Google search volumes for “Bitcoin” just hit a one-year low as interest in memecoins continues to skyrocket. This new investor interest is taking shape in the form of a new form of digital asset market, raising eyebrows across the financial sector.

During the week of October 12, global searches for “Bitcoin” reached an ultra-low 33 out of 100 on Google’s scale. Meanwhile, the search volume for “memecoins” was 77 out of 100. Memecoins have not returned to their previous high of 100 as of late October 2023, but most industry analysts believe that memecoins will relive those glory days of yesteryear.

The memecoin phenomenon is sweeping the crypto world, with popular creations currently underway on the Solana network. According to Step Finance, 491,000 new tokens have been created on Solana since September 12 of this year. Solana Floor reported that nearly 20,000 new tokens were launched over a 24-hour period on October 9, the majority of which were memecoins.

Solana-focused news sites have reported that the network’s memecoins collectively have a market capitalization of over $10 billion, with a total 24-hour trading volume of around $2.3 billion as of October 12.

Platforms like Pump.fun have catalyzed Solana by creating user-friendly interfaces with low transaction fees and rapid access to liquidity through decentralized exchanges such as Raydium. This has democratized token creation to the extent that virtually anyone can create and issue new digital assets.

Solana is not alone in memecoin trends. In August 2024, Tron founder Justin Sun announced the launch of a similar platform on the Tron network called SunPump. According to Dune data, 90,000 memecoins have been created on SunPump since its inception.

However, investor Mark Cuban recently warned that each meme coin was a sweepstakes attempt, warning people against trading these highly speculative assets.