(Kitco News) – Several popular meme coins began to show signs of life this past weekend as the cryptocurrency ecosystem begins to grow increasingly optimistic that the end of crypto winter is in sight.
Dogecoin (DOGE), the first meme coin, delighted crypto fans with a 22% rally from a low of $0.696 on Friday to an intraday high of $0.848 on Sunday before pulling back to its current value of $0.078.
DOGE/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
This marks the highest price reached by DOGE since the crypto market collapsed in early June and is a promising sign for crypto proponents who have experienced significant losses thus far in 2022.
Dogecoin was one of the early movers in the bull run of 2021 and helped lead the charge up the charts for the crypto market as popular influencers like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban promoted the token to their followers. Followers are now hoping that this latest rally by the top meme coin will help spark a crypto market revival that could eventually lead to new highs.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is another headline meme coin from 2021 that has awoken in recent days, spiking 43% from a low of $0.00001256 on Saturday to a high of $0.000018 on Sunday as its 24-hour trading volume surged from $369 million to $4.34 billion.
SHIB/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The move higher for SHIB follows its addition to the list of cryptos supported by the Binance payment cards issued in Europe, potentially exposing the token to new users in the growing European crypto scene.
Other notable meme coin gainers over the past week include a 24% increase for Baby Doge Coin, a 16% gain for Hoge Finance and a 9% increase for Dogelon Mars.
Retail traders reengage
According to a Monday message to clients from Hayden Hughes, chief executive of social-trading platform Alpha Impact, “Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have both broken out over the weekend, clear evidence that the retail investor is back.”
While the re-emergence of demand from retail traders is a positive sign that sentiment in the crypto market is improving, Hughes suggested that further verification is needed from institutional investors who remain have thus far remained on the sidelines of the meme coin rally.
“Alpha Impact traders have been on the sidelines, waiting to see if this trend is picked up by institutional investors who tend to trade during the week,” Hughes said.
The rally in meme coins comes at a time when the sentiment across the cryptocurrency market as a whole has been rising due to a variety of factors both inside and outside of crypto.
Last week’s lower-than-expected Consumer Pirce Index (CPI) print has led some to speculate that inflation may have peaked, which some hope will allow the Federal Reserve to ease up on raising interest rates.
The upcoming Ethereum Merge, which is anticipated to occur on September 15, has also helped pull the entire market out of the depths of crypto winter as the highly anticipated multi-year upgrade to proof-of-stake looks like it will finally become a reality.
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