Meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have struggled to maintain momentum despite broader market rallies, with one expert arguing that their price action is dictated purely by emotional sentiment rather than fundamentals.
“These coins experienced upward momentum when Bitcoin reached a new all-time high last spring and again during the BTC rally driven by U.S. election-related sentiment,” Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at YouHodler told TheStreet Crypto. “However, at other times, selling pressure has dominated. Even when major cryptocurrency trades sideways near its ATH, these meme coins tend to decline in price.”
Over the past 7 days, DOGE is down 6.5%, while SHIB is down 0.4%, showing weaker momentum in the memecoin sector.
Lienkha pointed out that DOGE and SHIB remain far below their all-time highs, signaling weakness compared to other assets.
“Given the increasingly competitive landscape of meme coins, with numerous new projects attracting liquidity away from older tokens, I do not anticipate any significant upside for DOGE and SHIB in the near future.”
According to Lienkha, Bitcoin’s recent surge past $98,000 is largely driven by macroeconomic factors rather than speculative hype, contrasting with altcoins, which rely more on social media-fueled rallies.
“Bitcoin exhibits a strong correlation with the S&P 500, albeit with significantly higher volatility,” he explained. “By analyzing the S&P 500 and BTC price charts, we can observe that Bitcoin’s price movements align with broader market sentiment.”
However, the altcoin sector — especially meme coins — responds more aggressively to online buzz. “Despite lacking fundamental value or utility, these assets frequently experience sharp price movements fueled by online hype,” he added.
While Bitcoin’s move above $98,000 has fueled bullish sentiment, Lienkha sees the price action as part of a larger consolidation phase.
“Bitcoin has been trading within a broad sideways channel between approximately $91,000 and $107,000 since November, and it is currently positioned near the middle of this range,” he said. “As long as BTC remains within this channel, price fluctuations alone do not necessarily indicate a clear trend direction.”
However, he noted that Bitcoin appears to be forming a flag pattern, a continuation indicator in technical analysis. “If this pattern holds, it could signal the continuation of Bitcoin’s long-term bullish trend, suggesting that the recent bounce may be more than just a short-term reaction to market sentiment.”
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