According to others, the crypto market thrived during the COVID-19 epidemic as regular investors sought a hedge against inflation. However, determining the specific reasons is difficult. The market capitalisation and diversity of meme currencies increased in parallel with the buzz.
It all started in late 2020, after the "meme stock" stories of GameStop (GME) and AMC Entertainment (AMC), in which the Reddit community inflated the prices of these shares by up to 100 times in a matter of months. In January 2021, a Reddit group discussed boosting the price of DOGE in order to create a cryptocurrency similar to GME. The pattern caught on, and the price of DOGE rose in tandem with Elon Musk's tweets. Dogecoin reached a new all-time high of $0.73 USD in five days, indicating an almost 2,000 percent increase.

Meme coins, a subset of cryptocurrency, gained popularity primarily due to their virality on social media platforms. Coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu owe their rise to internet memes, celebrity endorsements, and online communities. Memes create a sense of humor and relatability, attracting a younger demographic to the cryptocurrency space. The Dogecoin community, for instance, embraced the Shiba Inu dog meme, turning it into a symbol of their digital currency. Social media platforms, especially Reddit and Twitter, played pivotal roles in the rapid dissemination of information and memes, amplifying the buzz around these coins. Elon Musk's tweets and other high-profile endorsements further fueled the frenzy. However, it's crucial to note that meme coins often lack underlying fundamentals and investment value, making their popularity a result of speculative enthusiasm rather than intrinsic worth. The volatile nature of meme coins underscores the importance of caution and thorough research in the cryptocurrency market.