Elon Musk Warns: Meme Coins Are Like Casinos
1min read Elon Musk, the CEO of tesla, has likened meme coins to casinos, warning investors about the high risks associated with these cryptocurrencies. In a recent interview, Musk stated that expecting to profit from meme coins is as unrealistic as winning at a casino. He advised investors not to sink their life savings into these high-risk assets.
Musk's comments come as the meme coin market faces a slowdown, with the number of tokens graduating to decentralized exchanges declining. According to data from Dune, the total number of tokens created on the Solana-based meme coin launchpad Pump.fun has been steadily dropping since late January. The number of tokens successfully graduating to Raydium, a decentralized exchange, has also been declining.
In January, 24,008 tokens successfully reached Raydium. By late February, that number had collapsed to 11,532, marking a significant slowdown. In the last 24 hours alone, 29,499 tokens were created, yet just 235 of them—roughly 0.80%—managed to graduate. The weekly graduation rate remained dismal, with only 1.08% of launched tokens successfully making it to Raydium.
Even for those that do make it, achieving a significant valuation remains an even rarer feat. Data from CoinGecko shows that meme coins reaching a $1 billion market cap represent only a minuscule fraction of those ever launched. Since Pump.fun’s inception, over 8.2 million tokens have been created, yet not a single one has a $1 billion market cap. Only four have crossed the $100 million market cap threshold: Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) at $330 million, AI Rig Complex (ARC) at $230 million, Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) at $219 million, and Act I The AI Prophecy (ACT) at $185 million.
Meanwhile, user activity on Pump.fun is also showing signs of fatigue. The latest data indicates that both active and new users have dropped sharply. Thus, the speculative frenzy that once defined meme coin trading appears to be waning.
