INSIDE THE WILD MONEY MACHINE FUELING CRYPTO'S STUPIDEST BUBBLE.

MOST IN TRADITIONAL FINANCE HAVE LONG CONSIDERED CRYPTOCURRENCY A JOKE. NOW LEGIONS OF YOUNG MEME COIN TRADERS ARE LEANING INTO THE ABSURDITY, TRANSLATING THEIR FINANCIAL NIHILISM INTO A BOOMINGIF PERILOUS-$100 BILLION MARKET.

- NINA BAMBYSHEVA

"We're going to Miami! We're gonna have a Lambo!"

Oliver Szmul, a 16-year-old college student from London, could hardly contain himself, his voice cracking with excitement.

It was mid-May, and he had just watched a cryptocurrency called Jail Cat that he and his friends whipped up in a burst of inspiration a couple of weeks prior soar to a $1.9 million valuation almost overnight. A day later, the cat-themed token, featuring the image of a tabby in a police lineup holding a sign that reads I CHEWED UP A CHECK FOR $3,000, surged to more than $2.5 million. But just as quickly, the euphoria vanished and Jail Cat plummeted. It's now worth about $87,000.

Jail Cat was not created with any underlying purpose or theoretical utility whatsoever, other than to amuse, satirize and provide a vehicle for speculation. As a so-called "meme coin," the token has no intrinsic value other than what someone else is willing to pay for it. That can be a lot. The best-known meme coin, Dogecoin-inspired by a Shiba Inu dog-is the sixthmost-valuable cryptocurrency in the world, with a market capitalization of $47 billion.

Szmul, whose family immigrated to England from Poland, has decided that meme coins are his future. In April, a few weeks before Jail Cat's launch, he had posted his first YouTube video on his new channel, ZoomWealth, dedicated to teaching others his secrets. Szmul claims that within just a few months he has earned roughly $100,000 creating, buying and selling these silly blockchain-based coins. Some of his best trades: "Cat Poop Joystick," "Livemom" and "Sigma," a reference to Gen Z slang that calls for "a culture of strong men with unwavering self-belief."