How to Find Meme Coins Early – The 5 Best Strategies
Early investors make the biggest gains when meme coins blow up. They get in before the broader markets, often meaning a small market capitalization and the lowest price possible. The key issue is knowing which meme coins have high potential before they explode.
This guide explains how to find meme coins early, covering proven methods, best practices, and beginner-friendly tips. Read on to find the next 100x meme coin in 2025.
5 Ways to Find New Meme Coins Early
| Strategy | Effectiveness | Difficulty | Pros and Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meme Coin Presales | 10/10 | Easy | Allows you to find meme coins before they are listed on exchanges, but have to wait until presale finishes to sell |
| Crypto Launchpads | 8/10 | Medium | Get early access to vetted meme coin projects, but allocation is limited |
| Coin Aggregators | 6/10 | Hard | Allows you to find trending meme coins in real-time, but there is a high risk of scams |
| Copy Crypto Influencers | 5/10 | Easy | Very easy for beginners, but not all crypto influencers are trustworthy |
| Crypto Whale Trackers | 9/10 | Hard | Watching crypto whales can help you find meme coins early, but it is hard to do |
1) Look For Meme Coin Presales
Crypto presales are the most popular way to find new meme coins early. Also known as initial coin offerings (ICOs), they involve raising funds for a new project. During a meme coin’s presale campaign, investors can buy newly created tokens before they are publicly listed.
The campaign is usually run on the presale project’s website. Investors buy the tokens by connecting a self-custody wallet, such as Exodus or MetaMask, allowing them to make purchases anonymously.
Just like stock IPOs, the best presales offer discounted pricing, incentivizing buyers to enter the market early. Naturally, this increases the risk, as presales have no trading history. What’s more, many presales have a small market capitalization when starting. This is how the biggest gains are made. After all, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe, and other market leaders which started as small-cap meme coins are now valued at several billion dollars.
Investors generally receive the meme coins they purchased after the presale ends. Then, often a few days or weeks later, the project lists its meme coin on exchanges. Most opt for a decentralized exchange (DEX) like Raydium or Uniswap. However, presales raising significant amounts often secure centralized tier-one listings from the get-go.
Examples of ongoing presales
BTC Bull ($BTCBULL): BTC Bull Token is a new Bitcoin-themed meme coin that offers holders free Bitcoin airdrop rewards when the price of Bitcoin reaches key milestones. In its presale phase, BTC Bull Token raised over $1 million within the first few days, a key indicator of strong community interest.
Solaxy ($SOLX): Solaxy is the first dedicated layer-2 scaling solution for the Solana blockchain, aiming to address network congestion by processing transactions off-chain before settling them on Solana’s mainnet. The project has already raised over $19 million in its presale phase.
2) Monitor Crypto Launchpads
The next method when exploring where to find new meme coins is crypto launchpads. Launchpads are third-party platforms that take on the responsibility of pre-vetting the projects they list. This often adds an extra layer of safety for investors, considering the launchpad will conduct due diligence and KYC.
However, this also means that investors must also complete KYC procedures, removing the ability to invest privately. In addition, most launchpads have limitations on how much can be invested.
Some launchpads are specialist platforms, while others are available on established exchanges. For example, one of the best crypto launchpads is offered by Best Wallet. Its “Upcoming Tokens” feature has garnered significant attention for its role in identifying and promoting early-stage cryptocurrency projects, particularly meme coins. This feature curates a list of presales and token launches, providing users with insights and direct investment options within the app.
The success of these projects underscores Best Wallet’s ability to identify high-potential tokens early. By providing users with access to promising presales and token launches, the “Upcoming Tokens” feature has become a valuable tool for investors seeking to capitalize on emerging opportunities in the crypto market.
So, if you’re interested in sniffing out promising crypto opportunities early, it’s worth opening accounts with the leading providers. In addition to Best Wallet, there are Binance, Polkastarter, TrustSwap, DuckSTARTER, and DAO Maker.
Visit Best Wallet
3) Check Popular Coin Aggregators
Data aggregation websites are another top method for finding meme coins early. These platforms ‘aggregate’ data from exchanges, yielding a variety of interesting trends and insights. CoinMarketCap is the most popular and is considered the gold standard for crypto pricing data.
