The hype is over — the numbers remain: how popular memecoins lost their value

Back in mid-2025, the market capitalization of memecoins was approaching $80 billion.

However, amid the decline of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the capitalization dropped by more than half and, as of April 2026, stands at just $32.2 billion. So what happened to the viral memecoins that made waves in 2025, and did they hold their positions?

1. OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP)

Official Trump (TRUMP) is an official memecoin launched by U.S. President Donald Trump in January 2025 — just days before his inauguration. In the first days after being listed on CoinMarketCap, the TRUMP cryptocurrency reached a market capitalization of $9 billion and entered the top 20 cryptocurrencies.

The reason for such explosive growth was Trump's strong political influence, combined with a limited supply of TRUMP tokens, which amounted to only one-fifth of the total supply. The rise of TRUMP also coincided with the overall growth of the memecoin market and the high popularity of the Solana blockchain at the time, on which TRUMP was issued.

However, after reaching its peak, the price of TRUMP began to decline: compared to its all-time high of $75.3, the value of the "presidential" memecoin dropped by more than 96% and, as of April 2026, stands at just $2.84. TRUMP also fell from 18th to 71st place in the CoinMarketCap cryptocurrency rankings, and its market capitalization dropped to $659 million.

The decline of TRUMP was influenced by political factors, including the lack of expected support for the cryptocurrency market from the Trump administration, as well as:

Lack of fundamental value of the memecoin;
Large-scale token unlocks, increasing selling pressure on TRUMP;
Overall decline of the digital asset market.

Due to these factors, TRUMP's price continued to fall even in summer–autumn 2025, when bullish sentiment prevailed in the crypto market, suggesting the predominantly speculative nature of this memecoin. Despite this, TRUMP still remains among the top five largest memecoins.

2. Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)

Unlike other memecoins, Pudgy Penguins had its own ecosystem at the time of the token launch, which became one of the main reasons for strong investor demand.

In just one month after listing on major exchanges at the end of 2024, the price of PENGU increased more than 10 times, from $0.0049 to an all-time high of $0.057.

Its growth was also driven by ecosystem initiatives launched by the project team, such as:

The educational platform Pudgy Learn.
The game Pudgy World and its partnerships with gaming platforms.
The mobile app PudgyPals.

The Pudgy Penguins team also partnered with the Visa payment system and even filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch its own PENGU ETF (exchange-traded fund).

After a correction in the first half of 2025, the price of PENGU approached its peak again in summer, only to decline amid the broader downturn in the cryptocurrency market.

Compared to its peak, the price of PENGU fell by more than 87% to $0.0069, and by market capitalization — which stands at $438 million as of April 2026 — the memecoin dropped to 87th place in the digital asset rankings. However, it is worth noting that PENGU is among the eight memecoins in the top 100 digital assets.

3. SPX6900 (SPX)

The memecoin SPX6900 became a parody of the popular stock index S&P 500*, created in August 2023 to mock the U.S. financial system. The project team pursued a satirical goal — to surpass the S&P 500 index. That is why this name was chosen for the memecoin.

* S&P 500 is a stock index that includes shares of 500 êðóïíåéøèõ publicly traded U.S. companies listed on exchanges. It is calculated based on market capitalization (the larger it is, the greater the influence on the index) and covers leading sectors of the economy — from technology and finance to healthcare and industry.

Despite the token's lack of fundamental value, interest in the token grew rapidly after launch, along with its market capitalization, and the asset became a growth leader among cryptocurrencies. After rapid growth at the end of 2023, the price of SPX6900 began to correct. However, in October 2024, a new growth wave started, and in July 2025, SPX6900 reached its all-time high of $2.28, with a market capitalization exceeding $2 billion.

Unfortunately, like other memecoins, SPX6900 declined and dropped by more than 85% from its peak to $0.32. However, over the past year, SPX6900 has fallen by only 37% — significantly less compared to other popular memecoins. As of April 2026, SPX6900 ranks 108th among cryptocurrencies.

4. Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT)

The PNUT cryptocurrency sparked a surge of interest in the memecoin market after a high-profile story about a squirrel named Peanut went viral in late 2024. The squirrel was taken from its owner due to suspected rabies and euthanized, which sparked widespread public outrage.

Enthusiasts reacted to the tragic news and created a memecoin named after Peanut, which quickly gained popularity. The hype was so strong that, within a week of listing on CoinMarketCap, the PNUT token surged nearly 50 times — from $0.05 to $2.47. Its market capitalization exceeded $1.7 billion.

However, the hype did not last long, and the price of PNUT began to fall almost immediately. After reaching its peak, the value of the PNUT memecoin dropped by more than 98% to $0.04, which is below its listing price. PNUT fell to 400th place in the cryptocurrency rankings, and its market capitalization as of April 2026 is only $45 million — 37 times lower than its peak.

5. Broccoli (BROCCOLI)

Although the Broccoli memecoin did not reach the heights of the digital asset market, it generated significant media hype at the time of its launch in early 2025. The resonance was caused by Changpeng Zhao posting the name of his dog — Broccoli — on social media.

The memecoin gained additional popularity after launching on one of the most well-known token issuance platforms at the time called Four.meme. As a result, within a short period, BROCCOLI's market capitalization grew to $2 billion.

However, as in the case of PNUT, the price and market capitalization of BROCCOLI began to decline rapidly due to fading interest from the community and investors. Early investors quickly sold their tokens, which, along with the lack of fundamental value, became one of the key factors behind BROCCOLI's decline.

The situation was worsened by the overall downturn in the cryptocurrency market and decreasing demand for the Four. meme platform.

Since listing, the price of BROCCOLI has fallen by more than 94% to $0.015, and its market capitalization has dropped to a modest $15 million. As of April 2026, BROCCOLI ranks below 700th place among