Memecoin trading volume is at the highest level in two years ── Is it a signal of Bitcoin bearish turn | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

Trading volumes for memecoins (crypto assets that originate from internet memes and have no inherent utility) surged last week, echoing the frenzied activity observed before the Bitcoin (BTC) market peaked in the past. He showed a reminiscent movement.

According to blockchain observer James Tolan’s analysis using data from Dune Analytics, memecoin trading volume last week was $2.3 billion, up from the previous week’s $387 million. million dollars (about 52.25 billion yen), a six-fold increase, the highest amount since May 2021.

This frenzy was led by Pepecoin (PEPE), a frog-themed token launched in mid-April with a supply of 420 trillion. PEPE surpassed $1 billion in market cap on Friday and eventually peaked at $1.82 billion, a three-week-old meme cryptocurrency It’s a staggering number for a virtual currency. At the time of writing, the market capitalization of PEPE by Coingecko was $931 million.

Memecoin weekly trading volume (James Tolan/Dune Analytics)

PEPE’s frenzy has also spurred speculation on other tokens with lower market capitalizations, such as DINO, WSB, CHAD and 4TOKEN, which have risen by hundreds of percent over the past two weeks.

Historically, the memecoin speculation fever presaged a peak or bearish reversal for Bitcoin, the top cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Historically, the speculative frenzy for memetic tokens marks a major peak for Bitcoin. (James Tolan/Dune Analytics, CoinDesk)

Bitcoin was trading near $27,970 at the time of writing, down 2% on the day despite the weakness in the Dollar Index (DXY). Bitcoin typically moves in the opposite direction to the Dollar Index, which shows the exchange rate of the US dollar against major currencies, including the euro.

DXY jumped to 101.75 on May 5 following the surprisingly strong US jobs report, but has since fallen below 101.20.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Toshihiko Inoue
| Image: James Tolan/Dune Analytics
｜Original: Meme Coin Trading Volume Surges to Two-Year High, Signals Caution for Bitcoin Bulls