The TRUMP token accounted for over 8% of the entire crypto market’s trading volume during Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Despite the cooled-off hype, Solana-based memecoins continue to dominate memecoin trading activity, potentially challenging long-standing patterns.
PolitiFi tokens reached 5% of the memecoin market cap and 21% of its trading volume, with the TRUMP memecoin accounting for 90% of the sector.
According to DeFiLlama’s Narrative Tracker, PolitiFi tokens and Solana (SOL) were the biggest winners in January, leading in category performance. The main catalysts behind this surge were Donald Trump’s inauguration and the launch of the official TRUMP token on Solana. At its peak, TRUMP temporarily accounted for over 8% of the entire crypto market’s trading volume, briefly pushing the total memecoin market cap above $115 billion.
The Post-TRUMP Cooldown
However, despite the continued creation of over 60,000 new memecoins daily on Pump.fun, the sector has largely cooled off following the TRUMP frenzy. Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, the memecoin market cap has declined by 12%, while trading volume has dropped by over 80%.
Memecoins now represent less than 3% of the total crypto market cap — below post-election levels. Meanwhile, trading volume on Solana DEXes, which were key drivers of the latest memecoin surge, has returned to pre-TRUMP launch levels.
TRUMP’s Impact on Memecoin Volume Distribution
While the mid-January hype may have faded, it reshaped the memecoin landscape. In previous cycles, top-ranking memecoins by volume and market cap were dominated by Dogecoin and various Ethereum-based tokens. In 2024, however, the memecoin boom expanded to other networks, with Solana occasionally leading the sector in trading volume during local frenzies. Historically, though, after these hype-driven spikes, Dogecoin and Ethereum-based tokens have typically reclaimed dominance as trading volume rotated back to more established memecoins.
However, the TRUMP token may have disrupted this pattern. During Trump’s inauguration, TRUMP and MELANIA together accounted for 67.8% of total memecoin trading volume, significantly driving Solana-based memecoin activity. Notably, this surge in volume share was partly fueled by capital rotation from other memecoins, as several tokens, including DOGE, SHIB, and PEPE, experienced double-digit declines amid the TRUMP token’s launch.
Since then, trading volume has gradually rotated back toward memecoins like DOGE and PEPE, suggesting that previous leaders are reclaiming their top spots. Yet, as of February 1, Solana still dominates memecoin trading volume, with TRUMP maintaining the top position, accounting for 20% of total memecoin volume and 42% of Solana’s memecoin activity.
This raises two possibilities: either TRUMP is a game-changer, solidifying Solana’s position as the leading network for memecoin trading this year, or TRUMP’s volume still has room to decline, potentially dragging down the entire category of Solana-based memecoins due to its weight.
TRUMP’s Influence on the PolitiFi Sector
The TRUMP token has also transformed the PolitiFi sector, instantly becoming its dominant asset. It now represents 89% of both PolitiFi’s total market cap and trading volume.
Chart: Market Cap Breakdown in the PolitiFi Sector
With TRUMP in the mix, political memecoins have significantly increased their influence within the sector, now accounting for 5% of the memecoin market cap and 21% of its trading volume. This marks a 14x and 24x increase in market cap and volume, respectively, over the past two months. However, previous spikes in PolitiFi dominance have been short-lived, suggesting the sector could lose its momentum just as quickly as it gained it.
Conclusion
The launch of the TRUMP token has had a profound impact on the memecoin market, reshaping sector dynamics and challenging the long-standing dominance of Dogecoin and Ethereum-based memecoins. While the initial hype has subsided, the TRUMP token significantly influenced Solana’s increasing role in memecoin trading and the growth of the PolitiFi sector. This doesn’t necessarily indicate the complete shift in market trends, since they are historically short-lived, but can better position Solana in further potential memecoin frenzies.
Offering blockchain-based assets to traditional investors, crypto exchange OKX and multinational bank Standard Chartered launched a joint collateral mirroring program, which allows their clients to utilize crypto and tokenized money market funds as off-exchange collateral for trading.
The program is currently in a pilot test under Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA)’s regulatory framework and uses Globally Systemically Important Bank as the custodian for collateral.
Standard Chartered is a regulated custodian in the Dubai International Financial Centre under the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Meanwhile, OKX, through its VARA regulated entity, will be the one to manage collateral and facilitates transactions.
“Through leveraging Standard Chartered’s position as a top custodian globally, as well as our market leadership in cryptocurrency trading, the partnership sets an industry standard for current and potential institutional clients to deploy trading capital at scale in a trusted environment.”
OKX
For the entities involved, the newly-launched program allows traditional investors to enjoy the protection they offer against counterparty risk, which is an important concern in the current digital asset markets.
“As the digital assets ecosystem becomes more ingrained within traditional finance, we strive to both drive growth and safeguard client assets in the most capital efficient manner. By leveraging Standard Chartered’s position as a top custodian globally, as well as OKX’s market leadership in cryptocurrency trading, the partnership sets an industry standard for current and potential institutional clients to deploy trading capital at scale in a trusted environment.”
