The memecoin market’s value has shed over 50% of the gains made during the Donald Trump market, which started after he won the 2024 US presidential elections. Since reaching an all-time high in early December, memecoins have lost over half of their total market value, mimicking the broader cryptocurrency bloodshed within the same period.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the total market capitalization of memes stood at $55 billion on Wednesday, representing a 56% drop from the $137 billion recorded on December 8, 2024. The valuations have dropped by 5.3% in the last seven days and 25% over the last month.
The memecoins market experienced brief spikes in January, buoyed by the launches of Solana-based tokens TRUMP and MELANIA on Inauguration weekend, which took the market cap to $115 billion but took a nosedive to $60 billion by February 8.
Industry analysts point to a combination of factors contributing to the collapse, including economic instability, regulatory uncertainty, insider trading scandals, and the involvement of high-profile names like President Donald Trump and Argentina’s Javier Milei in memecoin promotions.
Market analysts compare memecoin crash to the NFT bubble burst
On social media, some market observers have compared the memecoin downturn to previous digital token bubbles, particularly the NFT boom and bust cycle. Through a lengthy X thread published in February, Azuki researcher wale.moca pinpointed the two sector’s fall from glory, saying “They always follow the same pattern.”
“In NFTs, it was the idea that everyone would be living in the metaverse. For memecoins, it was the ‘supercycle theory’; young people buying memecoins to feel like part of a community. Then the bubble pops, and deflation is slower than expected,” he denoted.
wale.moca also spoke about how NFTs lost over 95% of their market capitalization since their market debut because occasional short-term rebounds were not enough to stop the overarching downward trend.
Another NFT enthusiast on X, going by the pseudonym beaniemaxi, supported wale’s sentiment, stating that the memecoin market decline is far from over if it follows the same trajectory as NFTs. “Most of the big hyped ones are already down 90%, yet still worth hundreds of millions. Expect that to drop another 90%,” they said.
If it’s anything like the NFT bubble bursting, these memecoins still have a long way to fall. It doesn’t happen overnight. Bubbles pop and then deflate over time. Most of the big hyped ones are down 90%. But still worth hundreds of millions each. Expect that to go down 90%+ more.
— Beanie (@beaniemaxi) March 4, 2025
Dogecoin remains the largest memecoin by market cap, accounting for 53% of the entire memecoin market, according to CoinMarketCap. Shiba Inu (SHIB) and PEPE rank as the second and third-largest memecoins, with market caps of $7.7 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively.
Trump-family affiliated tokens The Official Trump and Melania currently sit at the fourth and eighth positions, with a market cap of $2.6 billion and $444.4 million, respectively.
Pump.fun’s collapse spells the end of fun times for memecoins
One of the biggest drivers of the memecoin market rally at the end of 2024, Solana-based launchpad Pump.fun, has also seen a downtick in new token launches. Data from Dune Analytics shows that new token launches on the platform have fallen by 80% since their January 20 peak.
The crypto community has an “unfriendly” relationship with the launchpad because it has allegedly exposed investors to several rug-pull projects, including coins like LIBRA.
Market data shows the number of daily launched tokens in January peaked at over 70,000, but the highest number in February only clocked 53,000, and that was still within the first five days of the month.
“Pump.fun sucked up all retail cash into meme coins, and now it’s collapsing. The hot money will flow back into real crypto, but this was the worst, most degenerate phase of trading. Meme coins are pure cancer, draining value, fueling scams, and setting crypto back. Glad it’s over,” one memecoin critic reckoned.
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