Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Crypto exchanges rush to list more meme coins to capitalize on Trump election effect
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By Jun Ji-hye
Cryptocurrency exchanges here are competitively listing meme coins amid growing optimism surrounding the market following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
Meme coins refer to cryptocurrencies issued primarily for fun and without any specific purpose.
Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Korea by market, has listed two major meme coins — PEPE and BONK — this month, a move considered particularly unusual, as the exchange has historically taken a cautious approach to listing highly volatile meme coins.
The only meme coins previously listed by Upbit were Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, the top two meme coins by market capitalization. And then, cat in a dogs world, a Solana-based meme coin that gained significant attention this year, became available on Upbit only in September, following its listing on other exchanges, Bithumb and Coinone.
Bithumb and Coinone, the second and third largest exchanges, have already listed a wide range of meme coins.
Bithumb holds the record for listing the most meme coins among domestic exchanges, supporting trading for five out of the top six meme coins — excluding dogwifhat. The five are Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, PEPE, BONK and FLOKI.
Coinone has listed four meme coins: Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, PEPE and BONK.
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The rise of meme coins as a key category on exchanges is attributed to the bullish market that emerged following Trump’s election, which sparked a positive outlook for the cryptocurrency industry.
A shift in perception toward meme coins is also seen as a contributing factor. Dogecoin’s surge in popularity, boosted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk who openly supported Trump, has increased overall familiarity and acceptance of meme coins.
“When meme coins were first listed on domestic exchanges, there was significant caution due to their perceived risk,” an industry insider explained. "However, as meme coins have recently transitioned from being seen as risky assets to more familiar cryptocurrencies, exchanges likely feel less burdened when listing them.”
Industry officials expect the meme coin craze and the trend of listings to persist for the time being.
Attention is turning to whether meme coins not yet listed domestically, such as dogwifhat, and emerging hippo-themed meme coins will debut on local exchanges.
However, experts caution investors to be mindful, considering the volatility of meme coins issued without substantial technology.
“The majority of meme coins born from the frenzy of 2023 and 2024 have proven to be fleeting. A full 97 percent have already died, reaching near-zero trading volumes,” Josh Wong, macro researcher at Binance Research, the research arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, wrote in a recent report.