The total market cap of cryptocurrencies fell to $3.42 trillion on January 8 as most leading cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, posted losses.#MEME

The declines among major meme coins were particularly severe. Popular meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu saw significant declines on the 24-hour chart, leading to a drop in the market cap of meme coins.

DOGE was trading at $0.33 after falling 8.5% in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Shiba Inu recorded a decline of more than 7% in the same period.

The overall decline in the meme coin market appears to have been caused by whales exiting their positions.

According to crypto analytics platform Spotonchain, a whale has deposited 210 billion Baby tokens, worth around $3.95 million, on the Kraken exchange. Over the past two days, the whale has sold around 427 billion Baby tokens.

“Overall, this whale deposited 427 billion PEPE to Kraken at an average price of $0.00001987 ($8.49 million) over the past two days, leaving 1 trillion PEPE ($18.5 million) with a total profit of $2.15 million (+8.67%) from this second PEPE trade,” Spotonchain said.

This move may have further strengthened the negative sentiment. Baby has also recorded losses of more than 10% on the 24-hour chart.

Baby has become the third-largest meme coin as it surged on social media buzz and viral trends. However, the recent sell-off could mean major investors are recalibrating their positions.

Similarly, another whale sold 74.483 billion MOG tokens for 177,736 USDC. This large-scale liquidation suggests that the meme coin market may be losing its appeal.

As these whales continue to unload their positions, the resulting selling pressure has likely had a cascading effect on the prices of meme coins, contributing to the overall market decline.

Meanwhile, another whale has bought $18 million worth of meme coins over the past day, including WIF and POPCAT. However, the whale’s purchases have not boosted meme coins, as the price charts of both coins are in the red.

However, it should be noted that meme coins have always been volatile. While they often attract attention due to their meme-based culture, their price movements are remarkably unpredictable.

As things settle down, some may see this dip as a buying opportunity, as the currencies could bounce back later.$DOGE

$PEPE

$WIF