Opinion: The general rebound of meme coins indicates a return of market risk appetite

On January 5th, according to Cointelegraph, after entering 2026, capital has flowed back into the Meme coin sector, driving the market capitalization of related tokens to increase by over 23% in the past week. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that the total market cap of Meme coins has rebounded from approximately $38 billion on December 29th to over $47.7 billion. During the same period, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu each rose by over 20% and 19.9%, respectively, while Pepe surged by more than 65%. Trading volume also expanded from about $2.17 billion to $8.7 billion, an increase of approximately 300%. Analysts believe that Meme coins are typically considered high-risk assets, and their early strength often reflects a rebound in market risk appetite. Santiment pointed out that this rebound occurred after retail investor sentiment was at its most pessimistic stage, aligning with the market’s “contrarian” historical pattern. Some traders further suggest that if Meme coins continue their strong momentum, capital may gradually spill over into other altcoin sectors, with the Solana ecosystem potentially becoming the main beneficiary.