In a striking turn of events, Dogecoin (DOGE), a leading meme coin, has experienced a significant decline, standing out as the top loser among major cryptocurrencies on Thursday. Following a brief rally that pushed Bitcoin prices close to $74,000 on Wednesday—the highest point in four weeks—DOGE has now plunged approximately 8% within the past 24 hours. The token is currently trading around $0.094, marking a downturn that has shifted its weekly performance into the red.
This downturn is especially pronounced as no other asset within the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization has faced such a steep fall in the same timeframe, according to data from CoinGecko. Analysts suggest that this drop in value shouldn’t come as a surprise. Danny Nelson, a research analyst at Bitwise, highlighted that despite DOGE’s previous gains accompanying a wider market surge, this should not be interpreted as the beginning of a sustained meme coin rally.
Nelson emphasized the vital role of attention in the valuation of Dogecoin. He noted that the coin thrives in the “attention economy,” necessitating a growing audience to bolster its value. The recent spike, he argued, failed to generate sufficient interest to support long-term growth for DOGE.
The price dip for Dogecoin is striking, especially given that it has fallen around 87% from its peak of $0.73 reached in 2021. The downturn in DOGE has also adversely impacted the entire meme coin category, which is the only sector within the top 20 market cap categories monitored by CoinGecko that is currently in the red. Overall, the meme coin sector has seen a decline of around 0.5% over the past day and a more significant 8.3% for the week.
Other meme coins have also succumbed to this downward trend. Pepe and Bonk have seen decreases of 5.7% and 2.9%, respectively, following a previously strong Wednesday. Notably, the Solana meme coin Fartcoin has dropped about 4.9% in just one day, extending its losses to approximately 19% over the past month; it now trades around $0.16 and is down about 93% from its all-time high of $2.83 achieved in January 2025.
Additionally, TRUMP, a meme coin based on the Solana network and linked to former President Donald Trump, has also faced significant losses. The token has declined roughly 6.5% in the past 24 hours, currently priced at around $3.23, and is nearly 96% below its peak from $73.43.
As the cryptocurrency market continues to face volatility, stakeholders remain vigilant about future trends and developments regarding both meme coins and broader market sentiments.
