Meme Coin Rally Defies Expectations as PEPE, BONK Outperform Dogecoin and Shiba Inu
The cryptocurrency market's meme coin sector has staged a dramatic recovery, with PEPE and BONK leading the charge while established players Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) lag behind. PEPE's 67% weekly surge added over $1 billion to its market cap, now ranking as the third-largest meme coin. Trading volume exceeded $1.2 billion during the rally.
BONK followed closely with a 46% gain, pushing its market capitalization above $1 billion. The coin's daily trading volume approached $500 million as investors chased momentum. These outperforming assets demonstrate how lower-cap meme coins are capturing trader attention despite Dogecoin's historical dominance.
Market dynamics suggest a rotation into riskier assets, with Pepe and BONK benefiting from compressed liquidity conditions. The moves coincide with renewed speculative activity across exchanges including Binance, Bybit, and Coinbase, where meme coin trading pairs have seen disproportionate volume growth.