A new institutional report from Coin Metrics warns that the overwhelming majority of memecoins suffer severe valuation collapses and never recover after their first major peak. Published in issue 384 of the State of the Network report, the study evaluated 150 tokens launched on the Solana blockchain since December 2023.
The data shows the median time to an all-time high was just 17.2 days. Afterward, downside momentum dominated: 81% of assets recorded drawdowns of at least 90% from record highs, and the median token took 370 days to fall 95%. Around 300 days after launch, most assets retained only 10% of their opening price, and just five of the 150 evaluated, about 3.3%, traded above their initial price or returned to record levels. Two-thirds failed to produce a meaningful second rally. The report also notes leading memecoins retain no more than 7% of their peak active addresses. Coin Metrics senior data researcher Victor Ramirez said recovery processes virtually never occur in this asset class.
The research only included tokens with pricing data on at least one centralized exchange, excluding Pump.fun launches that never reached a CEX, meaning the sample likely reflects better survival rates than the broader micro-cap market. The largest memecoin benchmarks by market capitalization include Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, MemeCore, Pepe, and Pudgy Penguins.
Separately, commentary from Yan highlighted by Delphi Digital indicates memecoin trading continues to thrive even as most participants lose money. Traders are described as frequently entering and exiting positions in under a minute, favoring rapid speculation over long-term strategies. This shallow but expansive trading environment adds to the sector's volatility and speculative risk.
