Memecoins like Fartcoin are riding Trump’s victory to huge valuations. Experts say it may have only begun.
The carnival-casino era of cryptocurrencies has come back with a vengeance.
Yes, it’s called Fartcoin. Yes, it is totally useless.
And yes, it has nevertheless tripled in value over the past week to a market capitalization of more than $700 million — about equal to those of Office Depot, Guess jeanswear, and the parent company of Steak N’ Shake.
The carnival-casino era of cryptocurrencies has come back with a vengeance, riding a broader wave of investment in bitcoin that was itself spurred by the election of Donald Trump. It’s minting millionaires while potentially harming others — yet everyone, even the losers, seem to be in on the joke.
The wave of “memecoiners” is a mix of longtime bitcoin holders and people simply desperate to change their fortunes in an era of sky-priced homes and equities, according to Toe Bautista, research analyst for GSR, a decentralized finance group. While many memecoin traders, flush from gains thanks to bitcoin’s 130% increase this year — 50% of which has come since Trump’s election last month — are simply “moving down the risk curve” into areas of pure speculation, Bautista said. Others see the potential of making 10 times their money overnight.