Memecoins are experiencing a strong pullback: what are the prospects for this market?

Source: CritpoTendencia Original Title: Meme coins suffer a sharp pullback, what are the prospects for this market? Original Link: https://criptotendencia.com/2026/01/21/las-memecoins-sufren-un-fuerte-reflujo-cuales-son-las-perspectivas-para-este-mercado/ The meme coin sector has had a mostly green 2026 so far. However, investor interest in these assets is far from the peaks of 2024. This opens the door for distrust to cause strong downward pressure in complex contexts. And precisely, this is what is happening now with meme coins, which are facing a significant decline.

The sector is experiencing a sharp drop in market capitalization. Over the past 24 hours, sales continue, widening weekly losses. All this caused the market cap to fall below the $40 billion mark.

According to available data, the market cap of meme coins has lost 15.71% over the past week ending this Wednesday. These red numbers are reflected in the poor performance of most tokens in the top 10 of this sector.

For example, representative tokens from the meme coin world like DOGE, SHIB, and PEPE have suffered double-digit setbacks in a week. The latest of these drops by -23%. This is the third worst performance within the top 10 over the weekly period, as tokens like SPX and PENGU have worse numbers.

All this makes the meme sector one of the most eye-catching currently for the most risk-tolerant investors due to the potential for strong gains in case of a rebound.

Are meme coins preparing for a rebound or will the decline continue?

Considering the current state of international relations, it does not seem that meme coins can experience an increase in the short term. However, a possible agreement on geopolitical issues could calm the markets and trigger a return of capital from gold to risk assets.

The partial return of liquidity would manifest as a visible improvement in prices, especially among the more volatile assets. In any case, the green numbers for meme coins so far in 2026 remain, although with an increasingly narrow margin. The meme coin index so far this year shows double-digit gains.

This chart, which now shows a YTD of +11.51%, a few days ago displayed +26%. This clearly shows the mood among risk-loving portfolios. For now, the expected short-term performance of meme coins remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that some of these tokens are challenging the downward trend quite strongly. For example, PIPPIN cuts weekly losses with a +18% performance in 24 hours. However, such positive performance cases in the sector are now rare.

The coming days will be crucial, especially considering that at the end of the month, a monetary policy decision in the U.S. will be made. What the monetary authority decides regarding interest rates could have effects across the entire cryptocurrency market.