Silliest memecoins of 2024: Farts, felines and a famous dead squirrel

Memecoins have become a huge part of the crypto culture, and Cointelegraph’s pick of the silliest tokens this year all used viral moments as a launchpad.
Josh O'Sullivan
Posted by Josh O'Sullivan December 31, 2024 3 Mins Read
Memecoins have become a huge part of the crypto culture, and Cointelegraph’s pick of the silliest tokens this year all used viral moments as a launchpad.

Memecoins have become a ubiquitous part of crypto culture and saw a massive year in 2024, with the tokens now amassing a total market capitalization above $60 billion, rising from around $23 billion at the start of the year.

Platforms like Pump.fun on Solana have made memecoin creation easier than ever, and making tokens about short-lived viral moments has become a crypto norm.

Many celebrities and high-profile figures have launched tokens this year, too — but here, Cointelegraph is re-running some of the silliest memecoins of 2024.

Fartcoin, not that type of blockchain gas

Fartcoin (FART) was a 2024 latecomer and hit the scene in October. It’s quite literally just a token about a fart joke with zero utility, but that didn’t stop crypto punters from running up its value to over $1 billion to hit a peak of $1.31 billion in mid-December.

Its market cap has fallen to around $860 million, but it’s still the biggest token on Pump.fun, the platform where it first launched.

New Year's Special, Memecoin

Source: Fartcoin

The fart-based coin was given a little extra wind of meme-mentum when it was given a shoutout from Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS.

Fartcoin became the latest example of how absurdity sells in the memecoin space.

Woman Yelling at Cat

The longtime viral meme juxtaposing two images to make it appear that a woman is pointing, screaming and crying at a confused cat also became a memecoin this year, imaginatively called Woman Yelling At Cat (WYAC).

The token was launched in June by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong — the woman in the meme, not the cat — which almost puts the token in the realm of celebrity memecoins.

According to CoinGecko, on Oct. 21, WYAC reached a peak value of just over $52 million but has since crumbled to below $4 million at the time of writing.

WYAC touched over $52 million on Oct. 21 but has now tanked. Source: CoinGecko

The picture of Armstrong comes from a Real Housewives episode where she is confronting another cast member over rumors about her former husband, who committed suicide amid abuse allegations.

Armstrong seemingly now uses the meme and the token to raise awareness for domestic violence programs.

Peanut, a squirrel eternal

Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) is a token dedicated to a squirrel of the same name that was euthanized by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) on Nov. 1 to test it for rabies after it bit an official involved in an investigation.

The squirrel was wild but had been in the care of amateur porn creator Mark Longo since 2017 — which is illegal in New York — and amassed a following on social media.

The online outcry began after Peanut was seized in October and was euthanized days later to test for rabies after biting an NYSDEC official. There is no way to test for rabies on a live animal.

Related: AI memecoins will become utility tokens

PNUT launched on Nov. 1 and hit its peak market cap of $2.27 billion on Nov. 14. It has since seen a collapse, slipping below $650 million.

PNUT reached a peak value of $2.27 billion on Nov. 14. Source: CoinGecko 

Memecoins prove that in the chaotic memecoin side of crypto, sheer absurdity can be a driving force in the market — whether the source is farts or viral animals.

Fartcoin, WYAC and PNUT are also examples of how internet culture is crossing with financial markets to produce lucrative consequences for the few lucky enough to time it right.

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