Over the past year, the number of licensed properties lending their names to crypto meme coins has started to rise. Meme coins are digital assets that are based on pop culture and social media trends. They are mostly non-licensed, either original or borrowing on the fame of an existing trend; the latter situation sometimes leads to licensing agreements to resolve disputes with the IP owners. Meme coins can be used interchangeably for peer-to-peer payment, with the value being variable based on supply and demand. They are often short-lived, but some remain viable long-term.
Meme coins are different from the formerly hot category of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which are unique blockchain-based digital assets that are more akin to collectibles than money. Both meme coins and NFTs can be given some sort of utility beyond purchasing power or collectibility, such as being an entry point to and facilitator of activities within a virtual world or game, and communities can be built around both.
After a burst of activity from 2022 to early 2024, NFTs quickly lost their luster as a sector for licensing, although they are still used to give fans unique content, experiences, or collectibility; these days they are more often referred to by the vaguer term “digital assets” rather than as NFTs. Meme coins, on the other hand, are just emerging as an area into which select mainstream licensors are dipping their toes. A few recent examples include:
- Baby Shark. Launched in January 2025, this coin was issued by and is intended for use in Baby Shark Universe, the immersive gaming world from Baby Shark Games. Baby Shark Universe operates under license from Baby Shark owner Pinkfong.
- Simon’s Cat. This animated social media phenomenon inspired a licensed meme coin in July 2024 on Floki Launchpad, in partnership with Floki, BNB Chain, and DWF Labs. In November, it moved to the Solana blockchain, a major meme coin platform. Banijay represents Simon’s Cat for licensing.
- Keyboard Cat. One of the first viral memes when it launched 18 years ago, Keyboard Cat ended up linked with two different unofficial meme coins, one on Solana and one on Base. In spring of 2024, they came together, as both were officially licensed by Keyboard Cat’s owner, Charlie Schmidt, who is represented for licensing by the meme-licensing specialist agency A Weird Movie.
In addition to these and other similar licensing deals, where meme coins are produced under license from the property owner, original meme coin IPs are also starting to extend their names into physical merchandise. A case in point: Ponke, a Solana meme coin whose global master licensee is 223, a division of merchandising company JCorp. It was introduced to potential sublicensees at Licensing Expo 2025, with plans for categories including toys, apparel, accessories, and “phygital” collectibles.
Comments are closed.