The Chill in the Crypto and Meme Coin Market

The meme coin market is experiencing an unprecedented storm, with the price of Solana (SOL) plummeting by 50% from its high of $293 on January 19, 2025 to $141 as of the editorial deadline on February 25. Behind this market turmoil, in addition to the overall weakness in the crypto market, the key reason is the rapid decline of the meme coin craze on the Solana chain.

The violent fluctuations of the Trump Coin (Official Trump) marked the beginning of the chill in the meme coin market. The Trump crypto team launched the Trump-named coin on the Solana chain in the late night of January 17, just before the US presidential inauguration on January 20, 2025, and quickly listed it on major exchanges over the weekend. Combining the political heat of Trump's presidential campaign and the market's expectation of crypto-friendly policies under the Trump administration, the Trump Coin quickly attracted market attention, soaring from $7 to $75.35, a staggering 970% increase, on the day of its exchange listing. The Trump Coin frenzy also boosted SOL, pushing its price to a historic high (ATH) of $293 on the same day. However, the market's speculative fervor for the Trump Coin quickly cooled, with its price plummeting to $15.08, a nearly 80% drop, in early February.

After the Trump Coin hype subsided, the collapse of the $LIBRA meme coin further exacerbated the chill in the Solana market.

On February 14, 2024, Argentine President Javier Milei tweeted an endorsement of the token $LIBRA for the "Project Libertad" initiative, which claimed to use the fundraising to support local small businesses and promote economic growth. Influenced by the president's promotion, the price of $LIBRA skyrocketed from $0.22 to over $5 in a short period of time. However, just a few hours later, the market discovered that early investors were massively dumping the token, causing the price to plummet by 70%. Milei's original vision of using the "Project Libertad" initiative to boost Argentina's economy was also overshadowed by accusations of "rug pulling", making investors more cautious.

This series of events has exposed the speculative nature of meme coins on the Solana chain. Ultimately, the decline of the meme coin market within the Solana ecosystem has led some short-term speculators to withdraw their funds, significantly reducing on-chain trading activity and further impacting the stability of the SOL price. The blockchain that was once seen as a competitor to Ethereum, Solana, is now mired in a slump due to the bursting of the meme coin bubble, facing the difficult challenge of restoring market confidence.

However, in this chill, the focus is on whether the veteran meme coins that have weathered multiple market cycles, such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, can demonstrate stronger resilience against the downturn.

The Performance of Veteran Meme Coins

1. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Dogecoin (DOGE) was launched in 2013 and is one of the earliest meme coins to "break out" of the crypto market. Since its inception, Dogecoin has experienced multiple bull and bear markets, demonstrating its lasting market influence. Dogecoin's most famous high point was in 2021, when its price soared to $0.68 due to Elon Musk's multiple tweets of support. This created countless "crypto millionaire" legends. However, as the market hype subsided, the price of Dogecoin also experienced a significant correction. Nevertheless, its overall market capitalization remains around $34 billion and it has consistently ranked among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value in recent years, currently at the 8th position.

Since January 18, 2025, the DOGE price has fallen from $0.41 to $0.20971 as of the editorial deadline, a decline of about 48%, similar to Solana's near 50% drop. As a veteran meme coin, Dogecoin's performance shows relatively stable price movements compared to other meme coins, despite still being affected by the overall crypto market downturn.

(Data source: BingX Price Analysis Tool)

1. Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu (SHIB) was launched in August 2020 and is a meme coin inspired by Dogecoin. SHIB has dubbed itself the "Dogecoin killer" and quickly gained recognition in the crypto market due to its large supply and decentralized community. In 2021, the price of SHIB skyrocketed from $0.0000001 to $0.00008, with a market capitalization exceeding $52.13 billion, entering the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market value. However, as the market hype subsided, the price of Shiba Inu also experienced a significant correction. As of February 24, 2025, the price is around $0.00001476, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.73 billion, still ranking among the top 20 cryptocurrencies.

Since January 18, 2025, the SHIB price has fallen from $0.00002423 to $0.00001372 as of the editorial deadline, a decline of about 43.38%. Compared to Solana and other meme coins, SHIB's price fluctuations have been relatively smaller, and its performance is similar to Dogecoin, showing greater resilience against the downturn compared to other meme coins.

(Source: BingX Price Analysis Tool)

1. PEPE (PEPE)

Another meme coin that is younger than Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, PEPE was launched in April 2023, inspired by the internet meme "Pepe the Frog", aiming to pay tribute to this widely circulated internet culture. As an ERC-20 token based on Ethereum, PEPE quickly gained attention after its launch. Within just three weeks of its launch, its market capitalization exceeded $1 billion, demonstrating its influence in the crypto market. As of February 24, 2025, PEPE's market capitalization is around $3.825 billion, making it the 30th largest cryptocurrency.

Since January 18, 2025, the price of PEPE has dropped by more than -61.57%, which is still higher than Solana's 50% drop, indicating that PEPE is a meme coin with higher market volatility, and its price is easily affected by social media sentiment and short-term market manipulation. Investors should exercise caution.

(Source: BingX Price Analysis Tool)

Conclusion

From the data, since January 19, 2025, the price of Solana has dropped by about 50%, while the prices of Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and PEPE have dropped by 48%, 43.38%, and 61.57%, respectively.

It is worth noting that Solana's price reflects the market's expectation of the value of the "overall ecosystem" of Solana, which has an additional layer of asset security compared to meme coins like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and PEPE that have no ecosystem. From this perspective, the decline of the two veteran meme coins Dogecoin and Shiba Inu can be counterbalanced by the overall performance of the Solana ecosystem, indicating that veteran meme coins have a certain degree of resistance to declines and market recognition when the market is sluggish; in contrast, PEPE's decline is the largest, indicating its high-risk and high-volatility characteristics in the market.

Overall, the enthusiasm for the meme coin market is waning, and the decline in the price of Solana reflects the market's re-evaluation of the investment risks of meme coins. In such a market environment, investors should exercise caution, understand the fundamentals of the projects in depth, and avoid significant losses due to market sentiment fluctuations.

Disclaimer: This article is the opinion of BingX and provides market information only. All content and opinions are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors should make their own decisions and trades, and the author and BingX will not be liable for any direct or indirect losses resulting from investor transactions.