In the previous bull market, meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu dominated, with gains that were previously unheard of in the space. Their popularity gave rise to meme coins of other calibre, with many seeing varying degrees of success in the market. However, with the latest cycle, meme coins seem to be taking a back seat , as “crime coins” have become the main focus of investors. Dogecoin And Shiba Inu Go Down With Meme Coins Even through the meme coin run of 2024-2025, which was triggered by Solana’s BONK, the prices of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu had not impressed investors. While Bitcoin ran to new all-time highs, both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu were unable to actually reach their previous peaks. Even now, both of these meme coins continue to struggle, with barely any notable movement across both of these digital assets. According to data from the CoinGecko website, the Dogecoin price is down more than 13% in the last month, with Shiba Inu performing even worse with almost 15% losses. Dogecoin’s price is down more than 87% from its all-time high, and Shiba Inu has fallen by over 93%. Trading volumes across both meme coins have also declined as attention has moved elsewhere. Given these factors, investment in these meme coins has been pushed to the side in favor of other cryptocurrencies. The Era Of The “Crime Coins” While meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have fallen out of favor, “Crime coins” have become the main focus of this cycle. This refers to cryptocurrencies whose prices rise rapidly over a short period of time, often accompanied by very high negative funding rates. These coins often have a very high concentration of the supply, with more than 80% being held by insiders. With such a small supply float left in the market, it becomes very easy for market-makers to push up the price of these digital assets with volume. Some examples of these crime coins include RIVER, PIPPIN , RAVE , among others. The latest of these is the LAB token, whose price rose by more than 200x in two months, leaving a long trail of liquidated short traders in its wake. One thing that these coins have in common is that they often end in a rapid crash, with some crashing more than 90% in a matter of hours. However, this has not stopped investors from gambling on these coins as LAB futures trading volume on Binance alone peaked at over $1.6 billion in a 24-hour period.
