Mike Smith
4 days ago
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After a weak 2025, memecoins shifted from standby mode to acceleration mode: according to aggregators' estimates, the sector's capitalization rose from a December low of around $35 billion to more than $47.7 billion in early January. At the same time, liquidity revived—daily turnover, which had been sluggish until recently, accelerated from approximately $2.17 billion at the end of December to peaks of around $8.7 billion.
The rally's engine is typical for meme assets: attention, speed, and the crowd effect. At the start of the year, PEPE added about 26% per day, and turnover jumped by more than 300%. BONK grew by about 12%, Shiba Inu by 8%, and Dogecoin by almost 8%. On a segment scale, the total volume of memecoins over 24 hours was estimated at approximately $39.67 billion, with an increase of about 8%, and trading activity expanded by more than 20%. This looks like a test of the market's readiness to take risks again.
For business, it is not the percentage itself that is important, but the mechanics. Meme coins remain a quick indicator of sentiment: when participants are willing to pay for a joke, they are more willing to take on more complex stories. The jump in turnover means that money is once again looking for short cycles where it can enter quickly and exit just as quickly. This raises the value of the brand, the viral storyline, and the symbolism — everything that turns a token into an information product. That's why marketing, PR, and community management come into play — reach is considered faster than fundamental value.
But along with speed, the price of mistakes also increases. The meme market is reflexive: discussion generates purchases, purchases raise prices, and growth amplifies the conversation. The loop works until a trigger appears — profit-taking by large holders, a decline in overall risk appetite, or audience fatigue. Any correction in such assets usually does not creep, but breaks off in steps. In 2025, the sector had already gone through a painful contraction, so now many are looking at risk control more strictly than at loud slogans. In practice, meme coins are increasingly perceived as short-term projects for monetizing attention. Companies and funds that include them in their strategy are forced to speak the language of regulations: limits on the share of such assets, exit rules, separate accounting, and clear decision-making criteria. Here, it is not the loudest who wins, but those who know how to switch between excitement and discipline without losing momentum.
