South Dakotan Crypto Investors, Beware: 5 Memecoins That Crashed Hard After the Hype

If you’ve been anywhere near crypto folks in South Dakota (or the news, for that matter), you’ve probably heard of memecoins—those quirky, funny, and often downright bizarre cryptocurrencies that started as jokes but somehow made people millionaires.

They’re risky, unpredictable, and often crazy, but for some, the gamble paid off big time. That is, in the case of these examples, if numbers on a computer screen count.

These are 12 memecoins that made their investors rich on paper.

Before you get too excited, keep in mind that memecoin or not, there’s no guarantee you’ll get rich by investing in cryptocurrencies, and you could lose everything you invest.

For full disclosure, I own some of the memecoins on this list.

And for further disclosure, I’ve yet to get rich off them.

1. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Oh, DOGE. Setting politics aside with President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk as the lead, cryptocurrency’s Dogecoin (DOGE) is the OG of memecoins.

Created in 2013 as a joke inspired by the famous Shiba Inu “Doge” meme, it quickly became a favorite in the crypto world. Things really took off when Elon Musk started tweeting about DOGE.

In May 2021, Dogecoin hit an all-time high of $0.74—a mind-blowing jump considering it started at fractions of a penny.

A man named Glauber Contessoto invested his life savings and sold all of his stocks, which totaled more than $250,000, buying DOGE when it was around 4.5 cents per coin. He became a Dogecoin millionaire in just a few months—on paper, at least.

Contessoto had said at the time that he was going to wait until he had $10 million worth of DOGE before starting to take profits. The memecoin dropped in price before that happened.

2. Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu, often called the “Dogecoin Killer,” launched in 2020 and skyrocketed in 2021. Its massive supply and clever marketing, including its “ShibaSwap” exchange, attracted a lot of attention.

Someone reportedly bought $8,000 worth of SHIB in August 2020, and by October 2021, it was worth over $5 billion. Insane, right?

This is the example crypto investors dream about with a cryptocurrency coin rewarding early adopters—provided they sell when the price is high, of course. And assuming one has access to their cryptocurrency wallet in the first place.

The only reason this story emerged was that someone on Twitter noticed the epic purchase on the blockchain and that the owner still hadn’t sold their SHIB coins.

3. Pepe Coin (PEPE)

Named after the iconic Pepe the Frog meme, PEPE launched in 2023 and quickly gained traction. Its rise wasn’t just about the meme, though—its developers created a buzz by limiting the supply.

Early investors saw huge returns; one wallet reportedly turned $250 into over $1 million within weeks of the coin’s launch.

The story, covered by CoinDesk, highlights how viral marketing and meme culture can fuel explosive growth. It also points out that seeing a number on a screen is different than having cold, hard cash.

According to market analyst Grzegorz Drozdz, it would have taken 46,200 years to fully take out the $1+ million when the PEPE holder became “rich.”

4. Floki Inu (FLOKI)

Named after Elon Musk’s pet Shiba Inu, Floki Inu combines meme appeal with a strong marketing campaign.

The team behind Floki promoted it heavily on social media and even placed ads on London buses and trains before the United Kingdom banned it.

A hopeful crypto investor named Alex invested $5,000 into Floki Inu in 2021 when the coin was $0.00000001 per token (yes, I had to take a hot minute to count all those zeros, too).

By the year’s end, FLOKI increased so much in value that three of those zeros dropped off, turning Alex’s $5,000 into around $5 million.

5. BONK

The memecoin BONK took the crypto world by storm in late 2022. It gained attention after a trader, who initially lost $46,000, decided to reinvest in BONK and saw an unbelievable turnaround.

Within a month, this trader turned their initial losses into a staggering $4.4 million profit.

The story, covered by Investing.com, highlights how a calculated risk on a high-volatility memecoin has the potential to result in life-changing returns.

But remember, this trader was down $46,000 before they got lucky with their BONK trade.

Not All Sunshine and Roses

You’re surely as aware as I am that things can go seriously south in crypto. And I’m not talking about the sunny kind of Florida south that my Upstate New York self loves.

For example, people lost thousands of dollars investing in Squid Game Token, a memecoin inspired by the hit Netflix series.

The coin’s developers created a rug-pull scam, disappearing with investors’ money almost overnight. It serves as a cautionary tale for anyone jumping into the memecoin frenzy.

Word From the Wise

While memecoins can make you rich, they’re also incredibly risky. Many of these coins ride on hype and social media buzz, so they can crash just as quickly as they (sometimes) rise.