CEO CryptoQuant, Ki Young Ju, states that the meme coin market is 'dying' as the latest on-chain data shows its dominance in altcoin markets has fallen to a multi-month low.
This statement has sparked much debate within the cryptocurrency community. Some opinions suggest that the market is nearing a bottom, while other perspectives view the increase in losses and decreasing liquidity as signs of a severe downturn.
The dominance of Meme Coin has reached its lowest level since the beginning of 2024.
According to data from CryptoQuant, the dominance ratio of meme coins in the altcoin market has been continuously declining throughout 2024. The peak reached 0.109 in November 2024, but currently, this index has dropped to 0.034, equivalent to the low of February 2024. This downward trend indicates that investors are gradually moving away from speculative meme tokens.
Data from CoinGecko further reinforces this view. The market capitalization of meme coin segments peaked at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, before entering a prolonged decline phase. From a yearly perspective, leading meme coins have recorded significant losses.
Performance of Meme Coin sectors | Source: CoinGecko
Dogecoin (DOGE) fell 66.3%, Shiba Inu (SHIB) lost 71.3% of its value. Pepe (PEPE) even dropped by 81.6%. Bonk (BONK) also recorded a 76% decline during the same period.
Overall, the meme coin market has lost 65.9% of its value, according to data from Artemis. In particular, the meme coin segment on the Solana ecosystem has been heavily impacted. Joao Wedson, founder and CEO of Alphractal, noted:
“Meme coins and altcoins in the Solana ecosystem have just gone through the worst period — with many projects, they have truly come to an end.”
He also stated that altcoins focused on payments continue to show stability, reflecting a clear division between tokens with practical use value and speculative tokens.
What causes Meme Coin to 'die slowly'?
Analysts have pointed out many reasons for the decline of meme coins. One trader believes that launching meme coins at ultra-low costs, lacking protective measures against the risk of “rug pull,” has eroded trust, broken communities, and led investors to focus only on short-term gains.
“You really should thank Pumpfun and Alon for this… Issuing meme coins at a price below $1 without any protective measures against rug pulls should not happen. We have completely lost the community spirit and HODL because we have been rug pulled too many times. No one trusts anymore; people are just looking for ways to make a profit,” the DeFiApe account shared.
Research from Solidus Labs shows that 98.7% of tokens launched on Pump.fun show signs of pump-and-dump patterns. Meanwhile, activities on Raydium indicate that about 93% of the liquidity pools, equivalent to 361,000 pools, show signs related to illegal withdrawals (soft rug pulls).
Analyst Mikko Ohtamaa also noted that the market has become overloaded:
“The world cannot pay enough attention to 25 million meme coins. Even with successful projects, 'investors' still lose money… Because investing in meme coins is essentially just participating in a pump. You don’t buy meme coins to invest; you buy because you think it will increase in price and hope to sell at the peak. The problem is not crime, but that everyone wants to participate in this game,” he said.
Can Meme Coin recover?
Although negative sentiment is spreading, there are still views that meme coins will recover. Some investors believe that the current decline in dominance could be a signal of a bottom being established.
Famous commentator Gordon believes that those who criticize meme coins are “short-sighted and lacking in insight.” He emphasizes that meme coins are the main driver attracting attention and trading volume in the cryptocurrency market, while also predicting a new growth cycle in the future.
“The only reason the cryptocurrency market attracts attention is meme coins. The only reason to generate trading volume is meme coins. Meme coins will not disappear and will lead the next bull run,” he asserted.
Currently, the meme coin market is at an important crossroads. Whether the market recovers or continues to decline will depend on the overall market dynamics, changes in investor sentiment, and the ability of reputable projects to distinguish themselves from fraudulent projects.
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