It’s already been years that memes have become embedded in the crypto culture. Before the PEPE coin, it seemed that things would stay as they were forever but it still managed to shift the paradigm and shake things up. Reflected in its spectacular price action, this phenomenon now has traders asking: which are the next meme coins that will explode and carry 2025?
Key Takeaways
- PEPE established the current meme coin playbook: pure speculative energy fueled by memetic value to generate returns that traditional investments can only dream of. Zero utility is now a feature, while the meme potential is now a more valuable “fundamental”.
- Contenders for the next meme coin to explode are spread across different blockchains, with political tokens like TRUMP leveraging news cycles, Base-native projects like doginme and BRETT building on Coinbase’s infrastructure advantages, and tokens like SPX6900 and FARTCOIN representing pure meme energy approaches. Each takes a different path to capturing viral attention and community adoption.
- Low-cap gems are so sought after because of the highest risk-reward opportunities in crypto and often rank among the best new crypto coins for potential returns. The reality is that 99% of new meme crypto projects eventually go to zero, but the 1% that achieve viral status can turn modest investments into generational wealth.
What Made PEPE So Noteworthy?
While we were trying to see who would emerge victorious from the BONK vs Shiba Inu battle, a new contender, none at all related to dogs, made it onto the scene and stole the show. PEPE didn’t only succeed but rewrote the rulebook for meme coins in 2024.
In a matter of weeks, Pepe’s early holders (most likely, insiders) witnessed gains exceeding 1,200%, transforming a few hundred dollars into life-changing sums. PEPE’s triumph wasn’t accidental, though; it was the perfect storm of factors that savvy meme coin hunters can learn to identify.
For one, the nostalgic meme appeal proved crucial. Pepe the Frog was more than an internet joke—it was a cultural icon that transcended crypto like Doge once was, carrying genuine emotional weight for an entire generation of internet users. This gave PEPE something many even relatively successful meme coins lack: instant recognition and inherent shareability.
More critically, PEPE utterly embraced the “no utility” philosophy. Its predecessors desperately tried to justify their existence with roadmaps and use cases, whoever was behind PEPE made it clear: this was pure speculation, community-driven, and proud of it. It could be that this honesty resonated with traders tired of broken promises and failed utility tokens.
Admittedly, the exchange listing momentum it had cannot be overstated. Once PEPE secured listings on major platforms like Binance and Coinbase, it gained access to millions of retail traders who had been watching from the sidelines. Each new listing created fresh buying pressure and legitimized the project in the eyes of more cautious investors.
Perhaps most importantly, PEPE benefited from perfect timing on top of the convergence of these factors. Having launched during a broader meme coin renaissance, it rode the wave of renewed interest in speculative plays while offering something fresh in an oversaturated market.
As a result, understanding narrative drivers is crucial for identifying meme coins to watch in the current market. Whether it’s taking advantage of a political opportunity, absurdity and irony, or nostalgic internet culture, the most successful tokens tap into moments that resonate beyond crypto communities.
Top Contenders for the Next PEPE in 2025
Forget about top meme coins by market cap. In this list, we compiled some lesser known trending meme coins with growth potential. These six projects are our picks for the best meme crypto to buy now for traders seeking the next lucrative opportunity. Our methodology included not only review of fundamentals and legitimacy but also, the staying power of the memes.
OFFICIAL TRUMP ($TRUMP)
Political meme coins and even Trump-themed crypto tokens are nothing new. However, before the 2024 US election, they were not universally popular. The second Donald J. Trump’s electoral victory has changed that, as the crypto world has felt that they won, too. One of the first things the President-Elect did was announce the launch of an official crypto token to commemorate himself as a political figure.
His wife Melania’s token, also official and made by the same team, did not find that much of a resounding success for a reason. TRUMP’s political hype advantage is undeniable.
However, this political connection is also TRUMP’s greatest risk. The token’s price action remains highly dependent on real-world events, making it nearly impossible to exact successful timing. Not to mention, the project has already attracted bipartisan scrutiny and at some point, the US President nearly dismissed any connection to it, changing the tune and the whole value proposition of this meme coin.
For traders considering TRUMP as a meme coin to buy now, the strategy is clear: small positions, tight stop-losses, and constant attention to political developments. This clearly isn’t a buy-and-hold play but a momentum trade that requires active management. That being said, as it stands right now, TRUMP is the closest to replicating the “next PEPE” potential.
SPX6900 ($SPX)
What is the next meme coin to blow up? Born from the intersection of traditional finance mockery and crypto degeneracy, this token embodies the ironic sophistication that defines modern meme culture. More recently, it has amassed a considerable market cap, shooting straight into the top of meme tokens.
The narrative behind SPX6900 appeals to a specific subset of crypto traders who appreciate the meta-humor of creating a meme coin that openly mocks traditional market indices while simultaneously trying to outperform them. This self-aware absurdity has cultivated a dedicated community that treats price action as performance art.
The risk profile of it currently is relatively moderate — not as volatile as political tokens, but SPX6900 lacks the broad appeal of character-based memes, potentially limiting its upside compared to more universally recognizable alternatives.
FARTCOIN
The crypto community is no stranger to self-directed irony. Buttcoin is one of the more known examples, clearly referencing Bitcoin, but there are also examples of coins being named after literally anything — with the “-coin” suffix, of course.
With zero pretense of legitimacy or utility, Fartcoin token succeeds purely on the strength of its meme potential and the community’s willingness to embrace complete silliness. The pure meme energy approach has historical precedent—early Dogecoin achieved legendary status despite (or perhaps because of) its complete lack of serious purpose. FARTCOIN follows this playbook, betting that humor alone can drive adoption and price appreciation. After all, PEPE has already demostrated it can work.
The obvious risk is sustainability. The staying power of FARTCOIN might be better than any random meme of the day but it lacks in virality, too. FARTCOIN has the potential achieve spectacular short-term gains during meme coin rallies, it lacks the cultural staying power of more established memes. Traders should approach this as a potential quick flip rather than a long-term hold.
doginme ($DOGINME)
If you asked the Base L2 chain if it has dog coins, it might answer that it has that doginme. Jokes aside, this is a reference to a colloquial phrase ‘having that dog in (one)’, loosely defined as being cool, spiritually bold, or dedicated. Definitely not the worst image to build a community around, right?
Doginme’s Base chain infrastructure advantage cannot be understated. The chain’s low fees, fast transaction times, and even the Coinbase connection make it ideal for the high-frequency trading vital in the meme coin markets. Additionally, Base’s percevied proximity to traditional finance through Coinbase provides unique legitimacy and maybe even potential exposure.
Sure, DOGINME is not even the largest meme coin on Base. Its low market cap positioning offers significant upside potential if it achieves even a fraction of other successful dog-themed tokens’ success. The token has been building organic buzz across Telegram and Twitter, with growing engagement metrics suggesting genuine community interest rather than artificial pump attempts.
The primary catalyst to monitor is potential exchange listings. Base chain meme coins have inherent advantages for Coinbase listing consideration due to their proximity, and any announcement regarding tier-1 listings could trigger significant price appreciation.
Wojak ($WOJAK)
If we believe Pepe got as popular as it did thanks to its meme mascot, then the Wojak meme coin is the closest to being the next in line. Like Pepe, it exhibits formidable versatility and rather than a standalone image, refers to a whole genre of memetic cartoons.
Wojaks are something that extends beyond crypto communities, promising the staying power on par with the Internet-famous frog. While other tokens rely on humor or political commentary, Wojak can be viewed as tapping into the shared experience of crypto market volatility itself.
The token remains a dark horse candidate precisely because it’s still on the lower end of meme coins worth your time by market capitalization. It has experienced some pumps ranging from 90% to 210%, which is decent but meager by the meme coin standards. Either the token’s time has still not come or things won’t change and it will never emerge as a winner in the race to steal Pepe coin’s thunder.
$BRETT
Unlike Wojak Coin, this token is actively trying to fill Pepe’s shoes. After all, would you choose a Boys Club character, a literal Pepe’s friend, as a mascot if you didn’t?
By now, BRETT has emerged as Base chain’s unofficial mascot due to being the most prominent Base-native meme coin. Riding the wave of Coinbase’s layer-2 expansion and the exchange’s push into meme coin markets, Brett gained traction on Base, benefitting from first-mover advantage and implicit Coinbase association.
While Brett’s Coinbase listing, or any tier-1 listing for that matter, is not guaranteed, the token’s Base nativity and growing community make it a logical candidate, which would provide massive exposure to retail investors.
How to Spot the Next 100x Meme Coin?
Meme coin explosions are a lot like real explosions: sometimes, they happen accidentally, and sometimes, there are signs. We can’t tell you how to 100% reliably look into the future events or what is the absolute best meme coin to buy right now but we can give a few tips on how to spot these signs.
In the current meta, as the gamers say, meme quality is the foundation of any successful meme coin evaluation. The underlying meme must be instantly recognizable, easily shareable, and carry emotional resonance beyond specific crypto communities. Pepe, Doge, and Wojak succeed because they represent universal experiences that transcend specific communities or timeframes. Even doginme, which allegedly originated after an interaction on Farcaster, can still be recognized far beyond these circles.
Community buzz seems like a good sign but needs looking beyond surface-level metrics to identify genuine organic engagement. Real communities discuss price action, create original content, and maintain activity during market downturns. As opposed to artificial communities, which focus exclusively on price pumping and disappear during corrections.
An even more obvious sign is potential and upcoming exchange listing momentum. Tokens that secure listings on major exchanges gain access to larger user bases and trading volumes. To catch these before they happen, monitor announcement patterns and listing criteria to anticipate which tokens might be next.
As is often the case not only for meme tokens, the market capitalization positioning determines potential upside but also risk levels. Lower market caps offer higher potential returns but come with increased volatility and failure rates. The sweet spot often lies in tokens with enough liquidity to support trading but small enough caps for the turbo appreciation sought in meme coins.
Arguably, chain narratives increasingly matter as different blockchains develop distinct meme coin cultures. A year ago, Pump.fun caused a revolution in meme trading on Solana and Base has since proven that its native memes are a force to be reckoned with. Understanding these dynamics helps predict which tokens have natural advantages.
Risks of Meme Coin Investing
We’d hope that if you are looking into meme coin trading and are familiar with PEPE, you’d be familiar with the risks of buying into those as well as the benefits. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t hurt to reiterate them even to the most experienced of readers: you never know what helps you optimize the risk management to the max!
Most obviously, catastrophic price drops represent the most immediate risk. Tokens that gain 1,000% in weeks can lose 90% of their value just as quickly. The 2021 meme coin cycle demonstrated this brutally: most tokens that achieved temporary fame eventually returned to near-zero values, wiping out late investors completely. Even PEPE is currently more than 53% down from its all-time high!
Another important detail is that scams and rug pulls abound in the meme coin space. Projects with locked liquidity and verified contracts offer some protection, but sophisticated scammers continue developing new methods to exploit unsuspecting investors. Always verify contract details and liquidity status before investing, luckily, there are more resources to help you with the homework than ever.
Meme coins today do not even pretend to have any fundamental value, which translates to they offer no safety net during market corrections. Unlike traditional investments with underlying assets or cash flows, meme coins derive value purely from collective belief and speculation. They are pretty much always a sentiment shift away from hero to zero.
The regulatory environment adds another layer of uncertainty. While meme coins have largely avoided regulatory scrutiny, increasing mainstream adoption could trigger government oversight that is sure to dramatically impact trading and liquidity.
Conclusion
Whether or not this year will see the PEPE’s success repeated hinges not only on the qualities of the contenders to carry its torch. The next PEPE might already be trading today—or it might not emerge for months. Success in this market requires patience, discipline, and the wisdom to know when to walk away.
What do you think about our team’s picks? Leave a comment below or in our socials: X, Facebook, and Telegram. If your curiosity is not satiated, you are most welcome to learn more about all things crypto and trading it in our blog!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which meme coin will explode in 2025?
It’s impossible to predict with certainty, but tokens with strong meme potential, active communities, and catalyst opportunities unsurprisingly show the highest potential for major price appreciation. According to our analysis, TRUMP, doginme, BRETT, SPX6900, and FARTCOIN all demonstrate these characteristics to varying degrees.
Is TRUMP coin a good investment?
The official TRUMP meme coin still offers high potential returns, even after its resounding success at launch. Its further performance depends on political developments and it’s best suited for traders who can actively monitor political news and manage positions dynamically rather than buy-and-hold investors.
How do I find new meme coins early?
You can increase your chances by monitoring crypto Twitter, Telegram channels, and platforms like DexScreener for emerging tokens with growing volume. Evaluate how organic the community development is, pay more attention to quality memes, and early exchange interest. As such, avoid tokens with obvious artificial promotion or unrealistic promises.
Are meme coins just pump-and-dumps?
Too many meme coins follow pump-and-dump patterns, but some achieve lasting success through genuine community development and cultural resonance. Avoiding jumping into projects that have just emerged until they are more establshed or their real value is more clear can rarely result in missing out on some impressive pumps but will always surely prevent you from becoming the dead bag holder.
Disclaimer
This article is not a piece of financial or investment advice. When dealing with cryptocurrencies, remember that they are extremely volatile and thus, a high-risk investment. Always make sure to stay informed and be aware of those risks. Consider investing in cryptocurrencies only after careful consideration and analysis and at your own risk.
