Memecoin Craze Makes a Comeback with Barstool Sports, BNB Chain, and an Entire African Country Jumping on the Bandwagon.

Memecoin Mania Spreads Across Continents: From Binance Listings to National Tokens

As the broader cryptocurrency market slowly recovers from last week’s dip, the memecoin frenzy remains strong, with notable events unfolding across different regions over the weekend. From Binance-backed tokens to an entire African nation launching its own memecoin, the trend shows no signs of slowing down.

BNB Chain introduced a new memecoin, TST, which was created after a community tutorial video on issuing tokens. The token quickly gained momentum, reaching a $300 million market capitalization, partially fueled by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s endorsement on X. Zhao, who stepped down from his official role at Binance last year, commented that while memecoins might lack inherent value, they offer short-term appeal due to their fun and speculative nature. “Memes are cultural. I’m not an expert in this area, but there are dedicated meme enthusiasts. Don’t go against the community,” Zhao said.

Portnoy Joins the Memecoin Craze

Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy made his entry into the memecoin world with a coin named “Montoya por favor,” inspired by a contestant from the Spanish reality show La Isla De Las Tentaciones. Portnoy, who has 3.5 million followers on X, celebrated the massive gains from his first meme token investment, claiming to be “up a billion percent” at one point. However, the coin’s market cap quickly fell from $14 million to $1 million within a few hours. Portnoy then introduced a Josh Allen MVP coin, which also saw a spike before crashing to under $100,000.

Critics on X accused Portnoy of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme, but Portnoy defended his actions, calling his trades transparent and entertaining. This led to the creation of the “JAILSTOOL” token, referencing Portnoy’s own joking remark about possibly landing in jail. JAILSTOOL saw its market cap rise to $200 million before dropping to $78 million by Monday afternoon.

Central African Republic Enters the Memecoin Market

In a remarkable turn, the Central African Republic (CAR) issued its own memecoin over the weekend. The CAR token, which briefly hit a market cap of $527 million, was launched with the promise of helping to develop the country and raise its global profile. The president of CAR, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, linked the token to his country’s previous decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, showcasing his belief in the potential of cryptocurrencies.

However, doubts about the authenticity of the CAR token emerged after the country’s official website went offline, and some users speculated that the president’s announcement might have been manipulated. Solana’s decentralized exchange, Jupiter, conducted its own investigation, verifying the token’s deployment via on-chain data. Still, full confirmation of the official link to the president’s office is pending as of now.

The rapid rise of memecoins—whether driven by high-profile figures like Portnoy or even entire countries like CAR—demonstrates the unpredictable and often volatile nature of the crypto world. While some may view these tokens as a fun diversion, others question the sustainability and legitimacy of the memecoin phenomenon.