The meme coin sector experienced one of its most severe crashes this year, with nearly $28 billion erased from its market capitalization in less than 48 hours. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total value of meme-based tokens fell to $44 billion on Saturday, down almost 40% from a peak of $72 billion the previous day. This decline dragged the sector back to levels last seen in July, erasing months of growth fueled by trading activity on Solana and BNB Chain.
A modest recovery followed, lifting the market cap to around $53 billion by Sunday and approximately $57 billion at the time of reporting, but it remained well below recent highs of over $77 billion. The sell-off was triggered by a broader crypto market crash, which liquidated over $19 billion in leveraged positions after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese imports.
Major meme coins were hit hard: Dogecoin (DOGE) fell nearly 20% over the week to around $0.19, Shiba Inu (SHIB) dropped 13%, and Pepe (PEPE) lost more than 21%. Other tokens like BONK and FLOKI also shed over 20% of their value. The top 10 meme tokens collectively account for about $47 billion, or 82% of the total market cap, and all traded in the red on daily and weekly charts.
Background data revealed that meme coin activity had been dominated by Solana and BNB Chain, with BNB Chain recently surpassing $38.7 billion in value and $335 million in daily trading volume. However, the frenzy cooled sharply; Solana saw newly minted SPL tokens drop by 50% from August to mid-October, and weekly launchpad volumes on Solana declined from a peak of $1.5 billion in July to roughly $600 million by late September.
Meanwhile, other crypto sectors showed quicker stabilization. NFTs rebounded 10% after a 20% drop, and crypto ETFs saw renewed inflows, with spot Bitcoin ETFs adding $102 million and Ether ETFs attracting $236 million. Bitcoin recovered to above $111,000, and Ether climbed back over $4,000. A Galaxy Research report highlighted that while meme coins are volatile, infrastructure providers like trading bots and launchpads have profited significantly, with tools like Axiom generating over $200 million in fees.
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