Crypto used to be a niche, boutique interest among a certain subset of tech-minded investors and political dissidents. But as President Trump’s recent actions have shown, that’s no longer the case. Crypto is becoming mainstream.

It’s been a whirlwind media time for crypto of late. First, anticipation over the country’s first pro-crypto president pushed bitcoin over the $100,000 mark. Then, just before Mr. Trump took office, he and first lady Melania Trump each launched their own official cryptocurrency token, or “meme coin.”

On Mr. Trump’s second day in office, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a new crypto task force. Then, late last month, Mr. Trump signed an executive order to promote U.S. leadership in cryptocurrencies and evaluate the potential creation of a national stockpile of digital assets.

To top it all off, Mr. Trump granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, founder of a dark web marketplace that allowed anonymous purchases in bitcoin. Mr. Ulbricht, a bitcoin pioneer, was considered a political prisoner by libertarians and many in crypto—and until quite recently, was serving two life sentences plus 40 years.

Yet to some critics, the entire crypto industry is nothing more than a “digital tulipmania.”

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The term “tulipmania” was originally used to refer to a three-year period in Dutch history (1634-1637) when the price of tulip bulbs briefly soared before suddenly collapsing. To critics, this foreshadows crypto’s future. But a deeper look at the crypto market reveals that it, unlike the tulips, is rooted in a firm foundation.

Driven by bitcoin, the global crypto market has endured for more than 15 years, including three full four-year cycles. For each of these cycles, bitcoin’s price floor has been set increasingly higher.

As a digital asset, bitcoin has an array of unique features, including its decentralized network, immutability, security, truly finite supply, transparency, divisibility, censorship resistance and global accessibility. Not a lot of tulip bulbs (or fiat currencies) have all those features.

Overall, the total crypto market capitalization (the U.S. dollar value of all cryptos) is valued at over $3 trillion as of early February. Investment leaders Larry Fink and Ray Dalio now openly endorse bitcoin. Mr. Trump has nominated pro-crypto former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to chair the SEC in the stead of notorious crypto critic Gary Gensler.

As crypto has grown mainstream, the number of “altcoins”—digital assets other than bitcoin, many of which lack any utility – has also skyrocketed.

This is where meme coins come in.

The most popular such coin is Dogecoin, which started as a joke but currently has a $39 billion market cap. Some have speculated that Doge will be the first meme coin to receive approval for its own exchange-traded fund (ETF)—following in the footsteps of blue-chip cryptos like bitcoin and ethereum.

Crypto ETFs broaden that crypto’s exposure and accessibility to traditional financial markets, particularly to more conventional investors, who can trade crypto ETFs on stock exchanges. As crypto is adopted and accepted (e.g., via ETF approval), its legitimacy grows, in turn generating additional value.

Many lament the momentum of meme coins in recent years, fearing that they tarnish the respectability and technological innovation of more legitimate cryptos.

These naysayers aren’t all wrong: Meme coins are highly volatile, and most ultimately go to zero. But before we throw the meme coins out with the tulip bulbs, it’s important to appreciate what a meme truly is.

A meme isn’t just a widely recognized image—it’s the representation of a broad and often deeply rooted idea or belief.

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What gives a meme coin its value? The same thing that gives any asset value: belief and demand. When enough people believe the meme (or idea) of an asset, it does possess value.

All money depends on implicit memes.

Ultimately, even the U.S. dollar is a meme coin. Yes, it has legally enforced utility, but what gives these little bits of green paper value? Collective global belief and demand.

This has become painfully more apparent over the past few years, as raging inflation and dwindling purchasing power have led many Americans to unwittingly question the dollar’s meme. It is this diminishing trust or belief in the “meme of the dollar” that has caused many to store their purchasing power in other more sound and stable assets.

So while there may be legitimate reasons to criticize meme coins, their dependence on a “meme” isn’t such a reason. As crypto leaders hope for more regulatory clarity in the next four years, we should strive to preserve investors’ freedom to make their own choices—even if that freedom means picking the wrong coins.

In the end, only the best crypto(s) will stand the test of time. But as belief in the crypto meme grows, it will shape not only markets, but the very way we think about value and money.