MarketVector, a subsidiary of the United States asset management giant VanEck, has launched a new index based on the highly popular meme tokens. The index, which trades under the ticker symbol MEMECOIN, includes the six largest meme coins: Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe (PEPE), Dogwifhat (WIF), Floki Inu (FLOKI), and Bonk (BONK) tokens.

The importance of this index lies in its performance and wider implications for the market. With a projected yearly gain of over 195% based on the performance of the memecoin fund’s individual components, the meme coin index has outperformed other indices on the MarketVector platform. Despite their speculative nature, this spectacular yield shows the soaring interest in meme coins.

Meme tokens currently have a total market capitalization of around $51 billion, with the MarketVector index tracking $44.67 billion of it. VanEck’s move underscores the recognition and acceptance these meme-based coins are starting to see.

Mainstream Meme Coin Acceptance

Meme coins have been greatly criticized for lacking real utility. Nevertheless, these dog-themed coins and other popular meme tokens have continued to blossom and witness growing popularity with each passing day.

Furthermore, their utility has increased significantly. For instance, it was recently revealed that customers of Elon Musk-owned EV maker Tesla can now pay for specific merchandise with Dogecoin. Notably, the NBA team Dallas Mavericks already accepts Dogecoin as a payment option for merch.

Meanwhile, Shiba Inu — the second-largest canine-themed token — has also stolen the spotlight with its layer-2 network Shibarium and other game-changing projects implemented in its blockchain. The Shiba Inu team also recently fetched a $12 million investment in a token sale round from prominent investors to create a privacy-focused layer-3 blockchain.

According to Tron founder Justin Sun, the success of these meme altcoins further highlights the influence of community in the cryptosphere. Sun believes the efforts of their respective communities have propelled them to such great heights, with meme coins like DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, and WIF currently ranking in the top 50 crypto tokens by market value.