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This downturn comes after a year of unprecedented growth, where meme coins outperformed all other crypto asset classes, surging from a $20 billion valuation in Jan. 2024 to $120 billion by Dec., marking a staggering 500% increase. 

A full-year analysis from Binance highlighted that meme coins were the best-performing crypto sub-sector in 2024, gaining 212% over the year and dominating market mindshare. The leading meme coins were split between Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH), though Ethereum still held the top three projects, including Dogecoin (DOGE). The key driver of this growth has been the success of Pump.fun, a dedicated meme coin launchpad that facilitated over 5.7 million new projects and generated more than $400 million in revenue in 2024.

Is the meme coin sector entering the “trough of disillusionment”?

However, after peaking at around $120 billion in late December, the meme coin market has seen a sharp pullback, with the meme coin market cap dropping to approximately $75 billion, as of press time, according to CoinGecko. This massive drop raises questions about the sustainability of the meme coin frenzy and whether the sector is entering a new phase. 

Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, recently shared his perspective on X, describing the current state of the meme coin market as the “peak of inflated expectations.” According to Ju, this phase is often followed by a “trough of disillusionment,” where speculative excesses fade before the market stabilizes and finds a more sustainable footing.

The recent downturn could indicate that the meme coin sector is now entering the “trough of disillusionment” phase that Ki Young Ju talked about. However, Ju believes that meme coins are unlikely to disappear entirely. Instead, he predicts a gradual maturation process over the next five years, eventually carving out a more established role within the crypto economy.