“High concentration in major wallets, particularly for shiba inu, contributed to potential volatility in the market.”, — write: www.coindesk.com
Dogecoin rose as much as 11% over 24 hours, while shiba inu gained about 13%, according to CoinGecko data. Solana-based bonk climbed nearly 50% over seven days, while floki added close to 40% on the week as the rally spilled into mid- and smaller-cap names.
Traders also pointed to continued momentum in PEPE, which has become a popular proxy for speculative risk-on positioning.
The move is not just isolated to a few tickers. One CryptoQuant chart tracking memecoin dominance within the altcoin market shows the ratio fell to around 0.032 in December, marking a historical low after sliding steadily from the post-mania peak near 0.11 in November 2024.
(Darkfost/CryptoQuant)
The ratio has ticked up in recent sessions, which independent analyst Darkfost interprets as a sign that capital is returning to the most speculative corner of the market after weeks of decline.
That said, the same chart highlights how quick meme cycles can be: the last time dominance moved sharply higher from these levels, it quickly accelerated into a crowded trade.
Other metrics underline why volatility remains part of the story.
Santiment data shows that the 10 largest SHIB wallets control nearly 63% of the supply, with the largest wallet holding roughly 41%. This concentration level can amplify both upside squeezes and sudden drawdowns when large holders move.
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Market participants say the timing fits a familiar setup: bitcoin and ether have bounced but remain well below all-time highs, and liquidity is still uneven after the holidays. That often pushes traders towards tokens that can move sharply in response to relatively small inflows, especially those with deep derivatives markets and high social momentum.
Still, desks caution against reading the rebound as a clean start to an extended altcoin run. Memecoin rallies tend to be self-reinforcing in the short term, but fragile when positioning gets crowded, spot demand fades, or bitcoin turns lower.
For now, traders say the main signal is straightforward: memecoins are acting like the market’s temperature check for speculative appetite, and the thermometer is rising again.
KuCoin captured a record share of centralized exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the broader crypto market.
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per monthmarking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralized exchange volumeas KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumeswhich slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly spliteach exceeding $500 billion for the year, signaling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activityreinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activityindicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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PeerDAS is already live on Ethereum’s mainnet, while zkEVMs are at an advanced stage, focusing on safety and scalability.
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the network is approaching a pivotal moment with the transition of PeerDAS and zkEVMs from research to implementation.
- Buterin emphasized that these upgrades aim to overcome the blockchain trilemma by enhancing decentralization, consensus, and bandwidth simultaneously.
- PeerDAS is already live on Ethereum’s mainnet, while zkEVMs are at an advanced stage, focusing on safety and scalability.
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