Memecoin trading is sending bear market signals based on legacy meme performance. Meme tokens crashed last year despite an increase in small token launches.
The memecoin market is showing the first signs of a change in sentiment and may be seen as a sign that cryptocurrencies are at the bottom of a bear market. Memes typically measure vibrancy and the influx of mainstream retail funds. However, the original Dogecoin ($Doge).
Dogecoin was expected to become a mainstream asset, especially after a major boost from Elon Musk. However, after many years of trading, $Doge The strength of the story weakened and it fell to $0.08.
Some of the legacy meme coins and tokens have been largely abandoned from social media narratives. According to Alpharactal data, FLOKI controls 39.7% of meme transactions. $ bonk Holding 32.2%; $Doge It reaches 30%. The trading profile of these meme tokens is very different from the Solana meme complex, where smaller tokens last for days or hours and trading volumes are very low, as traders constantly chase new additions.
Memecoin Index Erases Bull Market Rise
The Memecoin Index by Market Vector has erased more than 74% of its value since January 2025. The index includes the following major meme tokens: $DogeShibu, Pepe, Maga, $ bonkand the recently added Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) are representative of the Solana ecosystem.
The Market Vector memecoin index has fallen over 74% since January 2025. Source: Market Vector
Over the past year, the index has collapsed rapidly, showing a lack of enthusiasm for the altcoin market. Memes were widely popular during the 2021 bull market, but suffered the most losses during the 2023 bear market.
Meme tokens were used as an alternative to other altcoins, but came under scrutiny for potentially being used as unregistered securities. Memes claim no intrinsic value and have evaded scrutiny, but this has had an impact on other types of tokens.
Meme activity is seen not only as the beginning of a bear market, but also as an indicator of a market reawakening. Memes typically peak before altcoins, indicating a change in sentiment. Memes can also be an early signal of overall market weakness or lack of positive sentiment. Fewer whales and retail investors want to lock up their money for months, waiting for the meme recovery of old tokens.
Memecoin activities move to Solana
The reason for the slow performance of legacy meme projects is the transition to the Solana ecosystem.
Over 81% of meme tokens are on Solana, but the market capitalization of most assets is minimal. Unlike long-term projects like $ bonka new wave of memes tracks new social media trends more closely.
Solana accounted for over 81% of meme tokens, but most assets have short lives and low liquidity. |Source: Dune Analytics
Also, new tokens do not try to form communities and wait for expansion, instead relying on rapid trading, which often leads to big crashes.
New token activity has not been affected by the bear market as retailers have switched to the trenches to avoid getting caught in the downward spiral of BTC and other large tokens.
