Just a week ago, Dogecoin hit a three-year high of $0.43, but last week felt very calm compared to before.
Dogecoin is currently slowing down after experiencing a week of massive gains.
While other long-standing dog-themed tokens are falling, a new dog-themed token is continuing from where DOGE left off, soaring in this week's rankings.
CoinGecko data shows that the seventh largest cryptocurrency by market cap is now trading at $0.38 per coin. This is a 0.5% decrease in 24 hours and a 2.5% drop since last Wednesday.
Admittedly, for a particularly volatile coin, this is a moderate decline, but compared to last week's trend, it is also a huge shift.
Just over a week ago, Dogecoin hit a three-year high of $0.43 and returned to the $0.40 mark on Tuesday, while Bitcoin reached a new all-time high again, but last week felt very calm compared to before.
Shiba Inu (SHIB), Bonk (BONK), and Dogwifhat (WIF) also fell that day, with only BONK still in an upward trend over the past 7 days.
However, Floki (FLOKI) has been restless, rising about 15% within a week after announcing its listing on Coinbase.
Despite the market downturn, a new member of the meme dog pack is making waves. Just a Chill Guy (CHILLGUY) is a Solana-based meme coin inspired by a viral TikTok of a personified dog in casual attire, which has surged 400% in the past day to $0.41, with a market cap of $408 million. The token launched this past Monday.
Why is DOGE falling?
Why has the momentum for Dogecoin slowed since last week? As is well known, DOGE and other meme coins are highly volatile, so a pullback after a rebound is typical.
The momentum of Dogecoin is usually driven by attention and hype. As the buzz around Donald Trump's election win and speculation about Elon Musk's proposed government efficiency department (D.O.G.E.) fade, the positive impact on its price may diminish.
However, Wintermute OTC trader Jake Ostrovskis said that what is happening with Dogecoin is not limited to the leading meme coin; many altcoins are now in the same boat.
"We see the broader altcoin space relatively weak," he told Decrypt. "Bitcoin's stellar performance is siphoning liquidity from 'alternative investments,'" he said. These markets are inherently volatile as well, so pullbacks are a normal part of trading.
Meanwhile, BIT Mining's chief economist Youwei Yang noted the potential changes around Dogecoin mining—including "merged mining" with Litecoin (LTC)—which suggests miners may sell off their holdings when prices are high.
"Mining LTC/DOGE is at a very profitable level, with profits being two to three times that of Bitcoin, according to ASIC generation," Yang said. "Miners are selling large amounts of DOGE they have historically and recently accumulated to take some profits."
He advised miners to cash out when DOGE rises: "We learn from history that we worry this level of profit won't last," Yang told Decrypt. "Sell some to take profits or at least pay the electricity bill."
Even with the decline, Dogecoin has still achieved huge gains over the past month, with CoinGecko data showing it has surged more than 163% in 30 days.
Its revival should be credited to one person: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who started injecting Dogecoin on Twitter in 2019—on a platform he now owns, which was later renamed 'X.'
His relentless posts helped the token cultivate a rabid following, allowing its market cap to skyrocket. This figure now exceeds $55 billion, with both price and market cap increasing since he became a strong supporter of elected President Donald Trump this year.