Ki Young Ju, the CEO of CryptoQuant, stated that the memecoin market is "dead" as the latest on-chain data shows that memecoins are losing their leadership in the altcoin market, reaching a multi-month low.
This declaration has sparked a debate in the cryptocurrency community because some believe the market is nearing its bottom, while others see increasing losses and dwindling liquidity, with both viewing this as a sign of severe recession.
The market dominance of meme coins is at its lowest since the beginning of 2024.
Data from CryptoQuant shows that memecoins in the altcoin market have been experiencing a continuous decline in market share throughout this year, peaking at about 0.109 in November 2024, but currently standing at 0.034, which is equivalent to the low point in February 2024. This reflects a clear shift in interest from speculative tokens to other options.
Data from CoinGecko further clarifies the overall market picture, as the market value in the memecoin sub-sector surged to a peak in late 2024 and early 2025 before entering a continuous decline. Furthermore, looking back over the past year, leading memecoin tokens have faced significant losses across the board.
Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 66.3%, and Shiba Inu (SHIB) dropped by 71.3%, while Pepe (PEPE) suffered an even heavier loss of 81.6%. Finally, Bonk (BONK) lost up to 76% in value during the same period.
Overall, the market value of memecoins has decreased by 65.9%, according to data from Artemis. If focusing on the memecoin sector of Solana, it has been impacted more severely than others. Joao Wedson, founder and CEO of Alphractal, also stated that.
Memecoins and altcoins in the Solana ecosystem have just experienced their worst period. For many, it is considered truly dead.
He also noted that payment-focused altcoins remain strong, unlike the clearly speculative group.
Why have memecoins disappeared?
Analysts have explained several reasons for the decline in memecoin dominance, with one trader stating that extremely low-cost launches and a lack of protection from rug pulls have undermined confidence, community spirit, and long-term holding, leaving only short-term profit extraction.
You can thank Pumpfun and Alon for this, as there should not be memecoin launches at costs lower than 1 USD and with no rug pull protections at all. We have all lost our sense of community and holding coins after being rug pulled time and time again. Everyone has lost faith, and each person is just coming in to extract profits. DeFiApe posted.
Additionally, research by Solidus Labs found that 98.7% of coins launched on Pump.fun show signs of being a pump-and-dump scheme. Meanwhile, activities on Raydium indicate that about 93% of liquidity pools, or about 361,000 pools, also exhibit indicators related to soft rug pulls.
Analyst Mikko Ohtamaa also added that this industry is becoming increasingly crowded.
This world does not have enough interest for memecoins worth 25,000,000 coins, and even those who win, each investor still loses money because there has been no investment in memecoins, only people participating in pumps. You do not buy memecoins to invest in them, but you buy memecoins because you think the price will spike and hope to sell at the peak. You do not care about the crime; you just want to be a part of it. This analyst has commented.
Will memecoins recover?
Although the situation is negative at present, some still believe that memecoins will recover again. They point to the decline in dominance, which is a sign of a potential bottom that could occur.
Gordon, a prominent critic, argued on X that those who criticize meme coins are all incredibly short-sighted and have low IQs, and he emphasized that memecoins are a key driver of interest and transaction volume in crypto, predicting that in the future, memecoins will stand out again.
The only reason crypto is still attracting interest is memecoins. The only reason there is still trading volume is memecoins. Memecoins are not going anywhere and will lead the next bull market, he claimed.
Currently, the memecoin market remains at a crossroads, whether the situation will recover or continue to decline depends on the overall market conditions, changing market sentiment, and the ability of projects with potential to distinguish themselves from scams.
