This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Is it a good time to launch a meme coin? This is kind of a wild episode, a wild topic to delve into from time to time. You might hear in the news about various crypto meme coins. It's a coin that, well, it's if, you know, I was gonna say fake, I shouldn't say fake. It's virtual digital currency that somebody just kind of creates and then it gets a lot of investors and makes a lot of money.
And then all of a sudden it crashes. That's kind of the life cycle of a typical meme coin. Now, most of us know about Bitcoin and maybe some other cryptocurrencies that are actually stable and, you know, have been around for years and have created a lot of wealth for people. But then you also have like all these other ones, okay? And a couple of years ago, I really kind of got into this world just researching a lot from the side hustle perspective 'cause I thought it was just so interesting.
I wrote a book called "Ganzo Capitalism," which is not all about meme coins, but just about the broader world of people kind of making things and offering it for sale. And here we are, once again, meme coins have this mythical reputation. They kind of go away for a while and lately we've seen a whole bunch of new ones kind of starting up. You might've heard of Dogecoin. There's also thousands of projects that just crash and burn within weeks.
So we're gonna hear today a question from Matt in Miami. Appropriately, he's from Miami, very crypto centric city. And he's been in this space for years, this industry, this sector. He wants to know if launching a meme coin is still a smart move in 2025. If it's ever been a smart move, who knows?
Let's talk about the risks, the realities, whether there is a way to do this without getting lost in the noise or hopefully without going to jail. Well, I'll stay away from that, but let's talk about meme coins. Detailed question from Matt and my answer coming right up. [Music]
What's up, all? This is Matt from Miami.
I've been following the crypto space for years and recently got the idea to create a meme coin with a funny, but meaningful backstory. I know meme coins can blow up fast, but they also seem incredibly risky. With the current state of crypto markets, is it still a good time to launch something like this? And if so, what's the best way to build momentum while ensuring it doesn't crash and burn? [Music]
Matt, your question goes right to the heart of meme coins.
Definitely some potential for some of them, some real upside, but also massive risk and a really unpredictable market. Also, most meme coins just never really go anywhere. Some of them are fraudulent. So the honest reality is that meme coins can take off, but the hype cycles aren't really what they used to be. It is harder than ever to stand out.
And as I said, do it legally and so on. So the meme coin market is saturated. It's not dead. A few years ago, launching a coin with a catchy name and a fun community might be enough to gain traction, probably not long-term, but at least for a while, that is no longer the case. These days, there's a lot of money behind it.
People are paying influencers to post about coins because they know if they can get the price up, then they can issue a bunch of coins to themselves and get paid. Is this a sustainable business? Definitely not. The projects that survive have either built a cult-like following like Dogecoin, or they actually have some utility, like beyond just the meme itself, or they have tapped into some kind of broader social movement. So I think it's just good to like, let's take a step back and say like be brutally honest about why you're thinking about doing this.
Is it just for fun? Do you actually want to build something sustainable? Are you just looking for a cash grab? I mean, more power to you as long as you're doing it legally and ethically. But I guess I just think if you're asking, is this a good market, you want to ask, why would people hold onto this product six months from now?
Like, what is the real value that I'm making? And if you don't have a great answer, then it's unlikely to succeed. So in terms of the momentum and the next steps, I mean, you need some branding and storytelling, you need marketing from day one, you need transparency and trust because there have been a lot of bad actors in this field. And if your answer to all of that is like, yep, that sounds great, like I want to experiment and have fun, then nothing wrong with it, you know? I just think also like think about what else you want to do beyond this initial project.
My two cents as always, there is no side hustle school cryptocurrency. In fact, our whole project is free. So we kind of chose a different model. Whole project is free. If you have a question, a comment, sidehustleschool.com.
Resources, pages, there are notes for every episode. And of course, much more is coming up. Subscribe, follow, and don't be afraid to share your wild ideas, by the way. Just to be clear, I love hearing different ideas. So keep it coming.
My name's Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
