Meme Coin Market Surges Past $45B as Shiba Inu, PEPE, BONK Stage 54% Price Pump

The meme coin sector is showing renewed strength after the holidays, with fresh data pointing to a strong rebound across several major tokens.

the market intelligence platform Santiment, the total meme coin market capitalization has risen above $45.3 billion, marking a 20.8% increase in just seven days. This move suggests a return of speculative appetite among retail traders after weeks of hesitation and negative sentiment.

Several meme tokens posted strong double-digit gains over the past week, outperforming much of the broader crypto market. Santiment highlighted the following seven-day movers:

The widespread nature of the rally suggests capital rotation back into high-risk, high-reward assets rather than isolated, token-specific catalysts.

Notably, the bounce began shortly after Christmas, when fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) among retail traders had reached elevated levels. Such moments of extreme pessimism have often coincided with short-term market bottoms in speculative sectors like meme coins.

Santiment noted that assets heavily written off by retail participants tend to outperform once sentiment begins to reverse.

Meanwhile, the ongoing rebound in meme coins follows Bitcoin’s recapture of the $91,000 level this week. is now trading at $91,500, up 4% over the past week. Ethereum has also regained the $3,000 price level and is now trading at $3,140, showing a weekly gain of 6.71%.

Other top assets like XRP, Solana, and Cardano now boast weekly gains of 11.51%, 7.91%, and 7.7%, respectively.

Among meme coins, category leader Dogecoin (DOGE) is also gaining momentum. It has surged 6.36% over the past day and 22% over the past week, trading at $0.1515. In the short term, Dogecoin may be looking to regain the $0.20 level, which could spark increased speculative activity.

Shiba Inu has posted a more impressive 11% surge today, though its weekly gain is a more modest 19%, with the token trading at $0.000008733. In the short term, SHIB could attempt to reclaim the $0.00001 level.

Notably, meme coins remain among the most speculative assets in crypto, but their recent performance highlights how quickly sentiment can shift. With the market responding to fading fear and renewed risk-taking, traders are once again positioning for momentum-driven moves.

As the broader market stabilizes, the meme coin sector is reasserting itself as a focal point for short-term speculation and volatility-driven opportunities, as Bitcoin looks to challenge the $100,000 level.