CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju declared meme coin markets "dead" as on-chain data showed dominance in altcoin trading fell to its lowest level since February. The metric dropped from 0.109 in November 2024 to 0.034. That matches early 2024 lows and sparked debate over whether the sector faces terminal decline or a potential bottom.
What Happened: Market Retreat
Data from CryptoQuant shows meme coin dominance peaked in November then declined steadily. CoinGecko figures confirm the severity.
Major tokens posted heavy annual losses.
Dogecoin fell 66.3%, Shiba Inu dropped 71.3%, Pepe declined 81.6%, and Bonk shed 76%.
The overall meme coin market dropped 65.9%, according to Artemis data, with Solana's sector particularly hard hit. Joao Wedson, founder of Alphractal, said "meme coins and altcoins in the Solana ecosystem just hit their worst phase — for many, they're simply dead."
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Why It Matters: Trust Breakdown
Analysts cite ultra-cheap launches without rug-pull protections as destroying community trust. Research from Solidus Labs found 98.7% of tokens on Pump.fun showed pump-and-dump signs, while Raydium data revealed 93% of liquidity pools displayed soft rug-pull indicators.
Analyst Mikko Ohtamaa said the sector became overcrowded.
"The world does not have enough attention for 25,000,000 memecoins," he said, adding that participants buy hoping to sell at peaks rather than invest.
But some see recovery ahead: commentator Gordon argued meme coins drive crypto attention and volume, predicting they will lead the next bull run.
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