Meme coin led the rebound, and the recovery in risk appetite may be signaling a new wave of altcoin price movements.

Since the beginning of 2026, funds have flowed back into the Meme coin sector, driving the market capitalization of related tokens up by more than 23% in the past week. CoinMarketCap data shows that the total market capitalization of Meme coin has rebounded from approximately $38 billion on December 29th to over $47.7 billion. During the same period, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu rose by over 20% and 19.9% ​​respectively, while Pepe saw a gain of over 65%, with trading volume also surging from approximately $2.17 billion to $8.7 billion, an increase of about 300%. Analysts believe that Meme coin is generally considered a high-risk asset, and its initial strength often reflects a recovery in market risk appetite. Santiment points out that this rebound occurred after a period of extreme pessimism among retail investors, consistent with the historical characteristic of markets "moving in the opposite direction." Some traders further believe that if the strength of Meme coin continues, funds may gradually spill over to other altcoin sectors, with the Solana ecosystem potentially being a major beneficiary. (Cointelegraph)