Meme coins gain traction after SEC’s partial win in Coinbase lawsuit: DOGE, SHIB, BRETT, POPCAT, BODEN

Prices of meme coins increased on Thursday despite the broader market sell-off driven by Coinbase’s legal setback against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Meme coins are considered more speculative compared with other cryptocurrencies, so typically crypto traders flee to these assets when volatility reduces the appeal for large market cap tokens. 

Meme coin takers line up during market turmoil

Maartje Bus, Messari VP of Research, said at BUIDL Asia in Seoul that meme coins have the potential to become a new asset class. Bus’ thesis is a popular one in the crypto ecosystem as meme coins have become an important part of the crypto market. 

Research analysts from Messari identified that meme coins typically surge following momentum from larger assets and can signal market shifts early. Speculative assets play a key role in crypto market cycles and traders’ expectations of gains. Sometimes, they have the potential to outperform market-cap-weighted smart contract platforms significantly. 

The SEC’s partial victory against Coinbase, in which the Judge denied the latter’s motion to dismiss the regulator’s lawsuit, is one of the key drivers of the ongoing correction in large crypto market cap assets on Thursday. 

However, large meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Solana-based Brett (BRETT), Popcat (POPCAT) and Jeo Boden (BODEN) yielded between 4% and 25% gains on the day. 

DOGE, SHIB, BRETT, POPCAT, BODEN prices rally

DOGE and SHIB added 12% and 6% to their prices on the day, respectively. The Shiba-Inu-themed meme coin, DOGE, noted a massive spike in its social dominance as well, as seen on Santiment. 

Dogecoin Social Dominance.

An increase in this metric, which measures the mentions of DOGE on social media platforms,  typically coincides with local tops or bottoms in Dogecoin’s price. 

In the current context, DOGE price could close above its local top at $0.2147 on Thursday. 

DOGE/USDT 1-day chart

BRETT, POPCAT and BODEN prices climbed 6%, 18% and 6%, respectively, in the past day.