Top 3 IP-Backed Memecoins Poised For Long-Term Success

Top 3 IP-Backed Memecoins with Legal Rights & Growth Potential

While most memecoins begin life as jokes, they can very quickly become much more serious affairs if their popularity grows. As they become more widely adopted, memecoin tokens can become valuable assets and transform into world famous brands. Take Dogecoin as the prime example of this. 

Should any memecoin grow a real community and earn recognition as a legitimate asset, questions around the ownership of that brand become critical, because there are millions of dollars at stake. These questions include who created the artwork, who owns it and, most importantly, who is entitled to use it? 

The memecoin industry is increasingly becoming a hotbed of legal disputes, with numerous projects and their token holders clashing with each other over their legitimacy. One example is the NEIRO memecoin, of which there are many, including three that live on the Ethereum blockchain and one on Solana. 

The Own The Doge DAO, which holds the rights to the original Dogecoin meme’s intellectual property, is attempting to solve this dispute by means of a community vote after acquiring the rights to the likeness of Neiro – a Shiba Inu dog whose images appears on all four tokens’s logos. There are other examples of memecoin legal disputes too, with the likes of Binance’s Peanut (PNUT) memecoin being hit with a lawsuit by Mark Longo, the owner of Peanut the Squirrel, who created the original trademark and likeness. 

These incidents underline the growing importance of IP rights for memecoins. If a new memecoin project has ambitions to grow a community and achieve traction over the long term, the only way to protect itself from lawsuits and cease-and-desist letters is to secure the rights to its underlying IP.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at three hot new memecoin projects going about things in the right way, securing their IP and their legitimacy to pave the way for a legal trouble-free future. 

1: ZEUS 

If you’re looking to invest in a memecoin that’s done things right, one of the standout options would be ZEUS, also known as Pepe’s Dog, a key character in the Pepe the Frog universe. The project aims to build on the popularity of the PEPE memecoin, and to ensure this it has secured the rights to the Pepe the Dog image from its creator, the artist Matt Furie. 

ZEUS, Pepe’s Dog, launched on May 21, based on the deep-cut character from Furie’s Boys Club comics. ZEUS represents a resurrection of meme folklore and a narrative as the secret guardian of the swap, which has finally stepped out of the background to become an icon in its own right. The image rights are held by a company called Zeus CC8 Inc., which acquired the trademark and image IP from the original artist, ND Haus, and another key team member called “Jagged”, and both of them are official collaborators and backers of the project. 

The IP rights cover the ZEUS image, brand and visual identity, with Jagged stating on X that he fully supports the project’s vision and its creators “love of animals”. With the IP rights, the project has complete freedom to use the Pepe’s Dog image and bring the brand to life. 

That explains why ZEUS, Pepe's Dog,has sparked to life, growing its market cap to just over $15 million since launching earlier this year, without any venture capital behind it. By holding the IP rights, it can prevent any other memecoin from trying to leverage the Pepe’s Dog brand and proceed with its ambitions to launch branded children’s toys, merchandise and comic strips based on the character. 

2: COCORO

Another IP-protected memecoin, COCORO launched in March on Ethereum Layer-2 network Base, and currently boasts a $13.9 million market cap. 

The project was launched with the full blessings of Atsuko Sato, the owner of the Shiba Inu dog Kabosu that inspired the original Dogecoin. It’s based on Sato’s new dog Cocoro, and the IP for its imagery and brand is currently held by the Own the Doge DAO. 

COCORO’s CEO, called Smoke, told Decrypt that the team decided to launch the token on Base because of the network’s low transaction speeds and high scalability, saying that they are “big fans” of what it’s doing for Ethereum. Base, he said, has made it “fast and affordable to build on Ethereum at scale” and has already helped to propel the growth of the team’s earlier memecoin, DOG, which currently boasts more than one million holders on Base. 

With the full backing of Sato, things are looking up for COCORO, which has had to contend with multiple rival COCORO coin offerings launched on different networks. So far, it has been very successful in these endeavors, building up a far bigger market cap. 

3: CAT 

The official token of Simon’s Cat, CAT has obtained legal permission to leverage the brand and image rights of the popular animated series, which follows the adventure of a hungry house cat and has accumulated more than 20 million followers across YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

The CAT token was created as a result of a collaboration between Floki and DWF Labs, and it lives on the BNB Chain. It’s also the first, and so far the only cat-related memecoin to secure a listing on the world’s preeminent crypto exchange Binance.  

CAT’s market cap has shot up to more than $46 million since being listed on Binance in December, and although it faces intense competition from various other “cat” memecoins, including well-known ones like POPCAT, MOG and MEW, it surely has greater potential than many of them due to its official links to Simon’s Cat. 

The IP held by CAT could yet spur tremendous growth, for cats are a long way behind dogs in the overall memecoin market. At present, the total market cap of all cat-based memecoins stands at $2.7 billion, well behind the $35 billion market cap of all dog-based tokens. 

Memecoin IP Matters

As competition in the memecoin market heats up, arguments over IP are likely to become increasingly contentious, and we’re almost certain to see many more lawsuits being filed by irate creators when they see their artwork being used to generate profits for others. 

Those memecoins that are backed by IP will have a distinct advantage over those that don’t, as it means they can use imagery associated with their characters without fear of legal challenges, giving them more options for generating revenue that can be reinvested back into their projects.