The MemeCore (M +14.77%) cryptocurrency plunged this week, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. From last Friday's market close to 11 a.m. ET on June 26, the meme coin platform lost 70.8% of its total market value. After the plunge, MemeCore's market cap stands at $1.1 billion.
The price fell from $3 to $0.50 per token between 8:30 p.m. ET and 9:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening, highlighting the risks of thinly traded assets with limited liquidity.
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Key Data Points
Warning signs were hiding in plain sight
Crypto analysts called MemeCore a risky cryptocurrency before this sudden crash.
Most of the supply is held by a handful of insiders. The token was added to major crypto exchanges such as Kraken despite a history of suspicious insider trading. And, of course, it's hard to trust a cryptocurrency specifically designed to mint valueless meme coins. The market cap sat near $3 billion at the start of this week, but trading volume was low.
It's unclear what started the price drop on Wednesday. With minimal active bidding, it didn't take much to consume MemeCore's available market liquidity.
Image source: Getty Images.
MemeCore is a risky bet on meme coin mania
MemeCore set out to be the go-to platform for minting meme coins, which is kind of like aspiring to be the world's finest maker of whoopee cushions. There's a market for it, sure, but it's a novelty item. This week's crash may have corrected some of that overvaluation, though at $1.1 billion, skeptics would argue there's still a long way to fall. On top of that, MemeCore adds more risk with limited trading volume, just a handful of crypto exchanges offering the token, and allegations of insider-driven market price manipulation.
If you're holding MemeCore today, I hope it's just a handful of tokens in the speculative corner of your portfolio. It's betting that meme culture and speculative crypto enthusiasm will stick around long enough for a rebound -- and that MemeCore can stave off larger, multi-talented rivals like Solana (SOL +1.23%) and Ethereum (ETH +0.62%).
That's not exactly a thesis you'd want to stake your retirement on.