Hong Fang, President, OKX
Meanwhile, OKX explained that the program’s clients will have access to on-chain assets of Franklin Templeton’s Digital Assets Team. Franklin Templeton is an asset manager focusing in tokenization and real world assets.
“Leveraging blockchain technology, our platform is built to support the dynamic and ever-evolving financial ecosystem. We take an authentic approach, from directly investing in blockchain assets to developing innovative solutions with our in-house team. By ensuring assets are minted on-chain, we enable true ownership, allowing them to move and settle at blockchain speed – eliminating the need for traditional infrastructure.”
Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets, Franklin Templeton
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One of the first financial institutions to use the program is Brevan Howard Digital, the digital asset division of global alternative investment manager Brevan Howard.
“This programme is the latest example of the continued innovation and institutionalisation of the industry. As a significant investor in the digital assets space, we are thrilled to partner with industry leaders to further grow and evolve the crypto ecosystem globally.
Ryan Taylor, Chief Administrative Offer, Brevan Howard Digital
The crypto AI sector surged by over 395% since November 2023, but it still accounts for just 1.5% of the total crypto market cap.
AI infrastructure projects historically dominated the sector, but their share drastically declined in a year as AI memes and AI agents gained significant traction, showing over 1,100% and 180% market cap increases, respectively.
The average daily trading volume for AI tokens increased by 93% year-over-year, though it has dropped 44% from its December 2024 peak.
AI agent tokens outperformed AI infrastructure tokens by trading volume, and, despite the recent sharp decline, they continue to dominate trading volume within the sector.
AI tokens underperformed relative to their size, lagging behind much larger AI-related stocks, especially over the past year.
AI tokens maintain a positive correlation with Big Tech stocks, with Meta (0.91) and Nvidia (0.84) showing the highest, but earnings releases like Nvidia’s showed an inverse correlation.
Introduction
“The reason it is so hard for so many humans to understand crypto assets is because these assets are not for us. They are being built for the machines.” This six-year-old quote resonates deeply with today’s crypto landscape.
On one side, the crypto industry has embraced automation, with the rise of on-chain smart contract utilities and bots playing a growing role in network efficiency. However, digital assets have struggled to establish a widespread presence within the broader AI revolution. While AI advancements from Big Tech giants have fueled investor enthusiasm, the crypto AI sector remains structurally underdeveloped and highly speculative.
In this report, we’ll explore the changing landscape of the crypto AI sector and its relationship with mainstream AI innovation.
Methodology
The analysis in this report is based on data sourced from CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, TradingView, and Dune. The market cap and volume trends of AI-related digital assets were compared against broader crypto market movements to assess sector-specific shifts. Due to the non-established categorization of AI tokens, the report offers its own sector distribution divided between AI infrastructure, AI agents, and AI-themed memecoins. Additionally, price correlations with leading AI-focused stocks were examined to determine the influence of external AI advancements.
Market Cap Trends
Total Market Cap
The total market cap of the crypto AI sector has seen a massive surge starting November 2023, jumping by over 395% and driven by growing AI optimism. The sector has largely mirrored the broader crypto market, experiencing two significant rallies in Q1 and Q4 2024:
The second rally saw a shift in market dynamics, with AI memes gaining even more traction, while AI agents surged alongside rapid adoption of the Virtuals.io platform.
Despite these surges, the sector’s market cap currently remains 56% below its December 2024 peak due to the DeepSeek R1 release and a broader market cooldown.
Throughout the past year, AI-related assets have maintained a relatively small footprint within the crypto market, accounting for around 1.5% of the total crypto market cap. This suggests that while the sector has grown significantly, its gains have mostly been in line with the wider market. However, its share within the altcoin market has slightly improved, rising from 3.14% in January 2024 to 3.58% in January 2025.
Note: The “Total” value represents the overall crypto market cap, “Total 2” — excludes Bitcoin, while “Total 3” — excludes Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Market Cap Distribution by Category
The classification of AI crypto projects remains an evolving process, with debates over naming conventions and categorization criteria. For instance, many AI-related categories on CoinGecko were only established a few months ago, and many projects overlap across multiple categories. In this case, let’s focus on three major categories that have existed for at least a year:
AI Infrastructure – Projects like Near, Render, and Bittensor, which provide the computing and blockchain layers necessary for AI to function on-chain.
AI Agents – AI-driven models that can interact online in real-time, along with platforms enabling their creation and deployment.
AI Memes – Speculative AI-themed tokens, often driven by hype rather than underlying technology.
Historically, AI infrastructure has dominated the sector, accounting for over 86% of the crypto AI market cap in February 2024. However, 2024 marked a shift toward speculative AI narratives, with AI agents doubling their market share and AI memes skyrocketing their share by over 15x.
This shift stems from AI infrastructure’s stagnant performance, and suggests that either the market doubts the long-term value of infrastructure projects, or these projects require more time for widespread utility. Meanwhile, the demand for fresh, high-momentum narratives has propelled AI agents and memes to the forefront.
Notably, a surge in AI agents and memes is closely linked. The AI agent category saw a major boost in Q4 2024, driven by the launch of the first online AI influencer on the Virtuals Protocol platform (e.g., Luna). In turn, AI memes gained momentum, largely fueled by the Terminal of Truth AI agent/chatbot, which became widely known for shilling Goetius Maximus (GOAT) memecoin on social media.
Note: Performance as of February 25, 2025
Market Cap Changes by Asset
On an individual token level, established infrastructure projects continue to hold the largest market caps, with eight still above $1 billion despite the sector’s recent pullback. In contrast, only one AI agent token (FET) currently exceeds $1 billion, and no AI meme tokens surpass $500 million.
That said, market leadership within AI infrastructure is shifting. ICP and The Graph (GRT) have lost ground in the sector’s market cap rankings. Bittensor (TAO) and Render (RENDER) have gained share, reinforcing their position as key infrastructure players.
Although infrastructure projects have a significant margin of safety, AI agents are getting closer to the top positions in market cap. Since December 2024, AI agent launchpad platforms such as Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), Griffain (GRIFFAIN), and AI Rig Complex (ARC) have notably increased their market presence.
Note: The breakdown includes a combination of AI infrastructure (NEAR, ICP, TAO, RENDER, GRT) and AI agent tokens (FET, VIRTUAL, AI16Z, ARC, GRIFFAIN).
Virtuals Protocol has been the main driver of the sector’s move toward AI agents, with tokens launched on this platform surging from nearly zero to over $3.5 billion in market cap within three months. However, the hype quickly faded, leading to an 87% decline from its peak, suggesting that this may be more of a speculative play than a lasting technological advancement.
This market cap decrease was accompanied by a substantial drop in daily AI agent launches on Virtuals, from over 1,000 in November to less than 10 in February. At the time of this writing, only 2.2% of these AI tokens have graduated, or accumulated 42,000 VIRTUAL tokens to get their own liquidity pool.
AIXBT dominates among Virtual-launched AI agents, accounting for over 45% of the combined market cap.
Volume Dynamics
Total Volume
The average daily volume of AI tokens saw a significant improvement, increasing by more than 93% since January 2024. However, this growth was undermined by a 41% decline in daily trading volume from the sector’s peak in December.
In December 2024, AI tokens reached an all-time high, with the top 10 assets in the sector registering over $100 billion in monthly trading volume. For comparison, this is equivalent to the entire memecoin trading volume on Solana DEXes that month.
While the sector’s overall market cap followed broader trends, trading activity among AI tokens intensified relative to its size. Over the past year, the AI sector’s share of total trading volume increased from 1.5% to 2.22%, with a significant portion of this increase occurring in the last three months.
Note: The “Total” value represents overall crypto trading volume, “Total 2” — excludes Bitcoin, while “Total 3” — excludes Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Volume-to-Market Cap Ratio
The uptick in trading activity suggests growing interest in AI tokens, but the Volume-to-Market Cap Ratio suggests that AI tokens are not attracting the same level of short-term hype-driven volume as general altcoins and memecoins. The fact that AI tokens aren’t experiencing the same trading frenzy could mean that the sector lacks the viral appeal needed to sustain momentum, making it harder for projects to capture retail attention and drive network effects.
Additionally, if AI tokens remain stuck in a middle ground — not as fundamentally strong as BTC/ETH but not as hyped as memecoins — they risk lagging in speculative market cycles, limiting their potential for explosive short-term gains.
Volume Distribution
Trading volume breakdown between assets also reveals an even more remarkable shift in favor of AI agents. In January 2025, top 5 AI agent tokens outperformed top 5 AI infrastructure ones by monthly trading volume. VIRTUAL played a pivotal role in this trend, briefly securing a 20% share of a combined volume.
Note: The breakdown includes a combination of AI infrastructure (NEAR, ICP, TAO, RENDER, GRT) and AI agent tokens (FET, VIRTUAL, AI16Z, ARC, GRIFFAIN).
The same month, the VIRTUAL token and AI agents launched on Virtual Protocol briefly madeup 28% of the total DEX volume on Base, Ethereum’s Layer 2 network. However, as the initial hype faded, their share shrank to just 8%, with total DEX volume for VIRTUAL dropping by 64% and Virtual-based AI agents plunging by 93%. Despite the sharp decline, AI agents continue to dominate trading volume within the sector.
Big Tech AI vs. Crypto AI
General Observations
While AI tokens are heavily influenced by broader crypto market trends and sector-specific developments, they also have a unique catalyst: breakthroughs in AI technology from top-tier IT corporations. Big Tech serves as a major reference point for crypto AI projects, shaping the overall AI narrative and indirectly driving interest in blockchain-based AI solutions.
Here are some key observations on how this dynamic plays out:
Mainstream AI breakthroughs don’t cause immediate crypto AI growth — While OpenAI’s ChatGPT launch and GPT-4o announcement boosted sentiment in AI tokens, their immediate impact on crypto AI was largely in line with the broader market. For example, after ChatGPT’s launch, the total crypto market cap saw a 12% increase over the next 7 days, while the crypto AI market cap increased by 10%. However, as ChatGPT saw massive adoption in the months following its launch, it provided a sustained boost to the sector.
The more attention AI narratives receive, the greater the volatility in crypto AI — Sam Altman’s temporary ouster from OpenAI and the release of DeepSeek both put AI in the spotlight, but with different immediate effects. Altman’s temporary ouster coincided with a 49% surge in crypto AI market cap. In contrast, DeepSeek’s release caused only a slight dip of 2%, but it led to notable volatility in the following weeks as the industry took time to assess its impact.
Big tech intersections with crypto AI typically cause notable market moves — For example, Elon Musk has long been an impactful figure in the crypto space, and when rumors of his AI initiative emerged in November 2023, followed by the official announcement, crypto AI saw a significant surge. The announcement of xAI and the Grok AI chatbot led to a 35% rise in the crypto AI market cap in a week.
Table: 7-Day Performance of Total Crypto Market Cap & AI Tokens After Key AI Events
AI Stock and Cryptocurrency Performance
Although AI crypto tokens are much smaller in market capitalization and more focused on AI-specific applications than some AI-related stocks, the sector hasn’t fully captured AI market momentum.
Top AI stocks like Nvidia (670%) and Palantir (1,109%) delivered massive gains since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022. In contrast, the average performance among top AI crypto tokens (403%) over the same period was significantly lower. While some AI tokens, such as FET (954%) and RENDER (634%), saw impressive gains, the sector as a whole underperformed relative to its size.
Note: Performance as of February 25, 2025
When analyzing a shorter investment period, crypto AI tokens appear even more underwhelming. Over the past year, top AI tokens primarily remained in the red, significantly lagging behind Big Tech stocks. Additionally, while some AI stocks fully recovered from a DeepSeek-related sell-off, AI tokens remained largely underwater, failing to capture positive momentum.
Nevertheless, AI tokens continue to exhibit a high correlation with Big Tech stocks. As such, while Big Tech does not act as the primary driver of AI token performance, it serves as an amplifying catalyst. Among the observed stocks, Meta (0.91) and Nvidia (0.84) showed the highest correlation with AI tokens.
Table: Big Tech Stocks vs. AI Tokens Performance Since Key AI Events. Performance as of February 25, 2025
Nvidia Earnings Effect
Earnings season is one of the most anticipated regular events for stock investors, as financial reports often drive increased volatility. Given the high correlation between Big Tech and AI tokens, one might expect similar price action in AI tokens during these events, especially considering reports that Nvidia’s earnings previouslyboosted crypto AI performance.
However, when comparing Nvidia’s one-day and seven-day post-earnings performances with those of top AI crypto tokens, the correlation actually turned negative (-0.21 for 1D and -0.07 for 7D). While this effect smoothed out over a longer period, the event suggests that Big Tech developments may shift attention out of crypto AI.
Conclusion
Crypto AI remains a niche but evolving sector within the digital asset market. While its market cap has expanded significantly, its long-term growth remains uncertain, as trading volume is heavily driven by short-term speculation, with frequent but fleeting volume spikes rather than steady, organic growth. The rapid rise and fall of volume indicate that capital is not staying within the sector for extended periods, making it vulnerable to liquidity drains and price instability.
Despite its high correlation with AI stocks, crypto AI’s price movements often diverge from traditional AI market trends, suggesting that its momentum is fueled more by internal hype cycles than by fundamental AI advancements. The shift from infrastructure projects to AI agents and memes highlights changing market priorities, with speculative narratives gaining traction over foundational development.
Looking forward, the sector faces both opportunities and risks. If AI-driven blockchain solutions achieve real-world utility, they could secure a stronger foothold. However, without sustained investor confidence and clear technological advantages, crypto AI risks being overshadowed by both traditional AI innovation and more established crypto narratives.
From CZ’s new role in Pakistan’s Crypto Council to the merging of two Immutable’s blockchain, here’s a roundup of the top crypto stories you may have missed.
CZ Joins Pakistan’s Crypto Council as an advisor
Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has joined Pakistan’s newly formed Crypto Council as an advisor, aiming to help shape the country’s digital asset landscape. His guidance will focus on improving Pakistan’s crypto regulations, infrastructure, education and adoption strategies.
Thailand Cracks Down on Foreign P2P Crypto Platforms
Thailand introduced a sweeping legal overhaul to crack down on unregulated foreign crypto platforms, with new amendments enabling authorities to suspend suspicious transactions and penalize unauthorized peer-to-peer (P2P) services. Under the revised rules, violators could face up to three years in prison or a 300,000 baht fine.
The laws, set to take immediate effect upon publication, extend liability beyond crypto firms to include banks, telecoms, and social media platforms if they fail to meet cybercrime prevention standards.
