The stagnation that has been going on for weeks in the cryptocurrency market has been replaced by a remarkable revival on the memecoin front. Memecoin market value, which decreased steadily until mid-December, changed direction with the first days of January. The total value, which decreased from 42 billion dollars to 36 billion dollars, regained strength in a short time and approached 48 billion dollars, and is currently balanced at 44.6 billion dollars. This chart shows that speculative capital is quietly returning to the market.
Solana Effect and Increased Trading Volume
What really made this recovery important was the significant increase in transaction volume. Daily volume on Memecoins increased by over 17 percent, reaching $4.75 billion. This indicates that the rise occurred not with shallow liquidity, but with real participation. Especially the prominence of memecoins in the Solana ecosystem reveals that investors have started to take risks again. Thanks to its low transaction fees and fast network structure, Solana has again become a center of attraction for speculative transactions.
Bitcoin remaining above the 90 thousand dollar level is also an important factor supporting this process. The strong stance of the leading crypto asset creates a general environment of confidence in the market and paves the way for investors to turn to higher risk assets. For this reason, memecoins are considered early indicators of a risk-on trend in the market rather than an isolated “hype” wave.
Larger Memecoins Are Strong, Smaller Ones Are More Volatile
Market data shows that the rise is mainly concentrated in major memecoins. Bonk attracted attention with its daily volume of 131 million dollars, rising approximately 28 percent in the last seven days. This performance suggests that investors are hedging their positions rather than a short-term pump. Shiba Inu, on the other hand, presented a more stable outlook with a market value of over 5 billion dollars, gaining more than 15 percent. Pepe was another example that supported this picture with its high transaction volume.
On the other hand, the rises were much sharper in smaller-scale memecoins such as Dogwifhat, Fartcoin and Pudgy Penguins. However, the low market values of such assets make it possible for them to withdraw at the same pace. Therefore, movements in mid-cap tokens appear to be based more on chasing momentum.
In parallel with these developments, the increasing institutional interest in spot Ethereum ETFs in the USA recently has also positively affected the general risk perception in the crypto market. The shift of institutional capital towards mainstream crypto assets also contributes to retail investors taking bolder positions.
As a result, the recent activity in the memecoin market should not be seen as a sign of a bubble on its own. Considered together with the increased volume, Bitcoin’s strong trend, and the revival of the Solana ecosystem, this rise may be part of a broader market transformation. However, it should not be forgotten that volatility will remain high, especially in small-scale memecoins, and investors should act cautiously.
