Vaneck has launched its first meme coin index to track the market indices of crypto meme coins. At the forefront of the MEMECOIN index stand Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB). Other memecoins are PEPE, WIF, FLOKI, and BONK.
The MEMECOIN index, now available through Marketvector Indexes, a subsidiary specializing in digital assets and various other sectors, aims to chart the performance of the top six meme coins currently making waves in the crypto market.
MarketVector Indexes is a global index provider that develops, monitors, and markets the MarketVector Indexes, which are a selection of pure-play, investable benchmark indexes. The company is owned by VanEck, a major investment management firm, through VanEck’s affiliate MarketVector Indexes.
MarketVector Indexes offers a broad suite of indexes across various asset classes, including digital assets, emerging markets, commodities, bonds, and sectors. They are known for their expertise in hard asset-linked equity indexes and pioneering work in digital asset indexing.
The meme coin phenomenon traces back to Dogecoin’s 2013 launch, emerging as a playful nod to internet culture. Despite early skepticism, meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu gained traction, blending humor with blockchain technology to drive community-driven finance.
Their rise transformed them into major players in the cryptocurrency world, with significant market capitalization surpassing $52 billion. Today, thousands of meme coins populate the crypto market, epitomizing the fusion of internet culture and decentralized finance.
Additionally, data from Coinmarketcap shows that the market cap of the meme coin ecosystem which is made up of more than a thousand memes is over $50 billion. Every day, more projects are launched showing high demand for meme coins by users.
However, it is unclear how this fully fits into the traditional market as the prices of meme coins are known to be one of the most volatile in the crypto space.
Matthew Sigel, Vaneck’s lead researcher in digital assets, took to social media platform X to comment on the firm’s venture into the meme coin space.
“These coins are intended for entertainment purposes,” Sigel remarked,
Sigel acknowledges the speculative nature of meme coins and their appeal to a wide audience seeking both amusement and potential financial gains.
This is not the first institutional player to take notice of memecoins. The Avalanche Foundation, for instance, has begun investing in meme coins built on the Avalanche chain.
Dogecoin has been accepted as a means of payment by major retailers such as Newegg, Twitch, Keys4Coins, GameStop, AMC Theaters, airBaltic, and Tesla in the past.
Shiba Inu has also gained traction as a payment option at some businesses like Gucci, Twitch, David SW, HOSTKEY, APMEX, and the National Hockey League team.
The meme coin has secured institutional funding to build TREAT, a new layer-3 blockchain with a focus on privacy on top its layer-two Shibarium. Aside Shiba Inu, DWF Labs also took a $10M position in Floki
