Memecoin frenzy builds amid renewed risk appetite

Memecoins are experiencing a resurgence in market interest and social discourse due to the return of retail cryptocurrency traders. As of January 8, the market value of memecoins has increased by almost $8 billion in just a few days, marking a dramatic recovery from their 2025 lows.

The memecoin sector is currently worth approximately $49.5 billion, up 30% year-to-date and down 6.2% in the last 24 hours. As short liquidations fueled the rebound, trading activity increased, along with prices, reaching volumes of $9.2 billion. As of today, memecoins trading volume has decreased to $5.5 billion, though the majority of the coins are showing strong activity in buys rather than sells.

On-chain data shows memecoins rally after holiday rebound

👀 According to social volume data, the crypto crowd's interests have risen toward:

🐶 Memecoins: Tokens like PEPE, POPCAT, and MOG posted strong price gains and a speculative rally pushed the meme sector’s market cap up sharply, which caught traders’ attention after a rough… pic.twitter.com/t3FLYckU0b

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 7, 2026

Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Pepe Coin posted strong gains in the last seven days. 

In the last 24 hours, Dogecoin whales have acquired an astounding 220 million tokens. A new wave of confidence among high-value investors is reflected in this spike in large transactions. Technical charts indicate a significant degree of bullish movement, and traders are closely monitoring the $0.15 level to confirm further upward trends. Currently, Dogecoin is trading at $0.1437, representing a 20.7% increase in the week.

On-chain data from CoinGecko revealed that Shiba Inu is now trading at $0.058741, down 3.4% from the previous day. SHIB has seen a 24.7% increase in the past week, driven by a persistent positive mentality despite the short-term decline.

Pepe Coin spearheaded the rally with a 57.3 % increase over the previous week, reaching a peak of $0.000007265 from $0.000003647 on December 17. Sentiment on X  quickly turned bullish with PEPE at the center of the rally after increasing its market capitalization by around $3 billion in a single day. Currently, Pepe Coin is trading at $0.056405.

The extremely high surge suggests that stores are now again interested in meme tokens like Dogecoin, Pepe Coin, and Shiba Inu. 

According to Santiment, the market activity among memecoins like POPCAT and MOG is marked by an increase in speculation as the meme sector recovers from a difficult 2025.

The recent Memecoin price pump started after the holidays, similar to earlier FOMO-driven revivals.

Historically, Memecoin bounces have frequently preceded spectacular rallies later in bull cycles, especially around the beginning of the year. The memecoin rebounds, which are often motivated by resurgent consumer demand, typically follow protracted periods of consolidation or decline.

Strong similarities can be found in previous cycles. A quiet December with low volumes in late 2020 was followed by a rapid surge in January 2021, driven by post-tax-loss harvesting inflows and a renewed thirst for speculation. The setup ultimately led to the 2021 memecoin boom, during which the market capitalization of the industry increased from less than $10 billion to over $100 billion. 

Santiment reports growing interest in ETFs and RWAs

According to Santiment, social volume data indicate that ETFs and real-world assets (RWA) have become more popular among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley sought regulatory approval to launch exchange-traded funds tied to the price of cryptocurrency tokens.

As Cryptopolitan reported on January 7, the Form S-1 submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicates that Morgan Stanley intends to introduce ETFs linked to the prices of Bitcoin and Solana. BTC and Solana are the first- and sixth-largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, respectively.

Santiment stated that Spot cryptocurrency ETFs have been drawing significant inflows and driving up prices, especially for assets like XRP. The inflows demonstrate the ability of structured investment vehicles to draw institutional capital and shape market trends.

Santiment further noted that tokenized real-world assets reached record highs on blockchain platforms like Solana, making RWAs a popular story for institutional liquidity and varied cryptocurrency exposure. 

The on-chain and social data platform revealed that the prospect of on-chain bonds, real estate, and other conventional assets appeals to traders looking for alternatives to pure speculation. As a result, crypto investors are also exploring RWA tokens from initiatives like Ondo and Clearpool.

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