The Results of a 5 Year $45 Meme Coin Experiment

One of the pastimes that emerged during the COVID-19 shutdown that began six years ago in March was online trading. With many people "working" from home during and after the shutdown, online investing, or shall we say trading, became a popular pastime.

Along with meme stocks like GameStop, there was also considerable attention to cryptocurrency trading, especially so-called meme coins. One meme coin that generated considerable attention was the DOGE Coin.

Even though the coin, which started as a joke, had been around since 2013, it wasn't until the lockdown that its popularity grew. A large part of its price spike was attributed to Elon Musk, who was pimping the coin.

By Jan. 2021, the coin had risen to $.07. At the urging of my children, a couple of whom were day trading in the coin, I jumped on the bandwagon, opened a RobinHood account with two bets of $24.98 and 20.01 at $0.039 and $0.042 respective which purchased 1094 coins.

On Feb. 4, I sold the coins for $0.053, netting a whopping $13.90! After deciding to take my profit, such as it was, I reentered the market on Feb. 9 and purchased 600 coins at $0.076 a share. That was my last bet.

So, what has happened since then?

Thanks to hype, many say manipulation by Elon Musk, there was a push for crypto bro traders to push the price to $1.00. It never reached that high, but by May 7 it reached its all-time high of $0.58.

After that, the market fell out. There was a spike on Dec 6, 2024, after Donald Trump won his second term, and the coin reached $0.46. Since then, the bottom has fallen out again, and as of the last 24 hours (it trades continuously), it has been trading at about 10 cents per coin.

What are my takeaways from this experience?

First and foremost, this is gambling and in no way reflects traditional equity and bond investing, and should be viewed through that lens. Given the Wild West nature of the crypto world, it is vulnerable to manipulation and wild speculation. This is not how you want to invest for the future.

This five-year experiment has reinforced that message, and ultimately, I expect my $45 bet, which is now valued at $63 as of this posting, to collapse. But I will hold on and see what happens in another five years.

This bet could pay off, but more likely the dealer deals themselves a Blackjack while I'm holding a 20, and the play time at the table ends.