Meme Coin Market Slumps as Pump.fun Drops 9% While Dogecoin ETF Surpasses Expectations

The meme coin market cooled sharply on Friday, with Solana token launchpad Pump.fun’s PUMP token falling 9.2% in 24 hours, sparking a broader retreat across the sector.

Pump.fun Retreats After Rally

PUMP now trades at $0.007213, still up 142% over the past 30 days and just 11.5% below its all-time high of $0.008819 set on September 14, according to CoinGecko. Despite its pullback, Pump.fun continues to attract attention, with company data showing daily active users have surged 450% in the past three months.

Prediction market Myriad saw sentiment shift quickly. On Thursday, users gave PUMP a 54% chance of hitting a $4 billion market cap, but by Friday morning, sentiment flipped to a 66% chance of dropping to $2 billion instead.

The wider Pump.fun ecosystem mirrored the decline, with its total market cap down 6% to $3.85 billion. Top losses included TROLL (-10%) and Aura (-12%), while tokens like Fartcoin, PNUT, and Moo Deng also slipped.

Meme Coin Sector Sheds Nearly 5%

The broader meme coin sector suffered a 4.8% daily decline, dropping to a market cap of $87.2 billion. Among established players:

• Dogecoin (DOGE) fell 3.6%
• Pudgy Penguins (PUDGY) dipped 5.1%
• PEPE and BONK recorded minor losses
• CHILLGUY (-7.6%) and HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu (ETH) (-6.4%) also struggled

The losses stood in contrast to relatively mild dips in major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin slipped 0.8% to $116,263, while Ethereum dropped 1.3% to $4,521, amid concerns over staking yields.

Altcoins and Gaming Tokens Rally

Outside the meme space, altcoins posted gains, boosted by optimism after the SEC’s approval of generic listing standards for crypto exchange-traded products.

Gaming-related tokens showed resilience, with Immutable’s IMX jumping 17% Thursday and 47% over the past week, supported by partnerships with Ubisoft and NetMarble as well as the Federal Reserve’s rate cut.

Dogecoin ETF Launch Beats Expectations

Adding to the week’s headlines, the first-ever spot Dogecoin ETF (ticker: DOJE) launched, surpassing analyst expectations. Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas noted:

“My over/under got destroyed in the first hour of trading as DOJE already posted nearly $6M in volume. That’s shockingly solid. Most ETFs trade under $1M on day one.”

The ETF debut underscores growing institutional interest in meme coins, even as the sector undergoes sharp short-term volatility.