Elon Musk and Joe Rogan took aim at the memecoin craze during The Joe Rogan Experience on Friday, comparing it to gambling and musical chairs.
Despite Musk’s own history of embracing Dogecoin — going as far as naming a government division Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with a Dogecoin logo — he warned against treating memecoins as serious investments.
"It's totally people just doing whatever—greater fool theory and musical chairs," Musk said . "Don't bet the farm on a memecoin."
Rogan, baffled by the rampant speculation, questioned why pump-and-dump schemes remain legal.
"It's just weird that it's legal still," he said.
Musk didn’t disagree but pointed out a deeper flaw in financial systems.
"The government’s one big pyramid scheme, if you ask me. Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time," he added.
SEC says memecoins are not securities
While Musk and Rogan dismissed memecoins as gambling, the SEC took a different approach, officially stating that memecoins do not fall under its regulatory purview.
"Meme coin purchasers are not making an investment in an enterprise… Their funds are not pooled together to be deployed by promoters or other third parties for developing the coin or a related enterprise," the SEC said.
Additionally, the agency emphasized that memecoin values are driven by speculation and collective sentiment rather than by a centralized entity.
The announcement follows comments from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who warned traders not to expect the agency to step in.
"Just because something is out there and it’s popular does not mean that it will fit within the SEC jurisdiction," Peirce stated.
The SEC’s decision comes amid a major shift in its approach to digital assets. Over the past month, the regulator has dropped investigations into Coinbase, Robinhood, OpenSea, and MetaMask while forming the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU) to focus on digital asset oversight.
Memecoins are rallying, with Dogecoin (DOGE) up 10.3%, Shiba Inu (SHIB) gaining 5.5%, and Pepe (PEPE) rising 5.7% in the past 24 hours. The Official Trump (TRUMP) token surged 20.6%, while Bonk (BONK) climbed 11.7%. Overall, the memecoin market is seeing renewed momentum, with trading volumes soaring past $9.38 billion in the last 24 hours.