Despite its crackdown, Thailand remains open to regulated crypto innovation. The country is considering launching a blockchain-based securities trading platform, exploring a government bond-backed stablecoin, and testing Bitcoin payments for tourism in Phuket.
Magic Eden Expands Into Crypto Trading
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Magic Eden is expanding beyond NFTs by acquiring Slingshot Finance, a mobile-first crypto trading app known for cross-chain swaps and user-friendly design. Magic Eden noted that the move positions it as a full-scale digital asset platform, offering both token and NFT trading across multiple blockchains.
The acquisition will let users trade more than 5 million tokens with features like email login and fiat on-ramps, while Slingshot adds upcoming support for bitcoin-based meme coins.
NFT Sales Plunge In March
NFT sales plummeted in March 2025, with overall market volume dropping by 43% from February, totaling just $419 million. Major blockchains saw significant declines, with Ethereum-based NFT sales falling 58% to $127 million, bitcoin NFTs down 32% to $71 million, and Polygon dropping 41% to $63 million. Solana and Mythos Chain also reported decreases of 10% and nearly 25%, respectively.
Top-selling NFT collections in March 2025:
Courtyard – $54 million (increased 48%)
DMarket – $41 million (increased 2.22%)
CryptoPunks – $19 million (increased 37.91%)
?? BRC-20 Collection – $18 million (increased 16%)
Guild of Guardians Heroes – $17 million (decreased 28.37%)
Paradise – $15 million (increased 18%)
Pudgy Penguins – $8 million (decreased 65%)
Guild of Guardians Avatar – $7.9 million (increase by 5.86%)
Quantum Cats – $7.7 million (increased 51%)
Fx-wsteth-position – $6.8 million (increased 55%)
CFPB Expected to Scale Back Its Role in Crypto Regulation
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expected to reduce its role in cryptocurrency regulation as other federal bodies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, take on a larger regulatory responsibility.
This shift comes amid the Trump administration’s broader efforts to streamline the federal bureaucracy. Despite this pullback, the CFPB will still retain some regulatory duties due to statutory requirements that can only be altered by Congress.
Hong Kong Issues Crypto Staking Rules for Exchanges
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued new guidelines that permit licensed crypto exchanges and funds to offer staking services, as part of its strategy to expand the city’s digital asset sector.
Staking allows crypto holders to earn passive income by participating in proof-of-stake networks, which are vital for blockchain security. The commission emphasized that platforms must maintain full control over client assets and disclose all associated risks, such as hacking or technical errors.
Catizen Token Consumption Surpasses 30 Million
In the first quarter of 2025, Catizen saw a significant increase in token consumption, surpassing 30 million CATI—a 3.5-fold rise from Q4 2024. The platform’s user base has grown to more than 3.3 million, with over 1 million CATI consumed daily.
Catizen also plans to launch more than 200 games in 2025, targeting Asian markets such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and aims to integrate AI-driven virtual pets for a more immersive experience. Catizen’s vision is to establish itself as a web3 mini-app platform, drawing inspiration from WeChat’s successful ecosystem model.
Kaspersky Flags Crypto-Swiping Malware on SourceForge
Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky flagged a malware campaign that targets cryptocurrency users by replacing trusted wallet addresses with the attacker’s own. This malware, distributed under the guise of Microsoft Office add-ins on SourceForge, installs ClipBanker, which swaps clipboard cryptocurrency addresses. Users typically don’t notice the change, leading to funds being sent to the attacker’s wallet instead.
The malware’s distribution appears concentrated in Russia, but its English-language download page suggests a broader reach.
The exploit relies on redirecting users to a fake download link, which appears to be a legitimate 700MB installer—though only 7MB of it contains the actual malware. Between January and March 2025, about 4,604 Russian users were affected. Kaspersky urges users to avoid downloading software from untrusted sources, as alternative links may carry significant security risks.
Immutable to Merge Chains
Immutable
Immutable plans to consolidate its two major blockchain technologies—Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM—into a unified chain by late 2025, streamlining its platform for Web3 gaming. Immutable X, the original layer-2 solution for Ethereum, will gradually phase out in favor of zkEVM, which has already processed nearly 150 million transactions. The transition will be seamless for users, with assets automatically migrated and no disruption to existing operations.
The crypto market faced a turbulent week, driven primarily by:
U.S. Bitcoin strategic reserve creation (March 7).
New Donald Trump’s tariffs (March 10-11)
U.S. inflation data (March 12)
This article examines the key shifts in market behavior amid these events, focusing on trading volume distribution and capital rotation trends.
A Flee to the U.S. Dollar
On March 10 and 11, stablecoins’ share of trading volume experienced heightened fluctuations as a new wave of tariffs hit the market. The initial reaction was a flight to the U.S. dollar, with USD-related pairs temporarily doubling their share in trading volume, reaching 21% in a combined volume with USD-backed stablecoins.
USD-backed stablecoins even saw a slight supply decrease on March 10, suggesting that some market participants had exited the market. However, in the following days, stablecoins quickly regained their dominance, climbing back to a 92% share in combined trading volume, as capital rotated into USDT and USDC.
