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Memecoins were one of the top trends when the crypto market cap exploded in 2021. With the 2022 bear storm, many cryptocurrencies, including the leading meme coins — dogecoin ($DOGE) and shiba inu ($SHIB) — lost most of their value.
Earlier this month, another meme coin based on the 2000s Pepe the Frog meme, Pepe coin ($PEPE), rose to dominate the category. Only 18 days after its launch, the asset’s daily trading volume hiked to roughly $2 billion, according to data provided by Santiment.
🐸 The $PEPE #FOMO was in full force during the first week of May, jumping approximately +1,200% in a week before its predictable decline. Our latest insight looks at how this #memecoin surge compared to ones of the past, and how we can learn from it. 👇 https://t.co/LusXE2urza pic.twitter.com/hsfXRu1UYp
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) May 16, 2023
Although $PEPE’s numbers look massive, the two leading dog-themed meme coins were far ahead of the competition at their peaks in 2021. Santiment’s data shows that $DOGE and $SHIB’s 24-hour trading volumes reached roughly $70 billion and $40 billion, respectively.
While $PEPE might still have much more potential for growth, Santiment believes that the internet meme’s “liquidity and retail participation in the market” is much lower than the top two meme coins.
Moreover, one of the main reasons behind this fall, per Santiment, is the collapse of some high-profile crypto-related firms — FTX, 3AC, Voyager, and even some affiliated banks.
Despite $PEPE’s massive social rally, the meme coin is still far behind $DOGE and $SHIB “when it comes to mainstream media coverage,” Santiment wrote.
Currently, the total memecoins’ market capitalization stands at $17.26 billion with a $1.1 billion daily trading volume, per CoinMarketCap data. Of this tally, over $15 billion of the total market cap belongs to $DOGE and $SHIB.