However, CoinMarketCap is limited compared to DEXTools and DEX Screener. These aggregation sites specialize in DEXs, where new meme coins often trade before they explode. However, this research method requires analytical skills and time dedication. Even so, the rewards can be significant.
After all, unlike presales and launchpads, you’re buying meme coins based on identified trends. Let’s use DEX Screener as an example, although the process is similar to other aggregation sites. First, select a network from the left-hand portal.
Next, click the filter icon. This will help you discover new meme coins that align with your goals and risk tolerance. Filter examples include available liquidity, market capitalization, 24-hour volume, and the number of transactions.
Let’s say you want to focus on Base meme coins valued between $1 million and $2 million, with a 24-hour trading volume of at least $500,000. DEX Screener will then list every meme coin that meets this criteria. You can then use additional features to find suitable projects. For instance, you sort the results by the gain percentage over the past six hours.
You can also remove projects that haven’t locked their liquidity pool and renounced their smart contract. These factors reduce the risks of being scammed. After that, you can research the project’s website, social media pack, whitepaper, roadmap targets, and other important factors.
However, the main drawback of using data aggregation sites is the sheer number of meme coins available. DEX Screener initially lists over 127,000 pairs, while DEXTools has over 7.8 million tokens. This is a significant amount of data, so you might consider using third-party tools to streamline the process.
4) Follow Crypto Influencers and KOLs
Another proven method is to follow crypto influencers and key opinion leaders (KOLs). These are influential people, often located on social media, who are heavily involved in crypto. They typically have thousands or millions of subscribers, with high engagement levels and a trusted reputation.
This means two important things. First, crypto influences and KOLs are often experts in their respective fields. So, if you’re following a presale or meme coin specialist with a proven track record, it can pay dividends to follow their predictions. Second, the ‘herd effect’ can be a powerful tool when trading meme coins.
This happens when crypto influences and KOLs recommend specific projects, meaning their followers also invest. Catching these meme coins early can generate sizable gains. Our research shows that one of the top crypto influencers is TodayTrader. The YouTube channel focuses on finding meme coins “that can skyrocket by multiples of 10x, 100x, or even beyond“.
Another popular YouTube analyst is Jacob Crypto Bury. His YouTube and Discord channels typically focus on presales covering meme coins, utility projects, and more. Bury also analyzes the price of Bitcoin, alongside large-cap altcoins. Ultimately, following influential figures on social media is one of the top ways to find the next 100x meme coin.
5) Use Crypto Whale Trackers
This final method is one of the easiest ways to find new meme coins early – tracking ‘crypto whales‘. Put simply, whales are successful investors who allocate substantial funds when buying cryptocurrencies. They have strong convictions in their investments and can often influence the broader market.
For example, suppose a whale has built a crypto fortune, and they’ve just invested $250,000 into a new meme coin. This provides the meme coin with validity and a stamp of approval. Other traders will see that the whale has invested in the project, so they might consider investing themselves.
This can create a domino effect, encouraging more and more people to buy into the project. However, as with any crypto niche, it’s best to follow meme coin whales as early as possible. This ensures you get the lowest entry price before the project blows up. This is where the best crypto whale trackers can streamline the process.=
Now, following whales manually can be challenging, especially if they place trades while you’re asleep. After all, the price might have increased significantly by the time you’re able to follow the trade.
As such, it’s worth considering a whale tracking site that also offers copy trading tools. This means you’ll automatically buy or sell the same meme coins as the respective whale. This will be at a proportionate amount based on how much you’re willing to risk.
Remember that crypto whales often control multiple wallets when assessing how to find the next meme coin. Therefore, you might not get the full picture by following just one wallet address. Instead, it’s best to diversify by copying several whales from different blockchains.
The Advantages of Finding New Meme Coins Early
You now know how to find new meme coins. Next, we’ll discuss the benefits of investing in meme projects early.
Invest at a Lower Market Cap
Like most new cryptocurrencies, new meme coins often begin life with a small market capitalization. This is because they’re a brand-new launch, so visibility in the broader markets is limited. Crucially, this provides the most likely way of finding a 100x project.
This is in contrast to large-cap meme coins like Dogecoin and Pepe, which are already valued at multiple billions of dollars. Conversely, new meme coins are often worth a few million dollars, providing plenty of room for growth.
