hand on over 1000% profit.

Tiger King: Created after reality TV of the same name, Tiger King was endorsed by the show's star, Joe Exotic, which generated widespread adoption. Although it didn't get much traction otherwise so far, many see it as the next SHIB.

SafeMoon: SafeMoon is yet another memecoin that has failed to live up to its promises. Initially, the token was gaining much traction when investors realized the deal was good. However, the price started falling once they realized the promises were not completely fulfilled.

Why Memecoins have the Potential to Take Over Mainstream Cryptos?

To begin with, everything starting from investors to the model of investment is different for memecoins and major cryptocurrencies. Yes, while people see bitcoin and ethereum as investment sources, DOGE and SHIB are worshipped on the other hand. Memecoins have an honest set of followers who are willing to do anything to keep up their race. For example, the GameStop movement in 2020 and Robinhood petition in 2021 are proof of that. Therefore, memecoins have all the power it needs to overtake mainstream cryptos.