Ethereum is one of the most recognized blockchain platforms, contributing significantly to the growth of the cryptocurrency industry. The cryptocurrency is not only a stake-based asset that doesn’t require mining, but the ledger has also attracted a massive ecosystem, prompting its developers to deploy one of the most impressive projects so far.
Meme coins, in particular, have found a niche within the Ethereum community, where pop culture, technology, and innovation intersect. PepeCoin, for example, the famous coin inspired by Pepe the Frog, is built on the Ethereum ledger as an ERC-20 token. Hence, the asset borrowed some of Ethereum’s features, including the community interest, which supported the PepeCoin price in withstanding its first years and becoming one of the leading meme coins in this sector.
But there are many other coins built on Ethereum, including Maxi Doge, Bitcoin Hyper, or Shiba Inu. So, let’s see why Ethereum is so popular for meme coin developers.
Ethereum has the best smart contract capabilities
Ethereum’s smart contracts have revolutionized the cryptocurrency industry by providing developers with the tools and technologies to create more complex assets and projects. The platform provided innovative tools to build, connect, and monetize decentralized applications (dApps), thereby enabling expansion opportunities.
These smart contracts automatically execute when agreements between two parties are settled, saving time and resources on deployment, transactions, and other processes. The specific conditions on which the smart contracts operate are pre-determined, which is why developers can create projects fast.
Smart contracts ensure automation, transparency, and immutability, so Ethereum’s projects and assets, as well, will borrow these features. Besides coins, these smart contracts have been useful in constructing apps for DeFi (decentralized finance) and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
Ethereum succeeds in valuable token standards
Ethereum’s token standards are among the most practical technologies for creating assets, as their underlying system defines how a token will behave on the blockchain. Additionally, these standards ensure that the token is compatible with existing decentralized exchanges.
ETC-20 is Ethereum’s most popular standard, and the interface is ideal for fungible tokens (made for voting, staking, or simple digital currencies). The standard was the start of the following cryptocurrencies:
- Tether USD;
- Binance USD;
- DAI stablecoin;
- Maker;
Ethereum also provides NFT standards, such as ERC-721, which led to the creation of the CryptoKitties NFT collection. Another NFT standard is the ERC-1155, on which CryptoPunks was built, along with utility tokens like BNB.
Ethereum has the best decentralized applications
Ethereum’s ecosystem of dApps is one of the most extensive and developed, with thousands of current projects living on the blockchain. This was possible with Ethereum’s extensive library of tools, its innovative interface that reduced programming time, and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The latter allows developers to launch their projects regardless of the programming language used.
The ecosystem for decentralized apps gathered a consistent community, in which the audience supports development and innovation and actively contributes to crypto adoption. This is how projects like Little Pepe ($LILPEPE) have grown from the presale stages, with the help of the community and building momentum.
Decentralized applications also benefit from innovative monetization systems, as they leverage utility tokens that generate revenue by exchanging them on decentralized exchanges.
What about Ethereum alternatives?
Although Ethereum is a leader in the building aspect, some developers or users would prefer one of its alternatives. That’s because Ethereum may struggle with scalability, gas fees, and security vulnerabilities, whereas other blockchains manage these aspects more effectively.
While it is indeed true that the bigger the blockchain, the more problems, these Ethereum alternatives are still unique:
- EOS is an efficient blockchain for deploying apps within public and private sectors, especially in industries like gaming and marketplaces;
- NEO is a developer-friendly blockchain offering an accessible suite of tools that allows smart contracts to be programmed in the most common languages;
- IOST is a blockchain using a unique consensus mechanism, POB (Proof of Believability), through which network scalability and speed are enhanced with user reputation and participation;
These blockchains have also contributed to the crypto market as investments, which is why they found support for growth. According to Binance.com Research, “The total crypto market cap lost more than US300B this week, falling to US$3.7T towards the end of the week. Riskier assets like altcoins fell the most, with Ethereum falling over 13% and Solana by 20%. BNB fell only by ~3% while BTC slipped ~6%.”
What could make Ethereum a constant leader?
Ethereum has evolved considerably due to its roadmap, which introduces constant updates to the technology. However, there are many other aspects that hinder its performance. These are the causes of experiencing delays when interacting with dApps, increased transaction fees due to network congestion, and slower transaction speeds in peak periods:
- The architecture limits the number of transactions that can be efficiently processed;
- The increased demand for Ethereum-based applications;
- The lack of interoperability between Layer-2 solutions;
The scalability issues are the most prominent, but they’re slowly and steadily solved with solutions like:
- Rollups that boost transaction throughput;
- Sharding that divides the network into manageable chunks;
- Sidechains allow transactions to be processed off the main Ethereum chain;
- Optimistic and ZK-rollups batch transactions before they reach the main channel;
How will Ethereum evolve in the near future?
Ethereum’s protocol evolved considerably through the latest updates, including the Merge and Dencun, while Pectra is currently in production. Its main features include enhancing Ethereum’s wallets to work with their smart contract functionality and increasing the blob throughput.
Another update in development is Fusaka, which will enable rollups to benefit from more efficient data availability and limit gas amounts per transaction. While these are expected to be deployed this year, we’re also excited for 2026, when the Glamsterdam update is scheduled for improving the Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) and Block-level Access Lists (BALs)
Final considerations
The Ethereum blockchain is a popular choice for developers deploying smart contracts and meme coins. Its token standards and growing dApp ecosystem contribute to innovation in the crypto market, where meme coins become valuable assets beyond their community-driven fame.