- For example, suppose you buy a meme coin valued at $3 million.
- That meme coin would be worth $300 million if it increased by 100x.
- Now consider the same example but with Dogecoin, which is currently valued at $23 billion.
- 100x growth would require a market capitalization of $2.3 trillion.
- Such a high valuation is unlikely, especially considering Bitcoin is currently worth $1.3 trillion.
Ultimately, investing in low-cap meme coins is risky, but they provide the possibility of explosive growth.
Potential for Huge ROI
Buying new meme coins early can yield an unprecedented return on investment (ROI), especially if the meme coin project blows up.
- For example, according to Business Insider, an early investor bought $8,000 worth of Shiba Inu when it first launched.
- Shiba Inu increased by over 7 million percent, providing that investor with life-changing gains.
- That $8,000 investment was worth $5.7 billion when the Business Insider article was published.
Another example is dogwifhat, which is now the ninth-largest meme coin by market capitalization.
- Dogwifhat was worth just $0.0677 after it launched in January 2024.
- About four months later, dogwifhat hit an all-time high of $4.85.
- This means that those buying dogwifhat early recorded gains of over 7,000%
Small Initial Investment
Investing in new meme coins with a low market capitalization is ideal for those on a budget. This is because investors aren’t required to risk a lot of money to make significant gains.
- For example, we mentioned above that an early investor made 7 million percent on their Shiba Inu purchase. Investing just $100 at the time would have yielded a $7 million profit.
- Similarly, suppose you invested $100 when dogwifhat was worth just $0.0677. Your investment would have been worth over $7,000 just four months later.
In contrast, investing $100 into a large-cap meme coin like Dogecoin might not be worth it. For instance, Dogecoin would require a market capitalization of $230 billion just to increase by 10x.
While unlikely in this crypto cycle, a $100 investment at 10x would return $1,000. While this is still an attractive gain, higher ROIs are available when buying new meme coins.
The Risks of Trying to Find Meme Coins Early
Meme coins, in general, are risky investments. Those without any track record are significantly riskier, meaning you could lose substantial money.
Consider the following risks before buying new meme coins early.
Large Risk of Failure
We mentioned earlier that DEXTools lists over 7.8 million tokens. Most are meme coins without value, use cases, or recognition in the wider crypto space. Crucially, this means the odds of finding successful meme coins are minimal.
Many tokens on DEXTools have decreased by over 99%. So, if you originally invested $1,000, it would now be worth just $10. This is why you should never invest money in meme coins that you can’t afford to lose. The meme coin niche is often described as a ‘casino’ for this very reason.
Prevalence of Scams and Rug Pulls
Some meme coins are created to scam investors. This is increasingly becoming simple for scammers, as the tokens are listed on DEXs, which don’t have a listing application process.
Instead, DEXs enable anyone to list tokens by adding the contract address with some liquidity. One of the most common scams is a ‘rug pull.’ The founders will raise funds from investors, building the project up as the ‘next big meme coin’. The founders will then disappear, keeping the funds raised. This leaves investors with worthless meme coins.
Limited Liquidity in Early Stages
When explaining how to find meme coins early, we mentioned that low-cap projects offer the highest ROI potential. However, this also means that ‘liquidity’ will be limited during the early stages. This is the amount of funds available for trading on the chosen DEX.
It’s often only 5-10% of the market capitalization.
- For example, suppose you’ve invested in a meme coin with a $1 million valuation.
- It might only have $50,000 – $100,000 in the liquidity pool.
- This means that a small token sale can see the price drop significantly.
Insufficient liquidity can also make it unfavorable to cash out. You might need to accept a much lower price, known as ‘slippage’.
Best Practices When Looking for Meme Coins Early
We’ve discussed the potential rewards and risks of buying new meme coins early. Next, we’ll cover some important best practices to follow. This will give you the best chance to build a profitable meme coin portfolio.
Check for a Verified Smart Contract Audit
The first best practice is to ensure the meme coin’s ‘smart contract‘ has been audited. Every meme coin, whether a new or established project, has a unique smart contract address. This address determines the project’s key functions, such as its total supply. However, scammers are known to insert nefarious terms in the smart contract – for example, preventing anyone but the founders from selling the tokens.
