Everything You Need to Know About the VanEck Meme Coin Index

Just when it looked like the meme coin sector could not have become more utopian, a new institutional-fuelled rush is emerging as VanEck’s releases a “Meme Coin Index.”

The index, launched by VanEck’s subsidiary MarketVector, records a 1-year gain of 195%, underscoring the spectacular performance of meme coins recently.

VanEck Meme Coin Index Launches, Says They are Intended For Entertainment Purposes

The $89 billion asset manager VanEck has sparked monumental excitement by launching its “Meme Coin Index,” under the ticker symbol MEMECOIN.

This index tracks the average returns weighted by market cap of the six largest meme coins. The components were capped at 30%.

As it stands, these six comprising cryptocurrencies are Dogecoin (30.77%), Shiba Inu (28.34%), Pepe (14.51%), Dogwifhat (12.54%), Floki Inu (7.14%), and BONK (6.7%).

The index has increased by a staggering 195% in the past year, reflecting the meme coin market’s significant growth potential.

MarketVector describes meme coins as “crypto assets often named after characters, individuals, animals, artworks, or other memetic elements.”

It also explains, “Initially supported by enthusiastic online traders and communities, these coins are intended for entertainment purposes.”

Although VanEck’s subsidiary warns that these cryptos are for entertainment purposes, the recent launch has sparked drastic interest among traders. 

It’s worth noting that the index tracks prices and provides a broad overview of the meme coin market. It should not be confused with an index fund, which investors can purchase for exposure to the underlying assets.

However, meme coin community members speculate that this marks the inception of VanEck’s broader penetration into the meme coin domain.

In response to a tweet from prominent meme coin trader Blockgraze, analyst Gaut said that the Meme Coin Index “tracks the methodology and creates an index price,” but believes that this will “pave the way for eventually using that as a benchmark for a fund.”

This is not the first time heavyweight institutional players have nodded toward entering the meme coin market.

In a conference held in March, the head of digital assets at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $9.1 trillion AUM, light-heartedly said “Crypto Twitter would love to believe that a Dogwifhat ETF is coming next.”

That said, VanEck’s recent index launch marks an intentional and unapologetic move into the meme coin space, indicating a new stream of institutional money may soon flow into the asset class.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most promising meme coins which could be added to the index next.

Which Other Meme Coins Could Be Added to the Index Next?

Based on narratives, future potential, and room for growth, here are three meme coins that could notch a spot on MarketVector’s Meme Coin Index next.

WienerAI

The WienerAI presale emerges as a new viral meme coin, taking the market by storm. But scratching beneath the surface, there is more to this project than meets the eye. 

Through an epic display of technological innovation, WienerAI offers a cutting-edge AI-powered trading bot that delivers instant, predictive, and noob-friendly trading with zero fees.

In addition to harnessing AI algorithms to deliver a trading edge, WienerAI also makes a technological leap by resisting MEV-boots, the most persuasive nuisance for on-chain traders.

But going back to its memetic packaging, WienerAI intertwines the virality of a meme coin with the utility of AI. As such, meme coin degens are hailing it as the “Next 10x meme coin,” while value-seeking traders are bullish.

The WienerAI presale has raised $1.3 million so far. Its current price is $0.000705, but this will rise in two days or when the total raise hits $1.6 million.

Popcat

Popcat is the crypto industry’s largest cat-themed project and Solana’s fourth-largest meme coin.

It has enjoyed significant momentum recently, indicating it could soon garner a spot among the six top meme coins by market cap. It is currently in eighth spot, holding a $427 million market cap and a $73 million 24-hour trading volume.

POPCAT is trading at $0.43, down 13% today, 8% this week, but remains up 60% this month.

Popcat currently stands as the largest Solana meme coin yet to be listed on Binance. 

Given the meme coin sector’s growing interest, and Solana’s ecosystem’s momentum, it seems inevitable that Binance will look to extend its offerings, and Popcat will likely be top of its list. 

Binance listings prove tremendously beneficial for meme coins, with the likes of Pepe, Bonk, and Dogwifhat exploding after their respective launches.

Brett

Brett is the leading meme coin on Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 network, Base. The network has experienced exponential growth in recent months, and Brett’s front-runner status primes it for huge growth.

Currently, Brett is trading at $0.03525, down 3% today, up 10% this week, but down 55% this month. It holds a $300 million market cap and a $8.6 million 24-hour trading volume.

Coinbase is set to release a self custody wallet known as “Smart Wallet” in the coming months, providing its 90 million users with seamless access to interact with decentralized applications.

Indeed, its layer 2 network, Base, will be at the center of the operation. This presents widespread access to the myriads of retail investors who were previously limited in the meme coins they could invest in.

As such, Brett could gain momentum in the coming months, potentially securing a spot on VanEck’s Meme Coin Index.