Why Shiba Inu Is Falling as the MemeCoin Index Surges 55%

Shiba Inu is down 18% over the last six months, while the Crowdwisdom360 MemeCoin Index is up 55%. Dogecoin, Pepe, and Fartcoin have also struggled during this period. Together, these four cryptocurrencies account for nearly 70% of the overall meme coin market.

Since December 7, 2024, the market capitalization of tokens outside Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB has shown little movement.

Retail investors focusing on smaller-cap cryptocurrencies increasingly resemble short-term derivative traders. These investors have been frequently rotating positions, often losing ground to more experienced market participants as the broader altcoin market has remained largely stagnant.

The Pump.fun and GMGN Effect

Platforms such as Pump.fun and GMGN.ai are central to this new, faster-paced environment. Pump.fun’s low-cost bonding-curve model has made it simple for users to create new meme coins, reducing barriers to entry. GMGN.ai complements this by tracking new token launches, early trading data, and social engagement. Together, these platforms have brought more transparency to meme coin trading. The market now follows visible cycles of creation, rotation, and replacement rather than pure speculation.

Shiba Inu and the New Market Reality

The recent performance of older meme coins reflects how investor behavior is changing. Shiba Inu continues to hold a large market capitalization, yet its growth has slowed. The number of holders has decreased for the first time in two years, trading volume is down 32 percent, and prices have fallen 18 percent in the past six months. Despite this slowdown, Shiba Inu still maintains a massive community and an ongoing Layer-2 expansion through Shibarium, which processes tens of thousands of daily transactions. But its growth has not translated into market performance, showing that the meme coin sector is now driven more by liquidity momentum than by legacy branding.

Separately, the S&P Dow Jones has introduced the Digital Markets 50 Index. The index tracks 15 leading cryptocurrencies alongside 35 publicly listed companies involved in blockchain technology, exchanges, and digital asset infrastructure. It is the first of its kind to combine crypto assets and equities within a single, investable benchmark. Through Dinari’s dShares platform, investors will soon be able to buy tokenized shares that represent the index, bridging decentralized and traditional markets.

The result is a clear distinction between two investment styles: institutional capital seeking structure and retail traders responding to short-term narratives.

Six-Month Market Snapshot

This change in pattern is more distinctive ever since crypto regulation became easier for the Industry as a whole over the last 6 months under the Trump Administration.

Established assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to perform strongly, while legacy meme coins show mixed results. The Crowdwisdom360 MemeCoin Index, which rose 55 percent during the same period, suggests that liquidity is not exiting the sector but rotating into newer, faster-moving tokens.

A recent example is MemeCore (M), which launched in mid-2025 and reached an estimated market capitalization of around $2.1 billion within months. Similarly, Fartcoin rose 38x between December 2024 and October 2025. Outside of the large Tokens, rotation has become extremely critical; it always had been but the emergence of Pump.has sped up the process even more.

The Road Ahead

The crypto market is now operating on two distinct tracks. The first is dominated by large-cap assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are attracting institutional capital, clearer regulations, and index-based exposure through products like the new S&P Digital Markets 50. The second, more dynamic layer remains retail-driven, with meme coins and micro-caps reinventing the market through speed, creativity, and rotation. For participants in this fast-paced world, success depends not on blindly holding onto old narratives, but on understanding when and where liquidity rotates.

Platforms like Crowdwisdom360 aim to make this possible by using structured data to track these rotations, giving traders a clear view of how sentiment and capital are shifting. The WISD presale offers early access to this crucial analytics layer, which will power features like real-time indices and predictive dashboards. With institutions consolidating the upper tier of crypto and retail exploring the edges, data will be the essential link between them.

Join the Crowdwisdom360 (WISD) Presale and Community

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Digital assets can be volatile and involve significant risk. Readers should conduct their own research and seek professional advice before participating in any token sale or crypto activity.