Key takeaways:
Bitcoin’s rally driven by institutional investors has left retail-focused memecoins behind.
Leading memecoins like DOGE, PEPE, and TRUMP show potential for a short-term rebound in Q4.
Bitcoin (BTC) has continued its bull market into 2025, surpassing $125,000 over the weekend, causing altcoins such as Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and BNB (BNB) to rise along with it.
In contrast, top memecoins have struggled to keep up with the broader crypto market this year.
DOGE, TRUMP and other memecoins decline
Bitcoin has increased by over 32% this year, reflecting a broader boom across risk markets due to a falling US dollar. BTC has also seen strong demand from US-based spot ETFs and global corporations.
Conversely, memecoins, which were once indicators of retail speculation, have faced difficulties.
Dogecoin (DOGE), the leading memecoin, has seen its valuation fall by 20.20% this year, while Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe (PEPE) have decreased by 41.41% and 48.55%, respectively, in the same timeframe.
Solana-based Bonk (BONK) is down 32.80%, and the Official Trump (TRUMP) token, which launched earlier this year, has plummeted over 83% from its peak. AICell has fallen by more than 96%.
Solana’s new memecoin mints decline over 75%
The number of new memecoins launching from Solana-based platforms has significantly dropped since July, as reported by Dune Analytics.
During the peak of mid-2025, Solana was minting nearly 400 new meme tokens daily. By late August, that number fell below 100, indicating a decline of over 75% in retail engagement and speculative investment.
This slowdown suggests a waning interest in memecoins among retail investors, with traders increasingly gravitating toward prediction markets, as compiled by data from Analyst MovieTime Dune.
Solana memecoins recorded $864.8 million in volume during the week of Sept. 21–28, compared to $1.54 billion on prediction platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi.
This is nearly 1.8 times higher, highlighting how institutional narratives and competing speculation platforms are diverting retail interest from the memecoin sector.
Can leading memecoins rebound in Q4?
DOGE is forming an ascending triangle pattern after a decline of over 70% from its peak.
A breakout above the upper trendline of the triangle near $0.28 could signal a bullish continuation, potentially targeting $0.41, which is a 60% increase from current levels, by the year’s end.
Related: What is the potential for DOGE price as the first Dogecoin ETF launches?
Conversely, a drop below the lower trendline may lead DOGE’s price toward the ascending trendline support, aligning with the 200-3D exponential moving average (200-3D EMA; the blue wave) at around $0.195.
Another memecoin with high trading volume, Pepe (PEPE), is forming a similar bullish reversal pattern, aiming for a year-end target of $0.00002230, representing a 126% increase from current prices.
Meanwhile, TRUMP’s price is currently facing resistance near its multimonth descending trendline around $8.30–$8.35, corresponding with the 20-day EMA.
A breakout above this resistance zone could lead to the $9.26–$10.75 Fib retracement range — the latter aligning with the 200-day EMA (the blue wave) — by the year’s end.
Failure to break resistance may result in another pullback towards the $7.30 accumulation area.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
