Dogecoin Slows Following Monster Gains—What Happened?

Dogecoin is slowing down—at least for now—following a week of enormous gains. 

While other long-standing canine coins are down, there’s a new dog-themed token that’s picking up where DOGE left off, catapulting up the charts this week.

The seventh biggest cryptocurrency by market cap is now trading for $0.38 per coin, CoinGecko data shows. That’s a 0.5% drop over 24 hours and a drop of 2.5% since last Wednesday.

Granted, that’s a modest dip for a particularly volatile coin, but it’s also a dramatic shift from the last week of action. 

Just over a week ago, Dogecoin touched a three-year high price of $0.43 and returned to the $0.40 mark on Tuesday amid another Bitcoin all-time high push, but the last week has felt quiet compared to what had come before.

Shiba Inu (SHIB), Bonk (BONK), and Dogwifhat (WIF) are also down on the day, with only BONK among those still in the green over the last seven days.

One newcomer in the meme dog pack is making waves despite the market dips. Just a Chill Guy (CHILLGUY), a Solana-based meme coin inspired by a viral TikTok of an anthropomorphic dog in casual attire, has surged 400% in the past day, reaching $0.41 with a market cap of $408 million. The token launched just this Monday.

Why is DOGE down?

Why has Dogecoin’s momentum slowed since last week? DOGE and other meme coins are notoriously volatile, making a pullback after a rally a typical occurrence.

Dogecoin’s momentum is often driven by attention and hype. As the buzz around Donald Trump’s election win and speculation about Elon Musk’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) fades, the positive impact on its price may diminish.

However, Wintermute OTC trader Jake Ostrovskis suggests that what’s happening to Dogecoin isn’t exclusive to the leading meme coin, and that many altcoins are in the same boat right now.

“We’re seeing relative weakness in the wider altcoin space,” he told Decrypt. “The outperformance of Bitcoin is pulling liquidity from ‘alts,’ he said. “These markets are also volatile by nature, so pullbacks are part of normal trading.”

Meanwhile, BIT Mining Chief Economist Youwei Yang pointed to potential shifts around Dogecoin mining—including “merged mining” with Litecoin (LTC)—suggesting that miners may be dumping their holdings while the price is high.

“Mining LTC/DOGE is at a very lucrative level, two to three times more profitable than Bitcoin depending on the generation of ASIC,” Yang said. “Miners are selling their historically and recently accumulated large amounts of DOGE to secure some profits.”

He recommended miners cash in while DOGE is up: “We learned from history and worry this level of profit won’t last,” Yang told Decrypt. “Sell some to secure profits, or at least pay for the electricity bill.”

Even with the dip, Dogecoin has still made big gains over the past month, with CoinGecko data showing that it has surged over 163% in 30 days. 

One man is to be thanked for its resurgence: Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who started pumping Dogecoin back in 2019 on Twitter—the platform he now owns and has since rebranded to “X.” 

His relentless shitposting helped the coin grow a cult following, and its market cap surged as a result. That mark now stands above $55 billion and has increased in price and market cap since he became a loud supporter of President-elect Donald Trump this year.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair