Hankyung News Test

The Two Faces of Meme Coins

(Part 2) Emerging as a New Fraud Tool

Tens of Thousands of Meme Coins Flooding Daily... "97% Turn into Worthless Paper"

Global Market Cap of 15.3 Trillion Won '442% Surge'

Last Year's Trading Volume Increased 13 Times in a Year

Fake Versions Mimicking 'Official Trump' Appear

'Memes' Issued by Celebrities and Influencers

Plummet in Minutes, Leading to Fraud Investigations

User Protection Measures in Korea

'Regulatory Guidelines' Discussions Intensify

1. On the 18th, U.S. President Donald Trump issued his meme coin 'Official Trump'. Two days later, First Lady Melania Trump also released 'Official Melania Meme'. In just a few days, 61 fake meme coins mimicking the Trumps' meme coins appeared.

2. Last year, a developer who evoked sympathy by claiming to have "no arms" introduced the HANDS meme coin. This coin quickly attracted massive investment, reaching a market cap of $550,000 at one point. The developer's claims were false, and after selling his share of the meme coins for profit, the coin's price plummeted. The losses were borne entirely by the investors.

Meme coins, which are sucking funds from the cryptocurrency market, have emerged as a new fraud tool. They cleverly exploit human speculative psychology aiming for a big hit. There is analysis that 97% of meme coins that have appeared in the real world have turned into worthless paper.

○ Encouraging Speculative Psychology

According to CoinMarketCap on the 23rd, the market cap of meme coins listed on global cryptocurrency exchanges was tallied at 152.58 trillion won as of 9 a.m. that day. Compared to January 24 last year (28.13 trillion won), the market cap increased by 442.4% in one year. During the same period, the global meme coin trading volume (24-hour basis) swelled from 2 trillion won to 27 trillion won.

Meme coins listed on cryptocurrency exchanges have at least passed listing criteria such as public support at each exchange. However, according to Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, as of November last year, 97% of issued meme coins showed a trading volume of '0'. Since meme coins can be issued with just an idea, tens of thousands are created daily. At the meme coin creation platform PumpFun, about 50,000 meme coins are generated in 24 hours.