#USNationalDebt Meme cryptocurrencies or meme coins are digital assets that often arise from popular internet memes and are, among other things, known for their extremely volatile nature.

These cryptocurrencies are typically created as satire or social experiments, and their price largely depends on their popularity and cultural significance, rather than the technology behind them or their usability.

Like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), meme coins are cryptocurrencies. In principle, some of the most popular meme coins are forks of existing cryptocurrencies, for example, Dogecoin (DOGE) was created as a fork of Litecoin (LTC) in 2013.

However, to unofficially be called a "meme coin," as the name suggests, the meme behind the coin must remain its key feature. This definitely applies to Dogecoin, whose mascot—a Shiba Inu dog—has become synonymous with the crypto industry as a whole and even spawned its own new meme coins.

Meme coins operate in the same way as other cryptocurrencies, that is, using blockchain, and some even utilize other networks. They share common hashing algorithms, and some—such as Dogecoin—can even be mined.