Memecoins may have started out as a joke but they’re now serious business. A $40B crypto sector that’s been a primary driver of trading volumes in the current bull market, memecoins are the tail that wags the crypto dog. Speaking of dogs, what Doge began in 2013 has since birthed a multitude of dog, cat, and frog coins all intent on grabbing their slice of the ever expanding memecoin economy.

Today every self-respecting blockchain, DEX, and protocol has its own memecoins and launchpads for creating yet more memecoins, which are now the seventh largest crypto sector by market cap and the largest by trading volume.

With thousands of new tokens being launched every day across the multi-chain landscape, if there’s one thing the industry isn’t short of, it’s memecoins. But one thing it is sorely lacking is memecoins with actual utility. Tokens that are good for more than mere speculation.

While most cat and dog coins will never spawn anything more than memes to keep their communities entertained, a handful of projects are breaking the mold and introducing tokens that combine humor and cultural references with genuine use cases – starting with staking.

Making Staking Work for Memecoins

Staking has been the other main narrative propelling the current bull market as liquid staking protocols and restaking have emerged as a solution for securing blockchain networks while rewarding token holders. Liquid staking is now a $40B sector by TVL, which coincidentally is also the current value of the leading memecoins by market cap.

It was only a matter of time until enterprising projects decided to combine the best of both worlds and roll out memecoin staking. But staking for what exactly? In the case of multichain token launchpad and memecoin hub WOMIO, it’s to earn rewards from memecoin token launches. Every project using WOMIO’s multichain launchpad gives a portion of their supply to WOMIO stakers, rewarding them for their loyalty and providing a direct user acquisition strategy.

Other memecoin projects have adopted a similar approach, using staking as the means by which users can access exclusive games or upgrade their character. This approach isn’t too far removed from that of $APE, which might not technically be a memecoin but is very much in the style of one. For memecoin staking to be successful, the reward on offer, be it access, tokens, or unique items, needs to be sufficient to incentivize a significant portion of holders to participate. But then staking is by no means the only use case that can be programmed into memecoins.

Getting More Meme for Your Money

Applications for memecoins are still being discovered, but this much is known for certain: highly engaged communities will propel a project further than any amount of tech, tokenomics, and partnerships. And this is something that established memecoins have already achieved: they’ve got the community whose energy, memes, and humor will carry them the distance. All that’s missing is the utility to add a tangible way for holders to participate and become a part of something greater.

Adding real use cases to memecoins is key to driving utility, value, and longevity beyond the hype. And there’s no shortage of ways in which forward-thinking projects can add utility to tokens that are looking to take the leap from novelty to novel applications. One of the most obvious routes is to leverage their IP to create new products that will resonate with existing token-holders while appealing to other demographics. Gaming is one route, providing an opportunity to build upon the lore and integrate the memecoin as an in-game currency that players can earn and spend on virtual items or rewards.

Merchandising and ecommerce is another route through creating limited-edition apparel and accessories that are purchasable using memecoins, fostering exclusivity. From there, the next step is to integrate with existing payment gateways, allowing people to buy digital goods or even tangible items with memecoins. Projects can also partner with real-world brands for discounts, loyalty points, and promotional offers, adding real utility outside the crypto ecosystem.

Most memecoin projects don’t aspire to be anything more than what they already are: tokenized representations of in-jokes and cultural references that are great for speculation but little else. Doge will get by just fine being Doge; but smaller cap coins intent on getting noticed in a crowded market have strong incentives to hustle harder in the hopes of rising to the top.

Through implementing features such as staking and gamification, a few innovative memecoins are doing their bit to advance the sector that houses them. If these projects succeed, memecoins have the potential to evolve from novelty tokens into assets with actual utility that will spur greater demand and rising adoption.