The meme-coin market is deep in the red and shows little sign of a quick turnaround, according to MarketVector’s Meme Coin Index (MEMECOIN), which tracks the six largest meme tokens by market capitalization. The index has plunged roughly two-thirds over the past year — about a 67% decline — and is already down 22.44% year-to-date. Since its October 31, 2021 inception, MEMECOIN has lost roughly 75.81% of its value. Meme coins have underperformed most of the broader crypto market. Even while large caps such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP wrestle with recent pullbacks, meme tokens have been mired in a longer-running slump. MarketVector’s market-cap-weighted index — meaning larger coins like Dogecoin move the needle the most — shows a string of lower highs and lower lows dating back to July 2025, and currently sits at a one-year low (around -66.8%). Dogecoin’s dominance matters. As the largest meme coin by market cap, Dogecoin carries the highest weighting in the index, so its price action heavily influences the sector’s fortunes. But recent momentum has been weak: Dogecoin has lost the $0.10 level and is trading near $0.093, offering little leadership to spark a broader recovery. Brand recognition and structural features give Dogecoin some advantages — the piece notes that it is the most widely recognized meme token and is the only one linked to spot ETFs — yet those factors haven’t translated into sustained bullish price action. That underscores how much the broader crypto sentiment and investor risk appetite are weighing on meme tokens. The takeaway for traders and investors: early 2026 weakness suggests market participants remain reluctant to allocate to meme coins, and without a clear catalyst or renewed risk-on demand, a swift, index-wide rebound looks unlikely. Recovery will probably depend on Dogecoin regaining momentum or a change in crypto-market sentiment that brings speculative capital back into the niche. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news