‘Memecoins are toxic’: Vitalik Buterin urges crypto to shun the $50B hype

Key Takeaways

Why is Buterin backing prediction markets over memecoins? 

He argued that most memecoins are risky with little real-world utility, unlike structured prediction markets.

Will memecoin traders shift to prediction markets? 

That remains to be seen, but there were still considerable losses in both segments. 

Ethereum [ETH] Co-Founder, Vitalik Buterin, has heightened criticism against memecoin gambling. 

In an X (formerly Twitter) post, Buterin decried that they are short-term “risky weird things” that do not make financial sense and should be shunned. 

“Memes glorifying being ‘all in’ in a financial sense on things you did not even know about 5 years ago are toxic and should be pushed back against.”

Source: X

He was reacting to another user who claimed that “gambling” is bad and shouldn’t be promoted to the mainstream. But prediction markets were better and should be allowed to operate freely. 

Subtly, Buterin’s reaction equated gambling to trading memecoins while viewing prediction markets as a better option. 

Unsurprisingly, he has always embraced prediction markets like Polymarket as the “source of truth.” 

In contrast, memecoins are detrimental to the industry, according to him. However, he only supports those that focus on charity or community empowerment.   

Memecoins vs prediction markets

The memecoins narrative became overheated in 2023-2024 as the segment printed returns of up to +1000%. The catalyst? A rebellious crypto trend that boycotted “VC-tokens” being dumped on retail found solace in memecoins. 

New shiny memecoins like dogewifhat [WIF] and others popped up and saw massive upside before the steam ran out.  

In 2025, the DEX perps, prediction markets, privacy coins, and stablecoins become top narratives. With insufficient attention to the memecoins, the segment has underperformed in the past few months. 

From peak hype to decline

The total memecoin market cap has dropped nearly 3x from $130 billion+ to $50 billion on a year-on-year basis. 

Source: CoinMarketCap

Although prediction markets have become crucial data tools for risk management, the traders involved also have their fair share of struggles. 

According to Dune, over 85% of open positions were in the red, with only 15% showing profit. Similarly, like memecoin trading, a significant portion of retail investors appeared to be underwater in the prediction markets. 

The primary difference is that memecoin is often associated with rug pulls, whereas prediction markets allow you to express an opinion on an event.