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The meme coin economy, led by top cryptocurrencies Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), has recently surpassed $56 billion in market capitalization.
On-chain analytics firm IntoTheBlock draws attention to this development, noting that the total market capitalization for the meme coin category recently hit a cycle peak of over $56 billion.
The total market capitalization for the meme coin category recently hit a cycle peak of over $56 billion. pic.twitter.com/vUXWS2is3h
— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) April 2, 2024
This has now been surpassed, with the total meme token market capitalization presently at $59.33 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
While the broader cryptocurrency market saw relatively lesser gains, meme coins recently embarked on an impressive rally.
Originally launched as a joke in 2013, Dogecoin, the first parody coin, paved the way for the meteoric rise of similar tokens. Dogecoin gained traction in late March, reaching highs of $0.228, tripling its value in a couple of weeks. Dogecoin has lost some of its gains, dropping 3.48% in the previous 24 hours to $0.184.
This is similar to Shiba Inu, which saw a whopping 300% price surge in the previous month, reaching highs of $0.00004575 on March 5. SHIB jumped into the top 10 following this feat but has since retreated. SHIB is now the 12th largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $16 billion.
Dogwifhat, a relatively new meme coin established in the Solana ecosystem in November of last year, has also received a lot of attention during the recent meme token price surge. Dogwifhat (WIF), the third largest meme token by market capitalization, reached an all-time high of $4.85 on March 31.
Meme currencies are incredibly volatile and are known for their lack of fundamentals. This makes them susceptible to sudden and unanticipated fluctuations caused by random events such as tweets, unrelated news and the market moves of other coins.
Unlike other meme coins, dog-themed cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have continually improved on fundamentals through the release of various innovations, providing utility and thus relinquishing their "meme coin" status.