Social media interest in Memecoin is increasing as traders return to risky assets.

The social media boom surrounding memecoins has surged significantly since the beginning of the year, alongside a rise in market capitalization. According to experts, this reflects a risk appetite gradually returning to the cryptocurrency market.

Recently, many memecoins have experienced impressive growth, leading to a wave of speculation that caused the market value of this asset group to skyrocket. This phenomenon has attracted the attention of traders and sparked widespread interest from the community, according to a report from the market analysis platform Santiment on Wednesday.

Vincent Liu, Investment Director at Kronos Research, told Cointelegraph: “Traders are tending to return to highly liquid assets, where feedback effects occur most rapidly. Memecoin has a concise story, broad social coordination potential, and asymmetric upside potential, making them an ideal choice to re-engage with risk as market sentiment shifts.”

He further added: “Memecoin often leads the market when risk appetite returns. The recovery of the Fear & Greed Index from extreme fear to neutral further reinforces this trend. If major coins confirm with trading volume, the rally could spread; otherwise, memecoin will remain a short-term emotional trading channel.”

Memecoin Market Cap Recovers Strongly

In 2025, memecoin has decreased by more than 65%, hitting a low of $35 billion on December 19 – the lowest point of the year, as risk aversion increased and capital shifted to more stable investment channels.

Market capitalization and trading volume of memecoin both surged in the past 30 days | Source: CoinMarketCapHowever, since then, the market cap of memecoin has recovered impressively, surpassing $47.7 billion on Monday, up sharply from $38 billion recorded on December 29, according to data from CoinMarketCap. By Thursday, this figure remained around $45 billion.

Memecoin trading volume also saw remarkable growth, from $2.17 billion on December 29 to $8.7 billion on Monday – a 300% increase, before stabilizing around $5.22 billion on Thursday.

Liu said that the rebound from the bottom mainly results from re-establishing trading positions and the return of retail investors, rather than fundamental valuation factors. He noted that if social momentum and liquidity continue to be maintained, this trend could persist in the short term. However, he also warned: “Memecoin price rallies are still highly reactive and can reverse sharply when capital flows slow down.”

Memecoin – A Measure of Risk Appetite in the Cryptocurrency Market

Pav Hundal, senior analyst at the Swyftx exchange (Australia), told Cointelegraph: “Memecoin is one of the clearest indicators of risk appetite in the cryptocurrency market.”

He shared: “The next few days will show whether this is just a short-term ‘fad,’ or a sign that the market is gradually accepting risk more steadily.”

“When altcoins surge while Bitcoin remains sideways, it indicates capital is shifting toward riskier assets. Historically, this divergence often signals that when speculative activity exceeds the benchmark, the market may experience a sharp correction for overly optimistic investors.”

Risk Sentiment Could Reverse

Traders seem to have regained their risk appetite, but both Liu and Hundal believe this may only be temporary.

“Macroeconomic factors remain the main risk variables. Any escalation in geopolitical tensions or policy shocks, including actions by the US related to Venezuela or broader instability in emerging markets, could quickly reverse risk sentiment, even if cryptocurrency growth accelerates,” Liu said.

Hundal noted that macro conditions have improved since the end of last year, but “for me, this feels like euphoria exceeding fundamental factors.”

“Until we have more certainty in policy and politics, these global moves are more hopeful than confident.”

Mr. Giáo