These past two weeks, the Meme coin sector has been very active. Just a few days into 2026, funds have started pouring in, and the major Meme coin varieties have collectively risen over 23% in the past week.

The data is very clear—total market capitalization of Meme coins jumped from $38 billion on December 29 to over $47.7 billion. Among them, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu increased by over 20% and 19.9%, respectively, but Pepe is even more impressive, with a 65% increase in just one week. Trading activity has also surged, with trading volume skyrocketing from $2.17 billion to $8.7 billion, nearly tripling.

Interestingly, Meme coins have traditionally been seen as high-risk speculative assets. Their strength often indicates a market risk appetite is returning. Especially since this rebound occurred when retail investor sentiment was at its most pessimistic, which aligns with the market's usual "contrarian" pattern—extreme bearishness often triggers a rebound.

Many traders are pondering whether this wave of Meme coin enthusiasm can be sustained. If so, subsequent funds might start flowing into other small-cap tokens, with projects in the Solana ecosystem likely to be the biggest beneficiaries. When that happens, the entire ecosystem will rise together.