1 Meme Coin to Avoid Like the Plague

Dogwifhat (CRYPTO: WIF) used to be hot.

Once upon a time, at the end of March 2024, the meme coin had a $4.68 billion total market value. And why not, right? The coin has a cute mascot (a Shiba Inu dog wearing a knitted hat), the coin is based on the high-speed Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) blockchain network, and investors even collect a modest yield on some crypto-trading platforms.

However, those qualities don't make Dogwifhat a good investment. As of Dec. 19, 2025, the coin has plunged 92% below last year's lofty peak. Formerly ranked among the 30 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, Dogwifhat isn't even on the top-100 list anymore. It's only the fifth-largest crypto with an adorable dog mascot.

And I'm afraid that's just the beginning of a long price drop.

This meme coin was built on pure vibes

Dogwifhat was never expected to actually do anything. An anonymous group of developers launched it for giggles, then disappeared from the scene. There is no organization backing this coin, only a loose community of coin holders speculating about its potential price gains in social media channels.

Nobody is building Dogwifhat-based blockchain apps. No one is funding projects in this short-lived and waning ecosystem. The Solana technology behind it could have made Dogwifhat a contender with low-cost transactions settling at the drop of a knitted hat, but the community isn't organized enough to make it happen.

Where's my hat? Image source: Getty Images.

When Dogecoin looks like the safer bet

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) would be a more reasonable investment than Dogwifhat. Choose your Shiba Inus wisely.

Look, I'm not about to buy a ton of Dogecoin or recommend that you do. I've never owned a single Dogecoin, and probably never will. That's still just another meme coin with no real-world utility to speak of.

But at least Dogecoin has reached a massive scale with the help of celebrity posts online. A $22 billion market cap and a large community of supporters are enough to keep the larger dog-coin culturally relevant -- at least for a while.

Dogecoin has social media stars like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban posting Shiba Inu memes to millions of followers. Dogwifhat has a similar dog with a knitted hat. That's about it.

You can actually use Dogecoin for tipping content creators and small transactions. Some retailers and e-tailers (so many tails!) even accept it via a couple of crypto-based payment services.

WIF gets used for watching your portfolio shrink. And while Dogecoin's anonymous founder stepped away years ago, the community kept building. Dogwifhat's mystery developers vanished entirely, and so did any hope of organized development.

When your meme coin makes Dogecoin look like a blue chip investment by comparison, it might be time to rethink your strategy. In other words, please don't buy Dogwifhat coins. You can find hat-wearing dogs for free with a basic web search (or in your favorite social media network), anyway.

Anders Bylund has positions in Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.