- DOGE experienced a 23% decline from its December peak, continuing to drop by 12% into the new year.
- Despite price drops, retail interest surged with a record 413.8K non-zero wallets added recently.
Dogecoin (DOGE), the cryptocurrency that started as a meme but grew to become the world’s largest of its kind, has recently faced a challenging period. According to AMBCrypto, DOGE has seen a significant downturn over the past few months, marking a 23% decline from its peak in early December.
Retail Interest Surge
This downward trend has continued into the new year, with the coin further declining by 12%, signaling a discouraging start for 2023 and indicating a lack of revitalization momentum.
Despite this downturn in price performance, Dogecoin’s community and retail investor interest have seemingly not waned. In an unprecedented growth spurt, nearly 413.8K non-zero wallets have been added to the Dogecoin network in the last two weeks alone.
This record-setting increase, as reported by analytics firm Santiment, marks the fastest growth rate in the history of Dogecoin.
The surge is mainly attributed to retail investors, especially noticeable among those holding between 0.001 to 1 DOGE, showcasing a continued attraction to the coin, likely buoyed by its status within the meme coin community and the broader cryptocurrency market.
Whale Investors’ Stance
This phenomenon of increased retail participation contrasts starkly with the behavior of larger investors or “whales,” who seem to have maintained their distance from Dogecoin during this period. There has been no significant uptick in the number of whale wallets, those holding more than 1,000 coins, indicating a potential lack of confidence from this investor segment.
Such behavior raises concerns within the Dogecoin community regarding the coin’s long-term trajectory and its ability to attract substantial institutional or large-scale investor interest.
Whale behavior is often considered a crucial indicator for assessing a cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects. The apparent disengagement of these large investors from Dogecoin suggests that the current growth is largely driven by speculative interest from smaller retail investors rather than a fundamental belief in the coin’s long-term value proposition.
In the derivatives market, the sentiment towards Dogecoin appears to be shifting. Data from Coinglass indicates that DOGE has become less favorable among bullish traders, with bearish short bets now outnumbering bullish long positions.
This shift in market sentiment could further impact Dogecoin’s price performance, potentially leading to increased volatility or further declines if the trend continues.