After a suppressed market throughout the fourth quarter of 2025, the crypto market began to show signs of life in early 2026.

Interestingly, it wasn't mainstream coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum that ignited this wave of market activity, but rather Meme coins quietly gaining momentum. After a long period of market silence following the holidays, Meme coins' comeback appears particularly fierce this time.

**Is capital flowing again?**

This market movement isn't entirely unexpected. At the end of last year, liquidity tightened, and pessimism spread, causing retail investors' risk appetite to plummet to its lowest point. Meme coin market capitalization once plummeted over 65%, even dropping to a 350 billion USD annual low on December 19. By the time Christmas was over, Bitcoin was still consolidating, and mainstream assets showed no clear direction, prompting funds to naturally shift toward assets with higher yield flexibility—Meme coins happened to be at this juncture.

According to CoinMarketCap data, the total market cap of Meme coins has surpassed 47.7 billion USD, a significant increase of nearly 10 billion USD from the 38 billion USD on December 29. The leading Meme coins showed the strongest movements: DOGE surged nearly 20% in a week, SHIB increased by 18.37%, and PEPE also performed well. This reflects a reallocation of funds across different risk levels.