Amid Market Volatility, Crypto Traders Turn to Meme Coins like Fartcoin for Comfort

In the midst of tariff volatility and broader market uncertainty, crypto traders are turning to a new form of investment entertainment: meme coins. Leading the pack of these Solana-based cryptocurrencies is Fartcoin, with an astounding surge of 30% in the last 24 hours to reach $0.96. This marks a 97% gain in the last seven days, and almost a 250% leap in the last 30 days, according to CoinGecko.

The rise in Fartcoin comes at a time when major coins like Ethereum have taken significant hits, down 13% on the week. Yet, Fartcoin and its absurdity resonate with traders. The allure might be in the comfort of nonsense, or perhaps the draw of meme coins that have previously skyrocketed and are now repeating their climb.

Matthew Nay, a research analyst on Messari’s protocol services team, believes traders know what they’re getting into. “Like how Bitcoin is the original meme coin, with Fartcoin, there is no founder to rug you. Instead, you’re speculating on sentiment,” he told Decrypt.

The sentiment surrounding Fartcoin has indeed seen an uptick. Its mindshare has more than doubled to 28.72% since April 1, outdoing all other AI-related tokens according to data from analytics platform Cookie.fun. This platform uses data from X (formerly Twitter) and the Solana blockchain to determine a token’s mindshare among crypto participants.

These participants, according to Nay, haven’t lost their risk appetite or “long-term bullish bias” on crypto. “Not many people left in the last 2-3 months, and they all remember making a lot of money on meme coins, specifically Fartcoin with its incredible run-up,” he added.

Fartcoin, conceived by an AI agent last October, reached an all-time high of $2.48 in January, before crashing to a low of about $0.20 in March. However, it has significantly rebounded in recent weeks.

This sense of absurdity and simplicity has found its way into other high-performing meme coins on the Solana blockchain, such as Buttcoin and Titcoin. These coins are up 39% and 18% respectively on the day, outpacing the entire meme coin category which is up just 2%, according to CoinGecko.

Nay believes their success is a continuation of the crypto phenomenon of riffing on existing successes. “As soon as someone sees something successful, they try to recreate a similar version to draft on the first iteration’s success,” he said.

However, the future of these coins is uncertain, especially given Fartcoin’s wild swings. Nay is curious to see what will happen to these memes if more negative financial news emerges. “We’re simmering down on the macro environment. People are ready to turn on the gas a little more and get back to focusing on crypto fundamentals,” he said. Barring major negative news, we might just see a new meme coin surge.

Edited by Andrew Hayward.