Shiba Inu, PEPE, and Dogecoin Will "Die" in 2025? The Numbers Reveal a Harsh Story

Looking at the performance of various memecoins, one thing is clear: 2025 is a bad year for memecoins.
Dogecoin ($DOGE) has dropped about -65% since the beginning of the year, sliding from the $0.35–$0.40 range down to around $0.13.
Shiba Inu ($SHIB) has lost nearly -70%, continuously declining without any sustainable recovery.
$PEPE is the worst-performing stock, down more than -80%, wiping out nearly all speculative profits gained during the initial hype phase.
The price movements of all three markets are similar: lower highs, weak rebounds, declining trading volume, and decreasing retail investor interest.
From a purely technical perspective, this is a distribution phase, not an accumulation phase.
It’s no surprise that many traders are asking the uncomfortable question: Have memecoins died?
Bitcoin Also Declines, But the Difference Is Huge
Now let’s compare that to Bitcoin.

BTC is also adjusting downwards in 2025, from above $120,000 to around $89,000.
That’s a drop of about -25% from the peak.
But here is the key difference:
Bitcoin still maintains its macro structure.
Bitcoin finds buyers as the price drops.
Bitcoin has not collapsed and fallen into a prolonged downtrend throughout the year.
While memecoin cryptocurrencies continuously lose value, Bitcoin remains within a broad accumulation range.
Institutions have redirected investments to avoid risk, but they have not abandoned Bitcoin.
That difference is significant.
Why Do Memecoins Always Look “Dead” Mid-Cycle?
This is not new behavior. In fact, it is the classic feedback loop mentality.
Memecoins often tend to:
Perform poorly during periods of instability
Get abandoned in risk-off phases
Look like they are completely “dead” before the next price surge.
Historically, memecoins do not lead bull markets.
They often lag behind.
Capital typically flows into Bitcoin first, then Ethereum, followed by large-cap coins, and only then into higher-risk projects like memecoins.
By the time memecoins begin to fluctuate, market sentiment has reversed.
Strong Price Surge Effect: When Memecoins Explode
This is the part that many people often forget.
During strong bull runs, memecoins often:
Outperform Bitcoin by a large margin.
Attract huge retail liquidity
Develop vertically in a very short time.
DOGE in 2021.
SHIB in 2021.
PEPE in 2023.
None of those rallies started when the charts looked promising.
They began when interest had faded, trading volume dropped significantly, and price action seemed hopeless.
That is exactly what the charts for 2025 are showing right now.
So… Are SHIB, PEPE, and DOGE Really Dead?
From a short-term trading perspective: Memecoins look weak. Very weak.
From a cyclical perspective: They look just like the memecoins before each subsequent liquidity event.
Bitcoin losing 25% while memecoins lose 70-80% is not a death sentence, but a reminder of how risk operates in the cryptocurrency world.
Memecoins do not disappear quietly.
They vanish… then suddenly come back when no one expects it.