Bitcoin and Ethereum Hit New Highs—Why Not Dogecoin?

By Mat Di Salvo

Digital asset markets last year rallied following the approval of Bitcoin ETFs and U.S. President Donald Trump's victory, with the top 10 biggest cryptocurrencies (excluding stablecoins) by market cap all hitting new highs in the last 12 months.

Dogecoin has been the one exception. 

While large-cap coins like Bitcoin, Solana, BNB, and XRP have all broken fresh records, Elon Musk's favorite meme coin, DOGE, is still priced more than 70% below its 2021 all-time high mark of $0.73. 

CoinGecko data shows that DOGE was recently priced at a little over $0.21. The coin saw a rebound last fall as Musk joined President Trump on the campaign trail, and continued rising after Trump won the election. But it peaked at about $0.48 in December, and hasn't been seen above the $0.40 mark since January.

What's going on? If meme coins trade on vibes and goodwill, and the crypto industry has been broadly inundated with positive news in recent months, then why isn't DOGE flying high again?

"Dogecoin runs on vibes, and the vibes haven't reached 2021 mania levels yet," Douglas Colkitt, founder of Ambient Finance and founding contributor of Fogo, told Decrypt. "Unlike Bitcoin or ETH, there's no structural demand driver. It doesn't have staking yields, it doesn't anchor DeFi collateral… it's literally just a meme with a strong community behind it."

According to Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl, investors are currently most interested in digital assets that have actual utility. Meme coins famously lack that.

"There is nothing wrong with meme coins and other digital collectables, and they will always be part of crypto markets," Pandl told Decrypt. "But the institutional investors moving into crypto are looking for real-world use cases and focused on revenue-generating projects."

Bitcoin has largely been sold as a long-term store-of-value asset, while Ethereum's network, investors believe, is useful for applications such as stablecoins—digital tokens pegged to the value of the dollar that everyone from JP Morgan to Meta want to issue. 

Though there appears to be demand for the coin—with analysts telling Decrypt that ETFs giving exposure to the coin could soon be approved—it was created as a joke to poke fun at the crypto space. Dogecoin then largely gained a cult following when Tesla boss Elon Musk started posting memes about the coin. 

The world's richest man and SpaceX chief once claimed that he liked the asset because it was "for the people," unlike Bitcoin. He also said it has the "best sense of humor" and that he likes DOGE because he also enjoys dogs and memes.

In other words, it's just a joke to Musk. And investors may see it much the same way.

DOGE has, in the past, been framed as being primed for payments; billionaires like Shark Tank's Mark Cuban—along with Musk—have said the coin's tokenomics would make it good for transactions. Cuban also said the low price per coin made it an asset that people might actually spend, as opposed to Bitcoin.

But for transactions, Dogecoin still hasn't taken off and has largely been viewed as a speculative—and fun—asset. And it hasn't given traders the same returns as Bitcoin or Ethereum in recent years.

"Meme coins can be a way to unite an online community around shared interests, but this does not mean they will make good long-run investments," added Pandl. 

Zooming out, a lot of cryptocurrencies haven't made decent returns this year, digital asset management firm Arca's data shows, with 75% of tokens the firm observes showing negative returns year-to-date. 

"The only exceptions are tokens linked to equity participation, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, or those associated with a legitimate business model," Arca CIO Jeff Dorman told Decrypt, noting price bumps in assets like decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid's HYPE, and CRO linked to crypto exchange Crypto.com. 

"In contrast, DOGE lacks a functional purpose, which is why it hasn't experienced any significant increase," he added. 

That could change in the future with developments such as DogeOS, which promises to bring apps and games to the network, and the Dogecoin ETFs that issuers like Grayscale and Bitwise hope to launch pending SEC approval. But even a Wall Street stamp might not give DOGE a lasting boost.

"Sure, an ETF would create a headline and open the door to some new inflows. But let's be real: A DOGE ETF would be the ultimate proof that financial markets have fully embraced the absurd," Colkitt added. "Will it pump? Probably. Will it create lasting value? Doubtful."

"There's always demand for DOGE because people love the joke. That's the product: the meme," he continued. "But demand isn’t the same as utility. As long as investors are willing to speculate on nostalgia and internet culture, there’ll be a bid for DOGE. Just don't confuse it with fundamental adoption."

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