Memecoin Market Cap Rises 23% as Memecoins Start 2026 With Strong Rally

TLDR

• Memecoin market cap jumped 23% in one week, rising from $38 billion on Dec 29 to $47.7 billion on Jan 6
• Transaction volume spiked 300%, increasing from $2.17 billion to $8.7 billion in the same period
• Top memecoins posted double-digit gains: Dogecoin up 20%, Shiba Inu up 19.9%, and Pepe surged 65%
• Large investors bought over 325 million DOGE tokens, with 220 million purchased in 24 hours
• The rally followed a 65% decline throughout 2025, with memecoins hitting yearly lows in late December

The memecoin market experienced a sharp rebound as 2026 began. Market capitalization crossed $47.7 billion on Monday, up from $38 billion on December 29.

The surge came after memecoins hit a yearly low of $35 billion on December 19. This marked the end of a 65% decline throughout 2025.

Transaction volume increased alongside prices. Daily volume jumped from $2.17 billion on December 29 to $8.7 billion on Monday. This represents a 300% increase in less than two weeks.

The three largest memecoins by market cap all posted gains. Dogecoin rose over 20% in the past week. Shiba Inu climbed 19.9% during the same period.

Pepe showed the strongest performance. The token surged more than 65% over seven days. Trading volume for Pepe reached $3.45 billion.

Large Investors Return to Dogecoin

Big holders became active in the Dogecoin market. On-chain data shows purchases of over 325 million DOGE tokens. About 220 million of these coins were bought in just 24 hours.

Dogecoin trading volume rose 114% to reach $3.23 billion. The price climbed to $0.1432. The token moved back above the $0.130 level.

Shiba Inu reached $0.000007665 with an 8% daily gain. Trading volume increased 86% to $216.26 million. Other dog-themed tokens also gained ground.

Bonk rose nearly 11% while Floki climbed close to 10%. Smaller memecoins showed similar patterns. Mog Coin increased about 14% in one day and 37% over the week.

Trading Patterns Shift After Holiday Period

Market intelligence platform Santiment noted the timing of the bounce. The rally began shortly after negative sentiment reached high levels among retail traders. This happened just days after Christmas.

CoinGecko’s GMCI Meme Index showed total market value around $33.8 billion. About $5.9 billion was traded in 24 hours across the memecoin sector.

The broader cryptocurrency market gained 3% in 24 hours. Total crypto market cap rose to $3.12 trillion. Bitcoin traded above $91,000 during the same period.

Open interest in Pepe futures trading reached $448.70 million. The token displayed a falling wedge pattern on daily charts. It traded around the $0.0000055907 level.

Popcat gained nearly 9% on the day. The token climbed more than 17% over the week. Both large-cap and small-cap memecoins saw increased activity.

Charts from traders showed momentum moving from large-cap coins into memecoins. Trading volume for Pepe jumped 112% as the rally continued.

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