A temporary 34% decline in stablecoins’ share of total trading volume followed, but the sector swiftly recovered as altcoin holders increasingly shifted into stablecoins on March 11. The top five altcoins (ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, and ADA) and the memecoin sector saw a rising share in trading volume alongside a decreasing share in market cap, indicating capital rotation away from these assets.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, briefly benefited from this turbulence. It saw a modest increase in both market cap and trading volume during key events — Monday’s tariff-driven uncertainty and Wednesday’s U.S. inflation data release. This highlights Bitcoin’s perceived role as a safe haven among altcoin holders during periods of economic uncertainty.
Potential Tariff Impact Weakening
Although the new tariffs wiped out nearly $300 billion in total market cap within a week, their impact on crypto trading volume was relatively subdued. The market saw a brief 2.5x surge in volume on Monday and Tuesday. For comparison, previous tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China in early February triggered a 4x volume spike, while EU-focused tariffs led to a 3x increase.
Despite this short-lived boost, overall crypto trading volume remained in a downtrend, recording a 7% weekly drop, with Bitcoin (-23%) and stablecoins (-19%) being the primary contributors. This decline underscores reduced liquidity and weaker capital flows.
A Runaway from Ether
Among top altcoins, Ether saw the most significant capital outflows relative to its size. Its trading volume share jumped from 13% to 22% within a week, while its market cap dominance declined from 8.70% to 8.15%. This divergence suggests that traders were actively rotating out of ETH, primarily in favor of fiat, stablecoins, and Bitcoin.
Furthermore, Ethereum’s 2% market depth shrank by 14% over the week, reflecting a more fragile order book and an increasing risk of price volatility.
However, as overall market activity declined, trading volume became more concentrated on Bitcoin and Ether. This suggests that while capital fled from many altcoins, traders continued engaging with ETH — albeit in a more volatile and less liquid environment — reinforcing its role as a core trading asset alongside Bitcoin.
TRUMP Dominance Reached New All-Time Low
Despite a week dominated by Trump-related events, the market has shown little interest in the TRUMP token. Once a major speculative asset, the token briefly commanded 10% of the entire crypto trading volume on Donald Trump’s inauguration day. However, its relevance has since faded, with its trading volume share recently plunging to a new all-time low of 0.51%.
This sharp decline suggests waning speculative enthusiasm and diminishing liquidity, potentially limiting the token’s ability to stage a meaningful recovery unless a new catalyst reignites interest.
Some users now see a “Buy/Sell Crypto” option — but access is limited and gated by a strict assessment.
UnionBank of the Philippines appears to have quietly begun rolling out a crypto trading onboarding process within its mobile banking app.
The new feature, labeled “Buy/Sell Crypto,” has appeared for select users.
The feature is integrated into the bank’s primary interface and marks one of the most significant moves by a Philippine universal bank into the virtual asset space:
Labeled “Buy/Sell Crypto,” the feature appears alongside standard banking services such as bills payment and foreign exchange.
Users who attempt to access it are required to complete a Client Suitability Assessment — a multi-step questionnaire that evaluates their financial goals, investment experience, and risk appetite.
Screenshots of the onboarding process show that users must answer questions related to their knowledge of virtual assets, trading volume expectations, and potential legal or regulatory constraints.
If a user’s responses do not meet the platform’s internal suitability criteria, they are informed that crypto trading is not currently available to them. The app allows for a reassessment after a six-month period:
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The app allows for a reassessment after a six-month period.
The initiative follows UnionBank’s approval in September 2023 as a fully licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This license allows the bank to operate as a virtual asset exchange and offer custodial services for cryptocurrencies. (Read more: List of Licensed Virtual Currency Exchanges in the Philippines)
The crypto trading interface promises a “safe and worry-free experience,” with the bank stating that the platform operates with no added fees and full regulatory oversight. However, access remains limited, and as of this writing, UnionBank has not issued a formal announcement regarding the broader availability of the service.
UnionBank has previously led several blockchain initiatives in the country.
In 2019, it launched the Philippines’ first crypto ATM and piloted its own stablecoin, PHX, to streamline remittances and interbank transfers.
The bank also partnered with Swiss firm METACO to test crypto custody and trading functionality for a limited group of users.
The memecoin market cap declined by 58% since its January peak, while its weight within the broader market decreased to less than 2%, as of April 1.
Memecoins’ share of total crypto trading volume dropped below 4%, as the sector’s total volume fell 63%.
At its Q1 peak, memecoins briefly made up 11% of total crypto trading volume.
The DEX volume on Solana and Base became more memecoin-focused in Q1, despite a decline in memecoin-specific volume.
Political memecoins surged amid the TRUMP and MELANIA token launches but have since dropped 80% in market cap and 99% in volume.
21% of all digital assets ever created across all networks have been launched on Pump.fun, but the pace of new token launches significantly slowed down in Q1.
Raydium turnedeven more reliant on memecoins after the political memecoin frenzy subsided, with the share of memecoin-related volume increasing from 77% to 83%.
