The New Year has been a tough start for many in the crypto space, and perhaps none are struggling more than the intrepid ranks of Dogecoin holders in the face of a near-300 day low.
To add to their concerns, the market cap has also been shrinking at a worrying pace, plummeting from the all-time high of $90bn to around $19bn today.
Depleting value and market cap have forced DOGE down on the market cap rankings, with the coin falling out of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to number 11.
Price action has been suppressive, with a disconcerting trend of lower lows and lower highs.
And alarm bells are ringing as value continues to drop in a cascade of broken support levels.
Elon Musk was briefly able to ignite a relief rally last week in typical comedic fashion.
I will eat a happy meal on tv if @McDonalds accepts Dogecoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2022
But it was quickly smacked down by the multinational monolith, in favour of their own ‘memecoin’.
only if @tesla accepts grimacecoin https://t.co/CQrmAFelHR pic.twitter.com/to9HmYJhej
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) January 25, 2022
GrimaceCoin was instantly replicated across twitter, with a copycat token pumping 285,000%.
How did Dogecoin get where it is today?
Many write Dogecoin off as a memecoin, but to thousands of ironclad holders the project represents everything that’s great about crypto – a decentralised, community-led blockchain – with serious hype potential and a world famous South African cheerleader.
After years of relative inactivity 2021 saw Dogecoin lift-off amid sensational Gamestop and AMC sagas, the price was driven from a rather stable range between $0.002-$0.01 to above $0.10.
At this point a series of interventions from tech visionary Elon Musk ignited a sensational rally to whopping all-time highs, peaking at $0.68.
But then everything went wrong in May – the industry was hit by a double-whammy with Chinese and Musk FUD – collapsing a strong bull trend.
Things looked to pick up in August, but the impressive Bitcoin rally to a second ATH in 2021 wasn’t destined to be replicated in DOGE.
Read More: Seven reasons Dogecoin (DOGE) is the superior memecoin to Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.