Reputable smart contract auditors, such as Consensys and SolidProof, alleviate these risks. They audit the underlying code to ensure free and transparent trading conditions. You can quickly check whether a smart contract has been audited by visiting a data aggregation site like DEX Screener.
Here’s how:
- First, get the contract address from the meme coin’s website
- If it’s not provided, this is a major red flag
- Next, visit Dex Screener and paste the contract address in the search bar
- Scroll down to the right of the pricing chart
- Look for the ‘Audit’ button and click it
- It should display whether the contract has been audited and by who
- DEX Screener will also display whether or not the audit found any issues.
If any issues are highlighted, it’s best to avoid that particular meme coin.
Look for Locked Liquidity Pools
The next best practice is to ensure the liquidity pool is locked. We mentioned liquidity pools earlier, which are required when meme coins trade on DEXs.
Having a ‘locked’ pool ensures the founders can’t withdraw the funds. It also ensures smooth trading conditions, enabling buyers and sellers to trade without fearing being scammed.
You can also use DEX Screener for this check. Toward the top of the data panel (to the right of the chart), you’ll see the ‘Liquidity’ button (next to FDV). The liquidity is locked if there’s a lock icon next to the figure.
Assess Community Engagement
Many new meme coins claim to have a large community. This is often backed by a substantial number of Telegram members or X followers. However, these figures can be artificial, meaning they’re bots rather than actual community members or investors.
- The first thing to check is how much engagement the social pages get.
- For example, suppose the X page has 100,000 followers, but recent posts average less than 10 likes. This likely highlights that the followers aren’t real.
- Additionally, check how active the Telegram group is. Make a judgment about whether comments are real or a sign of automated bots.
Another method is to manually check how many unique token holders there are. Once again, DEX Tools can help. If the number of holders is tiny when compared to the project’s social following, this is a red flag.
Diversify Across Several Projects
Another best practice that’s crucial for risk management is diversification. The likelihood of picking just one new meme coin that blows up is extremely low. As mentioned, millions of meme coins trade on DEXs, with new projects launching daily. Therefore, the best strategy is to diversify your funds across different projects.
For example, you might buy meme coins from different blockchain ecosystems, such as Ethereum, Solana, and TON. You might also consider different investment methods, such as presales and launchpads. As well as those trading on popular DEXs like Uniswap and Raydium.
Ultimately, you only need one meme coin investment to explode to realize substantial ROIs. Conversely, investing in just one project could mean risking your entire bankroll.
Conclusion
The benefits of finding meme coins early are clear: getting in early on a meme coin with strong community backing and viral potential can lead to impressive gains. However, most meme coins fizzle out before they gain any real traction, leaving early investors with little to show for their efforts.
Even if you manage to identify a promising project before the hype kicks in, there’s no guarantee it will take off or sustain its momentum. Many meme coins are built purely on speculation, and their success depends more on social media trends than solid fundamentals.
That said, it’s unquestionable that there are gains to be made if you’re lucky enough to make some canny picks. To improve your chances of finding meme coins early, you need to stay ahead of the curve. This means monitoring platforms like X, Reddit, and Telegram, where crypto trends often start.
Tools like Dexscreener, Poocoin, and Etherscan can help you spot new tokens as they launch, while platforms like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko’s “Trending” or “Recently Added” sections can highlight emerging projects. Joining crypto launchpads, following blockchain explorers, and keeping an eye on influencers (with a critical mindset) can also provide valuable leads.
As with any high-risk investment, diversification and caution are key. Never invest more than you can afford to lose, and always do your own research beyond influencer hype and community buzz. Look at liquidity, tokenomics, and developer activity to gauge a coin’s long-term potential. If something feels too good to be true, it probably is.
FAQs
Is trying to find meme coins early a good strategy?
Yes, not just meme coins, but finding any crypto early is a notable strategy. You’ll get the lowest price possible and be able to invest before the project blows up.
What is the best way to find meme coins early?
The best ways to find meme coins early are presales (ICOs) and launchpads. You can also research data aggregation sites (e.g. DEX Screener) and track whale wallets.
Is it better to target micro-cap or small-cap meme coins?
Choosing between micro or small-cap meme coins depends on the risk tolerance. For instance, micro-caps offer the highest upside potential but they’re also the riskiest.
References
Source: cryptonews.com