Introduction
Over the past year, memecoins have managed to establish higher baselines in terms of market cap and trading volume after each wave of excitement. However, in early 2025, the sector deviated from this trend. Following the rapid boom-and-bust cycle revolving around political memecoins, the sector erased much of its post-election gains, bringing valuations back to pre-election levels and raising questions about its resilience.
In this report, we examine whether this is just another cooldown before the next wave, or if memecoins are finally losing their grip on the market.
Global Trends
The Weight of Memecoins in the Crypto Market Cap
The memecoin market cap declined by 50% over the first three months of 2025. For comparison, Bitcoin’s market cap fell by 10%, while Ethereum’s dropped by 44% over the same period.
As a result, the weight of memecoins across all major crypto market cap metrics has seen a substantial decline so far in 2025. By April 1:
The total crypto market cap share fell to 1.8%, marking a 39% decrease.
Total2 (excluding BTC) share dropped to 4.8%, a 31% decline.
Total3 (excluding BTC and ETH) share shrank to 6.2%, reflecting a 37% drop.
Memecoins hit a local quarterly peak in market cap on January 18, shortly after the launch of the TRUMP token. Since then, the sector has lost 58% of its value, bringing its market cap back to pre-election levels.
This decline suggests a cooling off of the memecoin sector, with capital rotating toward other crypto segments, particularly Bitcoin and stablecoins, as market uncertainty increased. Additionally, the pump-and-dump cycle associated with the LIBRA token launch further dampened sentiment within the sector.
The Weight of Memecoins in Crypto Trading Volume
Memecoins entered 2025 with relatively subdued trading activity, as post-election user engagement continued its gradual decline. Despite this, the sector saw an even sharper drop in Q1, with trading volume falling 63%. Meanwhile, trading volume for major digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum surged in early 2025, further reducing memecoins’ share of overall crypto trading volume. By April 1, memecoins’ share of total trading volume had dropped below 4%, marking a 58% decline.
However, if measured from its quarterly peak rather than January 1, the decline appears even more dramatic. The sector’s trading volume peaked on January 20, during Donald Trump’s inauguration, when memecoins briefly accounted for 11% of all crypto trading volume. Since then, memecoin trading volume has plummeted by over 93%, while its weight in the overall market volume shrunk by nearly 5 times.
This massive drop in activity underscores that the latest political memecoin frenzy has fully evaporated, leaving the sector in a hibernation phase, awaiting a new catalyst to reignite interest.
Local Trends
Memecoin Performance by Network
Solana received the most attention in early 2025, hosting TRUMP, MELANIA, LIBRA, and several other hot memecoins. Its strong user engagement positioned Solana as a key driver shaping the overall performance of the memecoin sector.
As such, memecoins experienced a sharp downturn in Q1 2025, with both market cap and trading volume declining across all major networks. Dogecoin showed relative resilience compared to the rest, suggesting that traders still see it as the Bitcoin equivalent inside the memecoin sector.
Meanwhile, smaller ecosystems like TON, Tron, and Sui were hit hardest, suffering the steepest losses in both market cap and volume. This indicates that speculative interest in memecoins has continued consolidating around larger chains.
During the political memecoin frenzy in late January, market cap and volume were largely redistributed in favor of Solana-based memecoins. For instance, on Trump’s inauguration day, Solana-based memecoins briefly accounted for 70% of the sector’s trading volume. However, as the frenzy subsided, the market structure essentially “reset,” returning to early January levels.
Memecoins Tighten Their Grip on Solana and Base
Despite a decline in total and memecoin-specific volume, Base became more memecoin-dependent in Q1 2025. Memecoin dominance rebounded to 27% in March after hitting a low of 20% in February. This rapid resurgence of memecoin dominance on Base could indicate early signs of a local memecoin frenzy cycle, as traders shift attention back to high-risk, high-reward assets.
In turn, Solana saw a decline in memecoins’ share of its monthly DEX volume, dropping from 54% in December to 47% in March. However, this doesn’t mean Solana is becoming less memecoin-dependent — rather, the opposite.
In late February and early March, Solana DEXs experienced a surge in SOL volume, intensifying the asset’s selling pressure at that time. As a result, memecoins share in DEX volume briefly dipped, largely impacting monthly performance.
Starting in mid-March, memecoins have been rapidly reclaiming their positions on Solana, jumping back above 50% share despite stagnant overall volume last month. This mirrors the decline in memecoin volume and market share observed between August and September (red rectangle), which later gave way to a new memecoin hype cycle.
The swift rebound in memecoins’ share suggests that traders are once again gravitating toward speculative assets, indicating that Solana’s reliance on memecoins could strengthen in April. If this trend continues, it may trigger another wave of local memecoin frenzy, further solidifying their role as a key driver of activity on the network.
The latest memecoin frenzy also caused major shifts across different thematic categories.
