In a tough year for crypto, one sector has bucked the trend: memecoins. According to a Storible x NFTevening study, memecoins are the only part of the market posting gains in 2025—with an average PnL of 33.08%. Even as Bitcoin lags and DeFi contracts, meme tokens have exploded in popularity and profitability.
What’s driving it? Over 5.9 million new memecoins have been launched this year alone—a staggering 10x increase over 2024. The bulk of this activity comes from Pump.fun, a Solana-powered platform that lets users spin up a meme token in minutes. In January alone, the site generated 1.7 million tokens.
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“Memecoins behave more like cultural flashpoints than serious financial tools,” says Cape Town-based DeFi analyst Luyanda Ndlovu. “They’re fast, fun, and wildly volatile—but that’s exactly what makes them so risky, especially for first-timers.”
Unlike DeFi or NFTs, memecoins aren’t built for long-term value. They’re gamified, trend-driven, and often short-lived. The study found that while memecoins delivered strong average returns, just 18.82% of them ended up profitable—better than AI tokens or Layer 2s, but still a minority.
“Most tokens don’t last a day,” says Storible researcher Chris Nguyen. “It’s a lottery where the house usually wins.”
Pump-and-dump schemes are common. So are rug pulls—where developers hype a token and vanish once the price peaks. The low barrier to entry has created an attention economy where virality trumps fundamentals.
In South Africa, interest in memecoins is surging, especially among Gen Z investors on X and Telegram. But with weak consumer protections, high volatility, and misleading promotions, the FSCA and SARB have issued repeated warnings.
“South Africans are diving in, but many lack the tools to spot scams,” says Ndlovu. “Due diligence is non-negotiable.”
Despite the risks, the memecoin boom is real. The sector’s total market cap now sits between $60–75 billion, driven by community hype rather than utility.
“It’s not that memecoins are inherently bad,” adds Ndlovu. “But when they’re the only profitable sector, it signals a market driven by hype, not value.”
For South African investors, the message is clear: the profits are real but so are the pitfalls.
Full study: https://nftevening.com/meme-is-the-only-profitable-crypto-sector-in-2025/
