While most tokens surged after news of Trump returning to the White House, meme coins struggled to keep up, reigniting debates about their lack of long-term value. Considering the performance of other altcoins, this argument may actually hold some persuasion.
However, the change may not be too late—meme coins have proven their resilience before, thriving on community support and hype. The real question now is: can the same hype drive a shift in momentum, or are we witnessing the beginning of the trend where meme coins ultimately lose their appeal?
The largest memecoin may be losing its biggest asset.
To truly understand the volatility of these tokens, Dogecoin [DOGE] is a perfect example. While many still associate DOGE with high-profile endorsements, it may be losing its most powerful asset— the support it once had.
Even if government departments name it after this dog coin, how will it affect the price? It has never really taken off. In fact, the $1 price target seems increasingly out of reach.
Will this become a turning point for DOGE? Will the community break free from the hype and develop into a more meaningful group—a group with a long-term vision?
At the moment, the answer seems to be a resounding 'no.' A quick glance at its price chart reveals that it remains highly speculative. A single red candle can wipe out the gains from a series of green candles.
As the largest memecoin, its market cap is larger than the total market cap of other meme tokens, making it hard to see memecoins surpassing altcoins in the short term.
These currencies are easy targets for market manipulation.
AMBCrypto recently revealed how major players are using massive stakes to keep DOGE trapped in a consolidation phase and employing classic manipulation strategies to prevent any breakthroughs.
This brings us to a key point: like DOGE, Memecoins heavily rely on community support to thrive—but ironically, this very dependence leads to their price volatility.
Take PEPE as an example, with a market cap of $9 billion, nearly 'half' of the tokens are controlled by whale wallets, accounting for about 190 trillion tokens. These whales have the power to manipulate the market at will, steering it in their favor.
Even more shocking is the scale of their trades—whether buying or selling—often reaching tens of billions or even trillions of dollars.
This textbook manipulation strategy of buying low and selling high has trapped memecoins in a turbulent cycle, leaving the market in a state of continuous uncertainty, with retail investors feeling anxious.
Considering all of this, predicting that these currencies will reach new highs next year may be a bit wishful thinking.
The reasons are clear: in addition to losing its allure as an 'actual use case' asset, memecoins are struggling in multiple ways.
Big players manipulate the market, stifling its true potential, and their failure to evolve into genuine stores of value has opened the door for altcoins to dominate.