- PUPS, a memecoin on the Bitcoin network, received enormous attention
- Blue chip memecoins did not see green as WIF, DOGE and PEPE faced corrections
The memecoin sector has seen significant growth since the beginning of the year. In fact, chains like Solana [SOL] have benefited immensely from this increasing interest in this subset of cryptocurrencies.
Memes coming to Bitcoin?
Although memecoins are mainly traded on alt-chains, new developments suggest that Bitcoin [BTC] network could soon enter the memecoin sector in the future.
Recently, a Bitcoin native memecoin called “PUPS” has attracted a lot of attention on social media. One factor contributing to this buzz is the significant increase in the price of PUPS.
For example, in the past 24 hours, the price of PUPS has skyrocketed by 234.3%. At the time of writing, PUPS was trading at $19.97.
Source: Coingecko
What is PUPS?
PUPS is a testament to the burgeoning memecoin culture within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Launched in March 2023, it predates the official Bitcoin Puppets collection and established itself as the OG memecoin. The free coin sent out to the “OPIUM ordinal community” quickly gained traction and became a huge joke within the community. This airdrop was the first-ever BRC-20 airdrop on Bitcoin, a unique technical achievement that further cemented PUPS’ place in the Bitcoin Ordinal meme landscape.
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The role of Runes
Traditionally, memecoins have thrived on alternative blockchains such as Solana due to their faster transaction speeds and lower fees. Bitcoin, with its slower pace and higher transaction fees, wasn’t exactly a hospitable environment for these fast-moving, often humorous tokens. PUPS, existing on Bitcoin via the BRC-20 standard, is a bit of an anomaly.
This is where Runes enters the scene. Developed by Casey Rodarmor, the brains behind Ordinals, Runes is a brand new protocol that allows fungible tokens like memecoins to function natively on the Bitcoin network.
Runes will arrive on the Bitcoin network after the long-awaited halving.
New “WIF” in the city?
Due to the hype surrounding PUPS and the Rune Network, PUPS has been touted as the “WIF” of Bitcoin. Only time will tell if PUPS can live up to the hype or if it’s all bark and no bite for the memecoin.
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Mainstream memecoins such as DOGE, PEPE and WIF did not have the same luck as PUPS in recent days. In fact, the price for all of these tokens has fallen over the past week.
Source: CoinMarketCap
However, niche memecoins like BODEN on the Solana network did relatively well, rising 85% over the past seven days.
Source: DEXscreener