One of the main advantages of investing in memecoins is the low barrier to entry of such tokens. Unlike established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, most memecoins have very low prices, which means new users can stack up on large quantities of them with fairly minimal expense. In turn, this creates a kind of domino effect, with high trading volume combining with hype to drive up prices, sometimes dramatically so, further increasing demand.
That explains why new memecoins seem to pop up almost every other day, and it also underscores the crypto community’s widespread enthusiasm for these otherwise meaningless tokens – very quickly, they can explode and make their holders rich beyond their wildest dreams, if they get lucky.
But how can memecoin investors get lucky? While there’s no guarantee with any investment, there’s always a certain amount of noise in the cryptosphere that can give us an idea of what’s hot and what’s not. So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the most promising memecoins that could shine in the latter half of 2025.
1: Dogecoin (DOGE)
Yep, even though it’s already by far and away the most famous and beloved and expensive memecoin, DOGE shows no signs of slowing down. Created way back in 2013 as a joke, it has gathered an immensely loyal fanbase over the years – including Elon Musk – and with its fame, it has become accepted as a payment mechanism by a growing number of businesses.
With a market cap of just over $29 billion and a price of $0.19 as of July 16, 2025, DOGE is still some way off its historic, all-time highs. Yet, having seen Bitcoin recently hit new heights, there’s every reason to believe DOGE could soon follow suit, as is common with altcoins in the wake of major BTC gains.
What’s more, the Dogecoin Foundation continues to work behind the scenes to boost the DOGE ecosystem, with its quest for more sponsors and ongoing work on the new Dogebox Decentralized Infrastructure project enabling businesses to quickly integrate DOGE payments, growing its acceptance and utility. It seems clear that DOGE is here to stay and grow, and if it one day manages to surpass its all-time high price of $0.7376, that would represent a gain of almost four-times its current value, making it well worth the investment.
2: Pepe Coin (PEPE)
While most memecoins try to capitalize on current trends, PEPE has instead sought to build on the nostalgia for a much older internet meme, namely Pepe the Frog.
The retro internet meme reached its zenith in the early 2000s, but if anything, PEPE has helped its popularity grow far beyond those good old days, emerging as one of the most popular and fastest-growing memecoins in the last couple of years. PEPE is notable for its deflationary nature, thanks to a mechanism that sees the supply of coins constantly reducing through regular token burns, meaning it becomes more scarce over time.
As more investors buy PEPE, the supply decreases further and it becomes harder and harder to buy, while the popularity of the Pepe meme continues to endure. Add to this, PEPE’s lack of transaction tax. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, there are no “gas fees” charged for sending or receiving tokens, which helps to encourage trading, boosting its volume.
Most of all, the real strength of PEPE is its fanatical community, which generates a constant stream of viral threads, memes and guerilla-style campaigns to drive its growth. User-created art and remixed videos galore continue to spam the comment sections of top crypto influencers, and PEPE imagery is everywhere, flooding the cryptosphere with endless enthusiasm for the little green frog.
Given its deflationary design and huge fan base, there’s every reason to think PEPE could one day attain a new all-time high, and if it does that would represent gains of more than 50% based on its current market price of $0.00002825.
3: Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Another legendary memecoin name, SHIB shot to fame in 2020 when it emerged as one of the biggest rivals to DOGE. In the last five years, it has built up a loyal community of hardcore followers.
Although SHIB was originally dismissed as a Dogecoin clone, it has proved its doubters wrong, evolving into a robust ecosystem centered on the decentralized exchange platform ShibSwap, the DeFi platform Shibarium and various NFT projects. A recent network upgrade has dramatically enhanced the Shib Inu network’s transaction speeds and scalability, encouraging greater numbers of developers to build up and diversify the services on offer in its ecosystem. Its DeFi sector is nascent but strong, providing opportunities for borrowing, lending and yield farming and bringing real utility to SHIB.
It’s for this reason that SHIB’s community has emerged as one of the most vocal in the memecoin world. It proudly calls itself the “ShibArmy”, and its fanatical members have helped to stabilize SHIB’s price even during downturns, pushing it up at a time when many other memecoins sink. That’s why it has firmly established itself as one of the top memecoin tokens.
Battle-tested and beloved by its fans, SHIB has proven itself in the same way that DOGE has done, and with the continued evolution of its underlying ecosystem and the growing infusion of DeFi capital, there’s every reason to think it will gain further momentum as crypto market conditions become increasingly bullish.
4: Pepe’s Dog (ZEUS)
Looking to cash in on the popularity of PEPE, the ZEUS token is based on a related meme known as Pepe’s Dog, who was a character in the same comic strip that gave birth to Pepe the Frog.
ZEUS, which launched in May and rapidly burst into the crypto public’s consciousness, has already attracted an enthusiastic following, helping to resurrect the Pepe meme folklore, as the “secret guardian of the swamp”. The project sits on solid ground, managed by a company called Zeus CC8 Inc., which has secured the IP and trademarks for the original Pepe’s Dog artwork by ND Haus, a key contributor to the project. Also on board is Jon “Jagged” Eyrick, who previously held the IP for the original, real-life Zeus before transferring the rights to the project, plus Matt Furie, the creator of the Boy’s Club comic universe where Pepe the Frog resides.
The project has generated a lot of excitement in a very short space of time, and has gotten the backing of none other than SHIB itself, which recently proclaimed that it’s “destined for greatness”:
The backing of SHIB suggests big things are in store for ZEUS, perhaps in the DeFi sphere and perhaps by way of collaborations and partnerships with other top memecoins. Meanwhile, ZEUS is making tons of noise all by itself, notably with a spate of listings at major exchanges, and so it’s easy to see why many believe it’s destined for greatness. Add to that, we mustn't forget that dog-themed tokens have historically been among the most profitable of memecoins, and it’s not a great stretch of the imagination to think that ZEUS could follow in the footsteps of DOGE and SHIB.
The IP it owns allows for a viable business plan, and Pepe’s Dog’s team has ambitions to launch branded merchandise, including children’s toys and a new comic strip based on the character's adventures. If those plans take off, don’t be surprised to see ZEUS make some stunning gains before the year is out.
5: Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)
Solana’s top memecoin PENGU is riding a wave of excitement right now, with increased whale accumulation driven by buzz from its ETF filing and the enduring popularity of the NFT collection it’s based on.
Indeed, PENGU has made strong gains in the last few weeks after enduring an extended period in the doldrums. Having launched at the beginning of the year, its initial gains were eroded and it was trading well below its launch price for several months.
Yet PENGU is now back on track, with recent reports suggesting that whale holdings of the token have increased by 20% in the last month, which is a strong sign of underlying market confidence. It’s an equally clear signal that whales are expecting yet more bullish upside, driven no doubt by the recent confirmation of an exchange-traded fund filing on the Cboe exchange. If that application is approved, PENGU would become only the second memecoin after DOGE to attain the status of a regulated, exchange-traded product, boosting its validity in the eyes of institutional investors.
PENGU has gotten a further boost due to growing interest in the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection, on which it is based. In the last week, the Pudgy NFTs trading volume has soared by more than 400%, thanks to various social media campaigns and brand partnerships.
