Memecoins lose momentum with $40B drop in December

Memecoins experienced a significant downturn in December, with their market capitalisation dropping by around 30%, losing over $40 billion in the process.

The total market cap for memecoins peaked at $137.06 billion on December 9, but by December 23, it had plummeted to $92.67 billion, marking a 32.38% decline.

According to CoinMarketCap, the market cap stood at $98.72 billion by the end of the month, reflecting an 18% drop from the start of December.

Pepe, the third-largest memecoin, mirrored the broader market's decline.

Its price rose to $0.000026 on December 9 but fell to $0.000017 by December 20.

Binance.US played a role in this surge, listing Pepe (CRYPTO:PEPE) on December 4, and the token's price reached an all-time high after the listing, reaching Uniswap’s (CRYPTO:UNI) market cap on December 7.

At the beginning of 2024, Pepe's market cap was around $591 million, but by mid-December, it had soared to over $11 billion, marking an 18-fold increase since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, other exchanges, including Coinbase, listed additional memecoins such as Moo Deng (CRYPTO:MOODENG), Mog (CRYPTO:MOG), and Dogwifhat (CRYPTO:WIF) in December, fueling the interest in the sector.

Despite the market volatility, traders still found lucrative opportunities.

For instance, a trader who had purchased $3,000 worth of Pepe tokens in April saw their holdings surge to $46 million in just one month.

In another notable case, a trader who had bought $27 in Pepe tokens and left them dormant for over 600 days saw their investment grow by 1,900,000 times, transferring $52 million in tokens to a new address, according to Lookonchain analytics.