Meme Coin Hype Hits Yearly High as Traders Chase Speculation Over Strategy: Santiment

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Hassan Shittu

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Hassan Shittu

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Hassan, a Cryptonews.com journalist with 6+ years of experience in Web3 journalism, brings deep knowledge across Crypto, Web3 Gaming, NFTs, and Play-to-Earn sectors. His work has appeared in...

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Last updated: 

May 1, 2025

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As April 2025 drew to a close, the crypto market, especially meme coin, experienced a dramatic upswing, led by a surprise rebound in Bitcoin’s price to the $94K–$96K range and renewed retail traders interest.

According to an analysis posted on Santiment, this late-month surge did more than lift portfolios. It reignited retail interest and triggered a domino effect across altcoins, particularly meme coins.

While Bitcoin gained 7% in the final eight days of April, the broader market rose by 10%.

The report identifies this as a classic pattern where traders pivot to riskier plays in search of higher yields when Bitcoin leads a rally and stalls. As the ultimate speculative assets, meme coins have now taken center stage.

This behavior is accompanied by a swelling social volume and enthusiasm, with buzzwords like “alt season” and “bull cycle” trending online.

Santiment warns that this retail-driven speculation can indicate a greed phase nearing exhaustion. Historically, such peaks in retail chatter precede market corrections.

Bitcoin: From Despair to Delirium

Bitcoin’s resurgence to the mid-$90K range has restored confidence among retail traders, reversing the bearish sentiment that loomed during the first half of April.

Earlier in the month, Bitcoin’s correlation with a declining S&P 500 had stoked fears that BTC might drop below $70K or worse, $50K.

Online sentiment reflected these anxieties between April 6 and 18, with price predictions heavily skewed toward the downside.

But sentiment flipped dramatically as Bitcoin defied expectations, climbing steadily and breaking resistance levels.

Social media platforms that once echoed predictions of collapse are now buzzing with $100K–$159K price forecasts.

While discussions surrounding Bitcoin remain stable at around 25% of all top crypto conversations, the positive-to-negative commentary ratio has shifted sharply in favor of the bulls.

According to Santiment’s data, this optimism is evident in asset discussion ratios and price projection trends.

This FOMO-driven behavior has historically triggered waves of retail capital moving into smaller altcoins.

If April’s pattern continues, Bitcoin’s sideways movement in May could mean even greater volatility in lesser-known assets.

Ethereum, however, has underwhelmed in 2025. Compared to rivals like BTC, SOL, and XRP, Ether has remained flat and largely uninspiring to retail investors.

In 2022–2023, ETH held about 10% of all top 100 asset discussions, but that number dropped to 6–7% in 2025.

In contrast, XRP is seeing a renaissance of optimism. The odds of an XRP Spot ETF being approved by the end of 2025 have risen from 65% to 85%.

Sensing the winds of regulatory change under a more crypto-friendly SEC, retail traders are predicting new all-time highs.

Solana and Dogecoin: One Battling Bots, the Other Buoyed by ETFs

Solana finds itself in an odd position, frequently discussed, but with declining genuine engagement.

According to Santiment’s data, it currently accounts for only 4.4% of all crypto discussions (down from 6–7% in January), Solana’s 38% underperformance over the past three months surely contributes to its social fade.

Santiment has detected unusual behavior in sentiment data, with positive comments outweighing negatives even when SOL price trends didn’t support sentiment to manipulate public perception and trading behavior.

Despite the waning organic interest, Solana continues to surface in broader ETF-related discussions.

While still nascent, speculation about a Solana Spot ETF reflects growing institutional curiosity. But for now, SOL remains caught between declining retail engagement and artificially stimulated hype.

On the other hand, Dogecoin is riding a wave of institutional legitimacy. The top meme coin by market cap saw an April boost as major firms, including 21Shares and Bitwise, filed for Dogecoin Spot ETFs.

Nasdaq even submitted paperwork to list the 21Shares DOGE ETF, a clear signal that institutional players see potential in Dogecoin’s retail power.

These developments haven’t gone unnoticed. Though the SEC has postponed its decision on these filings until mid-June, the mere act of submission has electrified DOGE’s community and drawn in new investors.

Santiment’s latest report paints a vivid picture of a crypto market driven more by excitement than strategy.

From Bitcoin’s bounce to the speculative moonshots in meme coins and altcoins, the ecosystem appears caught in another euphoric upswing.

It remains to be seen whether the shift toward meme coins proves sustainable or collapses under the weight of its hype.