What Are Internet Capital Markets? Why Companies Are Launching Meme Coins

Startups and established companies run Meme coins– And Kripto Degene sends their assessments abruptly – trendy known as “Internet capital markets.”

In traditional capital markets, subjects can collect capital by selling shares, bonds, goods and more. Capital internet markets are progressing on this idea by implementing a digital tool to collect funds: meme coins.

As a result, established companies like a classic video platform Vine They started multimillion -dollar tokens while emerging companies like Podcasting App Severe They also attracted huge market capitalization.

What are Internet capital markets?

Capital Internet markets is a term related to companies that raise money or promote their business using digital-domiciled financial instruments, the most common form of CRIPTO currency.

Most of the time tokens do not have utility and purely speculative assets related to Hype project – effectively acting as meme coin. This is the main difference between the markets of internet capital and the traditional capital markets, where the shares represent the share of the company and often promise certain privileges or refund of dividends.

Companies first started this new approach to collecting capital by launching meme coin through Saltworks launch Pump.fun. Rival platforms like Believe APP has since increased as options directly focused on online capital markets.

“Internet capital markets are a powerful meme itself, and among the most significant and significant and og meta-carbits and cases of use for cryptocurrencies,” Alon Cohensaid the co -founder Pump.fun, said Decipher. “In principle, this is the possibility of an effective and current crowd of liquidity on decentralized crypts of rails.”

How did this begin?

IN January 2025Rus Yusupov, co -founder of Mobile Video App Vine, launched Vin’s coins via Pump.fun. On the first day token jumped abruptly on the stunning A market cap of $ 498 million such as traders have brought nostalgia for the predecessor of Tictoka.

Days later, Yusupov published a Link of waiting list As viewers guessed that the application would restart. More eyes and attention were on the vineyard of the password than ever before, so much that Xai bought the vine, and Elon Musk hinted at restarting the app– Although it is not clear if the meme coin played a role in this move. Vine coin has yet to deliver any usefulness and has fallen 92.5% from its permanent maximum.

Technically speaking, this is not the first company to let go of meme coins; and Val AI projects launched the tokens in 2024Given that many use them to fund their projects. However, Vine Coin was the first significant example that was branded as online capital markets, and a wave of projects that follows in early 2025.

The trend slipped off the radar for several months, but was revitalized in May 2025 by the appearance of belief as a launch.

As a result, the tool to find new products of Dupe recorded its chip on a market border of $ 79 million, according to Dex Screenerbefore lowering 78% to $ 17 million. AI assistant on social media Creator to a friend reached $ 23.5 million and the building without a web3 code Uber.fun $ 13.7 million-smallening 76% and 99% of its highest maximums, since June 2025.

Why use capital market markets?

There are two basic reasons why the company can choose the market of online capital markets: money or marketing.

Most often, the project wants to collect capital and will launch meme coins to help finance his business. This can be in the form of a sale of token dedicated to the project – like Termion Terminal Termor Sales Fartcoin– Or simply using the Creator’s income income.

This approach comes because traditional strategies of funds collection are broken, 0xdetweilerpseudonym founder of an investment company 3. Through Capital Streetsaid Decipher. He said that companies were over -empowered to risk capitalism, which regularly reduced investors from the conversation. As a result, the target audience for the product usually does not have the opportunity to invest.

In many ways, the trend of online capital market is the repackage of the initial movement that offers a movement that has dominated the industry in 2017, 0xdetweiler said.

“Web3 was built to allow the founder to raise funds from the public [and] Innovative products of the ship, “he explained.” They acquire a community, capital and consider the product market. Departure to the market is much faster than the traditional web2 startups. “

But some projects do not need capital; Instead, the meme coin strategy is a marketing board.

For example, the Russian research laboratory Neiry Lab said Decipher That he had already provided the financing of risky capital when traders pumped token dedicated to their rat experiment. In view of this, the lab has embraced meme coins as a marketing tool to help him develop his presence on social networks.

Iqram Magdon-Ismail, co-founder Jellyelely and Venmo, said attracted 10 000 applications the day he launched his meme coin – who touched $ 248.5 million market caps. The founders categorically excluded that they had ever sold funding tokens, but since then they have integrated it into the application as a way to find creators on a short -shaped subcasting platform.

However, market participants have noticed That many projects that run in accordance with this strategy are not serious long -term projects that are worth investing. Despite what some call “vibe coded shit” and “hurt“Products, tokens often continue to pump the multimillion -dollar market caps.

Fortunately, Matthew Nay, a senior research analyst in a butcher, doesn’t think it’s so bad.

“I think it’s healthy when the market reacts overly to this idea,” Nay said Decipher. “Speculations increase prices, which in turn leads to more capital that enters the market and then leads to funding for several projects that want to explore these new ideas.”

Is this all legal?

It is worth noting that, after ICO 2017 ICO, the US Securities and Exchange Commission broke off a valuable papers law – with with several Multi -dollar dollar victory.

When it points to Internet capital markets as a quarrel of ICO models, do you need companies to be worried about Hype train driving?

“Companies considering launching meme coins – especially those related to their brand or job – should ask for legal guidelines to assess whether their tokens function as an increase in capital or implies investment investment,” Digital Property Lawyer Carlo D’Angelo said Decipher.

“This requires legal analysis specific to the fact,” D’Angelo explained. “If Token” walks and conversations “like an increase in capital, it can satisfy the elements of an investment contract in accordance with the Howy test and require registration with SEC.”

Accordingly, the times have changed since 2017, and US President Donald Trump was obviously more open to the cryptocurrency of the in-infused financial models-he cried His own meme coinAfter all.

D’Angelo pointed to the Sec’s 2025 SEC in February staff statement on meme coins, for which it seems to indicate a shift From the previous hard attitude against Crypto. The statement claims that meme coins “may not be subject to federal securities laws.

“There is a central legal question left: does a token function as capital or as a purely speculative meme aimed at community?” D’Angelo said, adding that “the answer is crucial in determining whether the laws on securities apply.”