The Wild World of Memecoins, Where Dog-Themed Digital Currencies Can Make — and Lose — Fortunes

In the first six months of the year, nearly 1.7 million new coins entered circulation, compared with 264,000 over the same period in 2023, according to Dune Analytics, a crypto data tracker.

A 26-year-old day trader in Austin, Texas, made a profit of more than $100,000 by trading a digital currency created in honor of a dog named Billy.

The dog was cute, he thought, but more importantly, its name evoked something every crypto trader covets — billionaire status.

“I started hearing people say ‘Billy’ to a billy,” Mr. Bailey said. “Kind of has that ring to it.”

Mr. Bailey bought about $900 of $BILLY on Pump.fun, a leading vendor for memecoins, volatile cryptocurrencies based on the fluctuating popularity of internet memes.

When he sold his $BILLY holdings a few days later, he made a profit of more than $100,000.

The recent revival of the crypto market has fueled a surge in memecoins, one of the industry’s frothiest, most scam-ridden segments.

In the first six months of the year, nearly 1.7 million new coins entered circulation, compared with 264,000 over the same period in 2023, according to Dune Analytics, a crypto data tracker.

Many of the tokens have names like Bread (yes, the meme is a loaf of bread) or Baby Trump (the former president in a diaper). One of the most popular memecoins is based on Pepe the Frog, an alt-right mascot that is sometimes used as a hate symbol.

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