We made our own meme coin. This is what happened next
Donald Trump has one. So does Melania. Both have created huge paper wealth. With Johnnycoin, we tested just how easy it was to get a meme coin off the ground.
Johnnycoin was mooning. Its market capitalisation had just jumped from $US20,000 to $US100,000 ($32,000 to $158,000). Within 15 minutes, as the price soared, it had breached $US5.8 million. An excitable mob of crypto investors – speculators – wanted us to feed the beast.
“This might be the first time I’ve seen a reporter make a memecoin,” internet trends tracker Nick Kaufman posted on X, one of the social media platforms popular among crypto traders. “Looks like this is getting some traction after being dormant for about 23 hours.”
Jonathan ShapiroSenior reporterJonathan Shapiro writes about banking and finance, specialising in hedge funds, corporate debt, private equity and investment banking. He is based in Sydney. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter. Email Jonathan at jonathan.shapiro@afr.com
