Memecoin Dominance Drops to 2022 Lows as Dogecoin-Led Sector Signals Potential Dormancy

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Memecoin Dominance Drops to 2022 Lows as Dogecoin-Led Sector Signals Potential Dormancy

Memecoin dominance has crashed to multi-year lows in 2025, signaling a severe breakdown in speculative activity. Fresh data from CryptoQuant and CoinGecko reveals a sector-wide decline across all subcategories, with no rotation or retail revival in sight. This structural shift indicates evaporated liquidity and prolonged dormancy ahead.

• Key Point 1: Memecoin dominance metric has fallen from 0.11 in late 2024 to 0.04, matching 2022 lows, per CryptoQuant charts.
• Key Point 2: Every memecoin subcategory, from dog-themed to AI memes, is in simultaneous decline without substitution trends.
• Key Point 3: Total memecoin market cap has retraced 70-80% from peaks, with liquidity contraction suppressing high-beta assets like these.

What Is the Current State of Memecoin Dominance？

Memecoin dominance, a key indicator of speculative retail interest in the crypto market, has plummeted to levels last seen in late 2022. According to CryptoQuant data, this metric peaked above 0.11 in late 2024 before steadily declining throughout 2025, now hovering near 0.04. This drop reflects a complete withdrawal of appetite for high-risk, narrative-driven assets amid stabilizing altcoin market caps.

How Are Memecoin Subsectors Performing in This Decline？

The downturn in memecoin subsectors is uniform and pronounced, with no emerging themes to offset losses. CoinGeckos analysis shows categories like dog-themed tokens (e.g., Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, dogwifhat) peaking at $100-120 billion in early 2025 before retracing to mid-2023 valuations—a 70-80% drawdown. Elon-inspired and Solana-based memes have followed suit, declining by similar margins.

Other areas, including 4chan/culture memes, AI meme tokens, frog-themed coins, and PolitiFi/election-driven assets, exhibit the same pattern: sharp peaks in late 2024/early 2025 followed by uninterrupted downtrends. This synchronicity is unusual; historically, weakness in one area prompts rotation to another, but current data indicates evaporated liquidity across the board.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju emphasized the severity, stating, “Memecoin markets are dead,” highlighting the absence of retail revival or new narrative leadership. Liquidity metrics from broader market analyses confirm contraction, which disproportionately impacts volatile assets like memecoins first. Without rapid inflows or renewed speculation, experts predict an extended quiet period for the sector.