The market has regained its appetite for risk, with memecoins once again taking the lead.
At the time of writing, Pepe [PEPE] was trading at $0.00000493, posting a 29.3% price surge. Momentum strengthened as late-session bids lifted the price sharply.
Consecutively, in 24 hours, the volume exploded 283% to $1.07 billion, signaling aggressive speculative rotation.
This surge positioned PEPE as the sector’s leadership proxy. As capital clustered around it, adjacent memecoins recorded sympathy inflows.
The rebound therefore implied sentiment stabilization across high-beta tokens.
Notably, the move lacked a fundamental catalyst; instead, momentum and social discourse drove flows. Rising creator activity, up 17.08% weekly to 2,407, reinforced retail engagement.
Source: LunarCrash/X
Thereafter, whales accumulated trillions of tokens, anticipating reflexive upside. Their motive centered on liquidity leverage and narrative dominance. By concentrating size early, they shaped order-book direction.
Sustainability now depends on volume persistence. Steady inflows would confirm continued risk appetite. Fading turnover, however, would signal rotational exhaustion, slowing the broader memecoin advance.
Memecoins outrun markets while L1s stall at the cycle turn
Market structure shifted after Bitcoin [BTC] established its $60,000 bottom. Forced liquidations and capitulation selling eliminated the downside pressure. Thereafter, liquidity re-entered through high-beta segments.
Memecoins reacted first, rallying toward +10% by February 15. Their rebound accelerated as speculative capital rotated aggressively. Social momentum and viral narratives amplified participation.
Source: X
Meanwhile, Layer-1s lagged, hovering near 0% despite the broader recovery. Capital avoided them due to diluted narratives and heavy supply overhangs.
Ongoing concerns about unlocks and ecosystem fragmentation weighed on flows. This underperformance implied reduced institutional conviction.
AI and gaming recovered modestly, hovering around +3% and +6%. However, their upside remained secondary to memecoin velocity.
Traders prioritized reflexive trades over fundamental positioning. Faster liquidity turnover favored meme assets.
Thus, memecoin appetite reflected rising risk tolerance. Sustained inflows signaled speculative expansion, while L1 weakness highlighted structural demand fatigue.
PEPE ignites renewed memecoin momentum
PEPE Open Interest expanded steadily, climbing from sub-$200 million levels toward the $600 million–$800 million range. Positioning intensified as leveraged traders re-entered risk.
Thereafter, Open Interest briefly spiked near $1 billion, signaling peak speculative exposure. Liquidations and profit-taking then compressed positioning toward $300 million–$400 million.
Source: CoinGlass
Still, recent rebuilding of over $400 million reflects cautious optimism returning. Rising derivatives exposure suggests traders anticipate further upside.
Meanwhile, broader memecoin pricing reversed prolonged weakness. The sector index rebounded sharply, posting a 28% surge from recent lows.
This recovery followed months of structural drawdown toward the mid-20 region.
Sector: MarkVector
As prices increased, sentiment shifted decisively to risk-on. Strengthening flows in meme assets reinforced speculative leadership.
Together, rebuilding leverage and price expansion implied renewed sector momentum, while signaling traders’ willingness to reprice high-beta narratives upward.
Final Summary
- PEPE’s volume surge and whale buying reignited memecoin momentum, cementing its role as the sector’s sentiment leader.
- Continuation depends on sustained inflows, as L1 weakness confirms capital’s bias toward high-beta risk.