Dog- and cat-themed memecoins, historically dominant in the sector, experienced significant declines, reflecting a broader retreat from legacy meme narratives. The trading volume dropped more than market cap for dog- and AI memes, suggesting that liquidity is drying up faster than valuations, potentially signaling weaker demand and lower trading activity.
Political memecoins were the standout exception, experiencing a 267% and 86% increases in market cap and trading volume, respectively. The jump was driven by high-profile launches like TRUMP and MELANIA, and could have been even more substantial, but the hype rapidly evaporated — market cap and trading volume dropped by 80% by 99%, respectively, from their January peaks.
Political memecoins now account for 5% of the sector’s market cap and 8% of its volume. Although the sector became more reliant on this category, memecoins are well-positioned to decouple from political narratives in the next potential speculative cycle.
The Most Powerful Memecoin Duo (For Now)
Over the past year, Pump.fun + Raydium has been the most dominant force not only in Solana, but the entire memecoin sector. Pump.fun, the most popular Solana-based launchpad, is responsible for over 50% of all SPL tokens created daily, primarily memecoins. Once these tokens graduated by reaching a $69,000 market cap, they were automatically deployed on the Raydium DEX. In turn, Raydium has primarily processed more than 80% of all memecoin trading volume on Solana throughout the last 12 months.
However, in Q1 2025 both platforms decided to reduce their unofficial interdependence. On March 20, Pump.fun announced the launch of its AMM DEX, PumpSwap, while Raydium is working on launching its own dedicated launchpad.
Although the long-standing synergy between Pump.fun and Raydium will likely weaken over time, this duo remains a critical driver of the memecoin ecosystem to this point. To better gauge market sentiment, let’s examine the performance of both platforms.
Pump.fun Performance
Starting 2024, Pump.fun users have been highly active in launching new tokens, contributing to the platform’s staggering 21% share of all digital assets ever created across all networks. However, while in Q4 more than half of all newly created tokens were launched on Pump.fun, this figure declined to 35% in March.
Despite the slowing pace of new token launches, only 1% of newly created Pump.fun tokens reach the graduation threshold, and this rate has consistently declined throughout Q1 2025. A drop in both the number of newly created tokens and their graduation rate signals reduced momentum in the memecoin sector, with fewer projects gaining enough traction to sustain growth.
This shift aligns with a broader decline in platform activity throughout Q1 2025. Key metrics, including active addresses, trading volume, and revenue, have all seen substantial declines in Q1 2025. However, over the past few weeks, Pump.fun activity has increased by more than 50%, helping to offset some of the Q1 losses.
One of the major catalysts behind the boost was the PumpSwap launch in late March, which saw $2 billion in cumulative volume and generated over $900,000 in revenue since launch. The new platform rapidly became the main trading hub for Pump.fun tokens, reducing Raydium’s volume share for dedicated tokens from 69% to 21% in a few days.
However, the platform’s impact on the wider memecoin sector has been more modest. Although Solana’s memecoin DEX volume jumped by 61% shortly after PumpSwap’s launch, this momentum almost entirely vanished in the following days.
Raydium Performance
Memecoins play a key role in Raydium’s performance, and the platform has become even more reliant on them, even after the political memecoin frenzy subsided. In Q1 2025, memecoin-related activity, while declining, proved slightly more resilient than Raydium’s overall performance. As a result, the share of memecoin trading volume increased from 77% to 83% over the past three months.
Meanwhile, notable divergence emerged — while trading volume plummeted by over 80%, the number of trades dropped by only 30%. This suggests that memecoin traders are still active but have become more cautious, opting for smaller, lower-risk trades.
Final Thoughts
As such, Q1 2025 performance suggests a cooling phase for the memecoin sector, characterized by reduced speculative enthusiasm, lower liquidity, and smaller trade sizes. While this downtrend reflects a shift in trader behavior, it does not necessarily signal the end of the memecoin cycle. Market revivals in this sector often stem from external catalysts, such as major narrative shifts. If fresh narratives emerge or broader market conditions improve, the memecoin sector could quickly regain momentum, making this period of contraction a potential setup for the next wave of growth.
However, while memecoins may see another short hype period within this cycle, it may not be as substantial until the meta approach undergoes significant changes. The sector remains full of pump and dump schemes that rightfully keep traders cautious. The controversial “Libragate” event served as another wake-up call, highlighting a need for the sector to revamp itself.
Although the SEC recently clarified that memecoins are not considered securities, regulators have begun scrutinizing the sector more closely. The memecoin environment could mirror the post-ICO boom of 2017, when an initial wave of excitement gave way to regulatory intervention and a shift in market dynamics.
Sources
The data used for this research consists of publicly available information from CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, Blockworks Research, Dune, and Artemis. The observation period for this study was focused on Q1 2025, with data points primarily ending April 1.
A temporary 34% decline in stablecoins’ share of total trading volume followed, but the sector swiftly recovered as altcoin holders increasingly shifted into stablecoins on March 11. The top five altcoins (ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, and ADA) and the memecoin sector saw a rising share in trading volume alongside a decreasing share in market cap, indicating capital rotation away from these assets.
