Meme coins foment clash among crypto experts amid growing interest from institutional investors

The subject of meme coins sparked a series of online clashes among crypto experts on Thursday after rapper Iggy Azalea took a jab at Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. This follows a report from crypto exchange Bybit, claiming that institutional investors' meme coin holdings have increased 300% since January.

Meme coins spark debate despite huge holdings from institutional investors

Several crypto experts took shots at each other on Thursday over the recent celebrity meme coin trend and how it affects investors. The series of attacks appeared to have begun shortly after Iggy Azalea posted a sarcastic meme picture in reply to Vitalik Buterin's comment on the approaches that celebs have taken toward launching their tokens and the impact it has had on the space.

Also read: Ethereum's Buterin suggests new framework for celebrity meme coins

The reply from Iggy Azalea spurred conversations among some well-known crypto experts, including Uniswap co-founder Hayden Adams, who believes Azalea's post about Buterin "condescends the best builder in the entire space" proves his point at the same time.

Crypto trader Ansem blasted Adams, calling him and many other Ethereum top voices on X "elitists”. The feud occurred hours before MOTHER, Iggy Azalea's Solana-based meme coin, hit an all-time high of $0.2306, up 113% in the past 24 hours.

The rise of MOTHER token adds to the recent buzz around meme coins. A report from Bybit confirmed that institutional investors on its exchange have increased their attention toward these tokens in the last six months.

Read more: Celebrity meme coins gain attention as Iggy Azalea and Davido join the train with respective token launches

The report reveals a 300% increase in meme coin holdings among institutional and retail investors in 2024. Notably, institutional holdings of meme coins skyrocketed by 226% between February and March. In addition, retail holdings surged 478% between February and April following the meme coin frenzy around the same period.

PEPE, SHIB and DOGE lead the top meme coin holdings among these institutional investors.

DOGE saw the highest holdings among institutional investors, which held 36% of the total, compared with retail investors, which held 24.5%.

Also read: Solana-based Pump.fun bags $30 million in revenue from meme token launches

"This suggests that while both groups view DOGE as a staple asset within the meme coin space, institutions favor it more, perhaps due to its higher liquidity and relative stability," Bybit said. 

However, the other two meme coins were not far behind.

The Bybit report continued, "Both cohorts also enjoy Ethereum-based meme coins (PEPE) and (SHIB), with retail users holding 20.95% and 14.61%[,] respectively, compared to institutions' 22.23% and 10.39%."