Memecoin Mania Melts Down as Social Dominance Tanks

• Memecoin social media mentions have slumped to new lows.
• Falling social dominance for memecoin is indicative of changing investor preferences.
• Dogecoin trading activity has dried up.

Memecoins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have become a major force in cryptocurrency, fostering massive online communities of loyal supporters. These quirky cryptos often thrive on social media hype to drive explosive growth and capture investor dollars.

To measure the extent of “social media hype,” market intelligence firm Santiment employs the social dominance metric. This metric gauges “the share of the discussions in crypto media that is referring to a particular asset or phrase” relative to that of the 100 biggest tokens by market cap. 

According to Santiment data, the social dominance of four major memecoins has significantly declined over the past three months. This decline suggests a slump in investor interest in memecoins.

Memecoins No Longer Talk of the Town

Santiment compiled the social dominance scores of heavy-hitting memecoins Dogecoin, Pepe, Shiba Inu, and Dogelon Mars over the past year, drawing attention to a significant decline from June onwards.

Shiba Inu managed to buck its downtrend around August, as anticipation of the mainnet rollout of the Shibarium layer2 platform built. However, due to technical difficulties, the mainnet rollout was delayed. Shiba Inu proved unable to hold onto its recovery, eventually leading to a notable drop in social dominance to just 0.55%.

On the other hand, Pepe has shown signs of recapturing its former social media glories post-June. Pepe’s social dominance score continues to rise over the past three months and is currently the most mentioned of the cohort, boasting a 2.3% social dominance score. This is followed by Dogelon Mars’ score of 1.5%.

The same cannot be said for Dogecoin, which continues to flounder for social media activity to record a current social dominance score of 0.9%, its lowest since 2020.

The fading social prominence of Dogecoin reflects a broader trend of declining traction for memecoins overall. Investors are increasingly looking for real-world utility in the bear market, which has led to waning interest and lessening social media chatter. 

Despite Dogecoin’s attempts to reinvent itself as a payment coin, the price of DOGE continues to face strong headwinds as investors shun memes in favor of fundamentals.

Dogecoin Continues to Flounder

The Dogecoin price started 2023 on a relatively strong footing, surging to a year-to-date high of $0.1048 on April 3, but has been trending ever lower since. Having recorded a year-to-date low of $0.054 amid the US banking crisis during the summer, the token looked poised to recover but hit resistance at $0.084 in late July, triggering another leg down.

DOGE has been trading in a narrow band between $0.0596 and $0.0687 for over six weeks, indicating that buying and selling activity has withered away.

On the Flipside

• General activity is down across all crypto markets, not just in relation to memecoins alone.
• Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are attempting to reinvent themselves as more than memecoins to address criticisms around their lack of utility. However, it appears that the market does not buy the change.

Why This Matters

The decline in memecoin interest indicates a change in investor preferences towards cryptocurrencies that offer more practical applications. Although DOGE and SHIB have tried to address this issue, their diminishing social influence suggests that they have not been able to convince investors that they are more than memecoins.

Read more about Pepe’s protocol change here:
Pepe Memecoin Sinks 20% After Controversial Update

Find out more on the decision to ban crypto payments by Chase Bank here:
Chase Bank Crypto Ban Threatens to Derail UK Hub Ambitions