Crypto markets experienced renewed anxiety on Thursday as Bitcoin's price fell back below $90,000. This decline contributed to a broader deterioration in risk sentiment, impacting meme coins and other altcoins particularly hard. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization saw a decrease of nearly 3% over the preceding 24 hours, settling at $3.07 trillion. The Fear and Greed index is currently indicating "Fear" among investors, with no immediate signs of improvement.
Meme Coin Mania Shows Signs of Exhaustion
The meme coin surge that characterized much of 2025 appears to be losing momentum. The platform Pump.fun, which facilitated the launch of tens of millions of new meme tokens, has seen its activity levels return to those observed shortly after its initial release. In a notable example, OFFICIAL TRUMP, a token that gained significant attention and reached an $8.8 billion valuation, has dropped by 92% from its all-time high.
Meme Coin Frenzy Fades as Volume Drops 27%
The cumulative market capitalization of meme coins has suffered a substantial decline, falling by 22% over the last 30 days to approximately $40 billion. Concurrently, the trading volume for meme coins has decreased by 27% in the same period, reaching $5.15 billion.
Within the political-meme niche, promoters are actively seeking ways to sustain interest in their tokens. The OFFICIAL TRUMP coin, for instance, is being redeveloped into a mobile game called "Billionaires Club." Its market capitalization has since shrunk to below $1.2 billion, with TRUMP trading at an average price of $5.64 at the time of reporting.
Even Dogecoin, the pioneering meme cryptocurrency, marked its 12th anniversary with subdued price action. Analysts are divided on whether its prolonged consolidation phase is on the verge of a breakout or if a further decline is imminent as it enters its 13th year.
Dogecoin, often referred to as the "grandfather of the entire meme economy," has experienced a year-to-date (YTD) decrease of 57%. At present, DOGE is trading at an average price of $0.138. Similarly, Shiba Inu, another once highly popular meme coin, has seen a YTD decline of 61% and is trading 90% below its all-time high.
It appears that the intense meme coin activity witnessed throughout 2025 has finally exhausted its momentum, with public interest shifting elsewhere.
Has Meme Coin Mania Finally Burned Out?
Experts suggest that the market's capacity to sustain attention for millions of meme coins is limited. While a select few might capture interest for a weekend or even a year, the majority ultimately fail to deliver value, leaving many investors with losses.
Mikko Ohtamaa points out that these tokens lacked a genuine investment case, and their appeal stemmed from the expectation that others would buy them at higher prices, rather than from underlying fundamentals. He notes that the term "investing" was often loosely applied in this context.
Ohtamaa further elaborates that tokens like LIBRA (Milei) or TRUMP were not purchased based on policy analysis. The market participants have increasingly recognized this, leading to a cycle of losses for traders who repeatedly attempted to profit, ultimately contributing to the burnout of this trend within a single year.
These speculative episodes tend to fade not due to regulatory intervention, but rather because the supply of new participants willing to invest dries up. However, this does not signify the end of internet culture, as memes continue to be a significant part of online expression.
According to a16z crypto's 2025 State of Crypto report, over 13 million meme coins were issued this year. The firm attributes this trend to a lack of formal digital asset market regulations in the U.S. The report highlights the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act as crucial for establishing order, protecting consumers, and providing a regulatory framework for legitimate projects.