Introduction
“Internet memes” can take social media by storm. “Pepe the Frog”, “Doge”, “Grumpy Cat”, “Blinking White Guy”. Without even seeing an image, most social media users will recognize that these are popular memes from the last decade.
Over the past few years, a related trend has taken the cryptocurrency market by storm: “meme coins”. Crypto developers create coins based on trending memes and sell them online. Crypto traders, eager to be part of the next big thing, purchase the coin and tell others to do the same. Occasionally, meme coins reach exorbitant market capitalizations in the billions of dollars.[i]
Though this sounds like an enticing way to earn a quick dollar, meme coins are exposed to substantial risk, including from factors like the potential for fraud, pump-and-dump schemes, and market manipulation.[ii] And despite some becoming successful, most plummet to zero. Needless to say, meme coins are risky.
Beyond these widely recognized risks is an often overlooked area of concern: copyright law.