I’ll be the first to say I’m skeptical of every meme coin rally. The surge in dog-inspired tokens (or others that don’t have a Shiba Inu as their mascot) is back, with many top meme projects seeing massive surges in recent weeks. This comes as mega-cap cryptos lead the way, with Bitcoin (BTC-USD) making fresh all-time highs this week.

Of course, the speculative nature of crypto, in general, lends itself well to momentum-driven trading trends for all digital assets. The further investors move out of the risk curve, the greater the upside potential. Thus, an increase in leveraged bets on speculative meme coins is picking up, with many of the projects I’m going to discuss here making moves toward new highs (though some are still a ways off).

I’m still going to caution investors that these tokens are really gambles only worth taking with money investors can afford to lose. But for those looking to add a small amount of portfolio exposure to some surging digital assets, here are three meme coins making the most noise right now.

Shiba Inu (SHIB-USD)

Among the biggest meme dog coin names, Shiba Inu (SHIB-USD) is a must-have crypto for those who believe this meme mania can continue. Investors and analysts expect the name to continue its run, especially now that it offers an excellent domain partner, D3 Global. The partnership allows more personalized Shiba Inu-themed domains for users.

Early access to the Shib Name Service marks a milestone, enabling individuals to secure unique identities through the registration portal. In fact, analysts like Arthur Hayes from BitMex loved the idea, praising that the “dog money” will further change the internet landscape. 

Aside from gaining more trust and hype from investors, Shiba Inu is gaining attention from a wider range of investors, due in part to this token’s rise to 10th place in terms of market cap in the entire sector. This token’s valuation surge has remained strong, demonstrating credibility to investors, despite its inherent risk. So long as this crypto momentum continues, speculators and traders will continue to focus on Shiba Inu as a way to play this trend.

Technical analysts note a double-bottom pattern appears to have emerged with Shiba Inu recently, suggesting this token could break out from here. With little more to go on, such technical trends can provide a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby investors look to enter positions ahead of a rally, spurring the rally itself. If this happens, I’d watch Shiba Inu and the other tokens on this list closely.

Dogecoin (DOGE-USD)

Ah yes, Elon Musk’s favorite crypto and meme token of all: Dogecoin (DOGE-USD). While this has seen potential in the past weeks, it’s evident it can still be a high-risk investment. The coin, together with Shiba Inu and Floki Inu (FLOKI-USD), flourished and has caught up with other tokens in the market. In fact, Dogecoin has seen an impressive upward trend, rising nearly 10% over the past week and reaching a glimmering $24.1 billion in market cap.

After the excellent 76% surge in February, experts now see some positive trends for the dog-inspired meme token, signaling momentum in this crypto rally. According to some analysts, DOGE could possibly hit $1 by mid-April 2024, which will genuinely be a significant milestone. Again, I’m skeptical of this rally, but it doesn’t mean that momentum can’t carry Dogecoin to these levels.

Ali Martinez’s forecast is grounded in historical trends, suggesting DOGE could soon become a $100 billion asset. Another analyst, Altcoin Sherpa, shares a similar target of $1, highlighting key resistance levels at $0.20 and $0.35 for DOGE’s upward trajectory.

Amidst growing meme coin trading, Dogecoin surged 84% this year, reflecting the broader cryptocurrency rally. Meme coin trading in tokens such as Dogecoin has led to impressive rallies across the board. Thus, despite lacking utility and being created initially as jokes, tokens like Dogecoin can attract retail investors amid the crypto surge. If this rally continues, Dogecoin will continue to be the leading meme coin likely to surge higher.

Floki Inu (FLOKI-USD)

The third meme coin to see some of the most impressive meme mania in 2024 is Floki Inu. A dog-inspired sibling to Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, Floki Inu has recently surged to all-time highs. Thus, one could argue this top 50 crypto project could be the meme token to watch for now.

One recent catalyst that appeared to be driving Floki Inu higher was talk about the Singaporean exchange Coinhako listing FLOKI for trading on its platform. That move should improve the liquidity of this token, and with so much demand for these speculative assets out of Asia, could lead to swifter near-term gains.

Of course, such catalysts can be short-lived, and we’ll have to see if this rally has legs. But analysts are growing increasingly bullish on this token’s near-term prospects, with Floki Inu surging more than 45% since its Coinhako listing. If other exchanges are looking at listing this token, more upside could be ahead.

Out of these three meme tokens, I think Floki Inu is the riskiest, in part due to the fact this token has the shorted tenure of these three tokens in the market. But as we’ve seen with other volatile digital assets, age doesn’t really matter, at least during parabolic moves higher. Keep this one on your radar, if you want to gamble on some highly-speculative tokens.

On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.