Startups and established firms are launching meme cash—and crypto degens are sending their valuations skyrocketing—in a development often called “web capital markets.”
In conventional capital markets, entities can increase capital by promoting shares, bonds, commodities, and extra. Web capital markets advances on this concept by implementing a digital-native fundraising software: meme cash.
Consequently, established firms like traditional video platform Vine have launched multi-million greenback tokens, whereas rising firms like podcasting app JellyJelly have additionally attracted big market capitalizations.
What are web capital markets?
Web capital markets is a time period that refers to firms elevating cash or selling their enterprise utilizing digital-native monetary devices, mostly a type of cryptocurrency.
More often than not, the tokens haven’t any utility and are purely speculative belongings tied to the hype of a venture—successfully appearing as a meme coin. This can be a main distinction between web capital markets and conventional capital markets, the place shares signify a share of an organization and infrequently promise sure privileges or dividend returns.
Corporations first began this novel method to elevating capital by launching meme cash by way of Solana launchpad Pump.enjoyable. Rival platforms such because the Consider app have since rose in recognition as choices extra immediately centered on web capital markets.
“Web capital markets is itself a robust meme, and it’s among the many most important and OG meta-narratives and use instances for crypto,” Alon Cohen, co-founder of Pump.enjoyable, instructed Decrypt. “In precept, it represents the power to effectively and immediately crowdsource liquidity on decentralized crypto rails.”
How did this begin?
In January 2025, Rus Yusupov, the co-founder of cell video app Vine, launched Vine Coin by way of Pump.enjoyable. On its first day, the token skyrocketed to an astonishing market cap of $498 million as merchants cashed in on nostalgia for the TikTok predecessor.
Days later, Yusupov posted a waitlist hyperlink as onlookers speculated that the app was going to be relaunched. Extra eyes and a spotlight have been on Vine than ever earlier than, a lot in order that xAI purchased Vine, and Elon Musk hinted at a relaunch of the app—although it’s not clear if the meme coin performed a task on this transfer. Vine Coin remains to be but to ship any utility and has plummeted 92.5% from its all-time excessive.
Technically, this wasn’t the primary firm to launch a meme coin; a wave of AI tasks launched tokens in 2024, with many utilizing them to fund their tasks. Nonetheless, Vine Coin was the primary high-profile instance that was branded as web capital markets, with a wave of tasks following go well with early in 2025.
The development slipped off the radar for a number of months, however was revitalized in Might 2025 with the emergence of Consider as a launchpad.
Consequently, new product discovering software Dupe noticed its token spike to a market cap of $79 million, in response to DEX Screener, earlier than dropping 78% to $17 million. AI social media assistant Creator Buddy peaked at $23.5 million and no-code Web3 builder Uber.enjoyable $13.7 million—down 76% and 99% respectively from their all-time highs, as of June 2025.
Why use web capital markets?
There are two major causes an organization could select the web capital markets mannequin: cash or advertising.
Mostly, a venture is trying to increase capital and can launch a meme coin to assist fund its operations. This may both come within the type of promoting tokens devoted to the venture—such because the Fact Terminal creator promoting Fartcoin—or just utilizing the creator income charges.
This method comes as conventional fundraising methods are damaged, 0xdetweiler, the pseudonymous founding father of funding agency third Avenue Capital, instructed Decrypt. He mentioned that firms are over-reliant on enterprise capitalism, which cuts out common buyers from the dialog. Consequently, the audience for the product normally doesn’t have a possibility to take a position.
In some ways, the web capital markets development is a repackaging of the preliminary coin providing motion that dominated the business in 2017, 0xdetweiler mentioned.
“Web3 was constructed on permitting founders to lift funds from the general public [and] ship revolutionary merchandise,” he defined. “They acquire a neighborhood, capital and discover product market match. The go to market is loads sooner than conventional Web2 startups.”
However some tasks don’t want capital; as an alternative, the meme coin technique is a advertising ploy.
For instance, Russian analysis lab Neiry Lab instructed Decrypt that it had already secured enterprise capital funding when merchants pumped a token devoted to its rat experiment. Contemplating that, the lab embraced the meme coin as a advertising software to assist it develop its social media presence.
Iqram Magdon-Ismail, co-founder of JellyJelly and Venmo, mentioned that JellyJelly attracted 10,000 signups the day that it launched its meme coin—which touched a $248.5 million market cap. The founders categorically dominated out ever promoting the tokens for funding, however have since built-in it into the app as a strategy to tip creators on the short-form podcasting platform.
Nonetheless, market members have famous that lots of the tasks that launch beneath this technique aren’t critical long-term tasks price investing in. Regardless of what some are calling “vibe coded bullshit” and “vaporware” merchandise, the tokens typically nonetheless pump to multi-million greenback market caps.
Good groups with good advertising and vaporware merchandise.
We’re again in ICO bubble however name it web capital markets.
— SpiderCrypto 🧑🍳🧲 (@SpiderCrypto0x) Might 14, 2025
Happily Matthew Nay, Senior Analysis Analyst at Messari, doesn’t suppose that is such a nasty factor.
“I feel it is wholesome when the market overreacts to this concept,” Nay instructed Decrypt. “Hypothesis drives costs greater, which in flip results in extra capital coming into the market, after which results in extra tasks being funded that need to discover these new concepts.”
Is that this all authorized?
It’s price noting that within the wake of 2017’s ICO increase, the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee cracked down on firms for violating securities legal guidelines—with a number of multi-million greenback victories.
With some pointing to web capital markets as a repackaging of the ICO mannequin, ought to firms be involved about driving the hype prepare?
“Corporations contemplating launching meme cash—significantly these tied to their model or enterprise—ought to search authorized steering to evaluate whether or not their token capabilities as a capital increase or implies an funding alternative,” digital asset lawyer Carlo D’Angelo instructed Decrypt.
“This requires a fact-specific authorized evaluation,” D’Angelo defined. “If the token ‘walks and talks’ like a capital increase, it could fulfill the weather of an funding contract beneath the Howey take a look at and require registration with the SEC.”
That mentioned, occasions have modified since 2017, with U.S. President Donald Trump clearly being extra open to crypto-infused monetary fashions—he launched his personal meme coin, in any case.
D’Angelo pointed to the SEC’s February 2025 workers assertion on meme cash, which seems to mark a shift from its earlier hardline stance towards crypto. The assertion claims that meme cash “might not be topic” to federal securities legal guidelines.
“The central authorized query stays: does the token operate as a capital increase or as a purely speculative, community-driven meme?” D’Angelo mentioned, including that, “The reply is important in figuring out whether or not securities legal guidelines apply.”
