That a memecoin trader could turn a few thousand or even tens of thousands of US dollars into a million within a very short time was almost normal throughout 2024. But just as quickly as the hype arrived, it faded again.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, has now delivered a blunt assessment of the memecoin sector, stating in a short post on X: “The memecoin markets are dead.” He accompanied the statement with a chart showing memecoin dominance within the altcoin market falling to 0.04 — a level last seen during the FTX collapse three years ago.
While memecoins experienced several sharp surges in dominance during previous market cycles, each rally was followed by a deeper and longer contraction phase. More importantly, recent price action shows both lower highs and lower lows. The question now is whether this marks the end for Dogecoin and similar tokens.
According to CoinGecko, the entire memecoin sector currently has a total market capitalization of $47.5 billion, roughly half of which is attributed to Dogecoin alone. By comparison, Solana on its own has a market capitalization of around $74 billion, while Ethereum stands near $375 billion.
Some of last year’s hottest memecoins have been hit particularly hard. Bonk is trading about 85% below its all-time high, dogwifhat has plunged 91%, and Brett is down a staggering 93% year-on-year.
The CryptoQuant chart supports the view that memecoins have largely lost their relevance in driving the broader altcoin market. Why Elon Musk’s space company could still play a role in changing that narrative is explored in a separate DOGE price analysis.