Are Meme Coins Losing Relevance? Key Indicators Say Yes

Market enthusiasm for meme coins has cooled dramatically. The sector’s mindshare has fallen to just 2.5%, an indicator of shifting investor sentiment in the cryptocurrency space.

The decline in new token launches, along with dwindling investor appetite, has sparked debate across crypto communities. While some traders view the drop as a potential “generational bottom,” others suggest that the meme coin era may finally be losing momentum.

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Why Are Meme Coins Losing Market Interest?

According to recent data compiled by KAITO and shared on social media, meme coin mindshare has plunged from around 20% in late 2024 to just 2.5% by October 2025. This represents a near 90% collapse.

Search trends reflect the same cooling sentiment. Google Trends data showed that global search interest for “meme coins” dropped from a peak score of 100 at the beginning of 2025 to just 7 in October, suggesting a sharp decline in public attention.

This fading curiosity is also evident in trading behavior across major blockchains, where meme coins have lost a sizable share of activity. In early 2025, these coins accounted for roughly 60% of Solana’s decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume. By October, that figure had dropped to about 30%, according to Galaxy Research.

Price performance has mirrored this trend. CoinGecko data revealed that even during the recent bull run, when major assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and more surged to new all-time highs, leading meme coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) failed to revisit their own records. Subcategories of meme tokens have also recorded a consistent decline in performance over recent months.

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In addition, market value within the meme sector has become increasingly concentrated. In early October, tokens launched via Pump.fun collectively held a fully diluted market capitalization of over $4.8 billion.

However, just 12 of these tokens accounted for more than 55% of that total. This suggested that most new projects failed to attract meaningful capital or community traction.

Lastly, token creation has also slowed. More than 13 million meme coins were launched in the past year. Yet, activity has dropped sharply in recent months, with 56% fewer launches in September compared to January. Collectively, these trends point to the fading of the meme coin frenzy.

But why is this happening? According to a16z’s latest report,

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“Sound policy and bipartisan legislation clears the way for more productive blockchain use cases.”

Now, the spotlight has shifted toward narratives like AI agents, which have captured significant market attention. Tokens within the x402 ecosystem have recorded triple- and quadruple-digit gains. Meanwhile, perpetual DEXs have also seen explosive growth this year, attracting investors.

So, does this mean meme coins are dead? The meme coin community is split on whether the current downturn is a short-term correction or a fundamental shift.

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“Memecoins will NEVER die,” an analyst claimed.

Ethan, another analyst, suggested that the drop in minshare could mark “generational bottom.” This indicated that interest in memecoins has fallen to such extreme lows that it might signal the end of their decline, potentially setting the stage for renewed investor attention.

“Don’t buy memecoins if you are here to complain it’s down. Memes are like this. The risks are high. The rewards are higher (at times),” another trader added.

Nonetheless, skeptics remain, with some market watchers arguing that the sharp decline in interest reflects the end of the memecoin era altogether.

Whether this downturn marks the end of an era or just another cycle, meme coins continue to reflect the speculative side of the crypto market. As investor focus shifts toward utility-driven narratives like AI and DeFi, only time will tell if meme coins can reclaim their former influence or fade into digital history.