Dogecoin (DOGE 5.64%) remains one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world with a market cap of nearly $31 billion. Yet since 2025 began, the value of Dogecoin has dropped by 36%. Is this your chance to bet on a crypto token that has historically gone on huge runs? The answer may surprise you.
CRYPTO: DOGE
Key Data Points
2 reasons Dogecoin is down 36% in 2025
The most important factor to consider when looking at Dogecoin is its positioning as a meme coin. Even the project's founders considered Dogecoin to be largely a joke. Its original underlying purpose wasn't to create an innovative payments platform or novel technological breakthrough. Dogecoin, at its core, was created simply to have fun. This has resulted in far less payments volume and blockchain activity, meaning Dogecoin's fluctuations can be sudden, sizable, and often random.
But Dogecoin isn't just down in value this year due to random market fluctuations. Having far fewer fundamental reasons for holding, meme coins like Dogecoin have suffered in recent months due to a market wide sell-off of higher-risk crypto assets. For example, Shiba Inu and Pepe -- two other popular meme coins -- have seen their values cut in half this year.
Image source: Getty Images.
These are the two simplest reasons why Dogecoin has suffered this year. First, it's a meme coin exposed to large, sudden, and often random movements. Second, meme coins in general are out of favor right now, possibly signaling a "risk-off" preference by the market.
Should you pick up some DOGE on the cheap before 2025 is finished? Only if you're a very aggressive investor willing to buy into a speculative project with high volatility. That said, the Dogecoin Foundation is making serious moves to become a wider, more legitimate ecosystem. As long as you understand the risk, Dogecoin could be a high-risk, high-upside opportunity worthy of a very small portfolio position.
