The post High-risk, no reward: Are memecoins failing to attract sidelined liquidity? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Journalist Posted: February 21, 2026 Stablecoins aren’t the only place investors store dry powder during a risk-off market. Historically, memecoins have played a role in sidelining capital, as investors rotated into them to offset losses in high-cap assets. However, over the past few cycles, this trend has shifted dramatically. The memecoin market cap has declined by nearly $10 billion in the last 30 days, aligning with the total crypto market, which has shed $330 billion. In short, instead of attracting capital, memecoins have fallen alongside the rest of the market. Liquidity hasn’t rotated within crypto; it has moved out, with investors shifting to alternative assets to hedge against the FUD. Source: TradingView (DOGE/BTC) Nothing illustrates this better than the DOGE/BTC ratio.  Since the October crash, the pair is down 30%, consolidating below the 0.000002 level and failing to reclaim structure. That weakness against Bitcoin [BTC] points to fading speculative demand for Dogecoin [DOGE]. Simply put, traders didn’t rotate into memecoins for a quick high-beta bounce during the risk-off move. The bid just wasn’t there. The bigger question now: Is this just a temporary cooldown, or the start of a deeper structural shift in risk appetite? Confidence cracks in the memecoin trade You can’t trade memecoins without confidence. The logic is simple: Trading in these assets is high-risk, and executing a position requires more than just interest. Instead, traders need solid conviction in the asset’s potential before committing capital. But recent CryptoRank data shows that memecoin trading has taken a hit. The launch of Official Trump [TRUMP] and MELANIA [MELANIA] coins seems to have spooked retail investors, slowing speculative flows and shaking the market’s usual high-beta dynamics. Source: CryptoRank Looking at the numbers, Trump family–linked memecoins TRUMP and MELANIA have collapsed 92% and 99% from their all-time highs, with insiders reportedly…

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Filed under: News - @ February 21, 2026 6:03 pm