Recent market analysis indicates a pronounced increase in large-value transactions involving leading meme coins FLOKI, PEPE, and Shiba Inu, with whale transactions exceeding $100,000 surging by 950%, 620%, and 111% respectively during this initial period of 2026. This activity coincides with a $14 billion growth in the total market capitalization of meme coins, underscoring a notable shift in investor focus within the cryptocurrency sector.
Market intelligence data from Santiment provides insight into this trend, showing that transactions surpassing $100,000—typically reflective of institutional players or affluent individual investors—have risen sharply for several meme tokens. These digital assets claimed four out of the top ten positions among all cryptocurrency projects with market capitalizations exceeding $500 million in terms of whale transaction growth.
Ethereum-based FLOKI leads this surge with a dramatic 950% increase in transactions of significant size. Following closely, PEPE experienced a 620% rise, while FLOKI on the Binance Smart Chain (BNB) increased by 550%. Moreover, Shiba Inu noted a 111% uptick in whale transactions, surpassing other crypto categories such as AI tokens, platforms dealing with real-world assets, and established decentralized finance protocols in capturing the attention of large-scale investors.
This pattern indicates a possible strategic redeployment of capital by prominent holders who appear to be moving assets away from Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two dominant cryptocurrencies, toward meme coins with higher volatility profiles.
Looking at performance metrics, FLOKI’s price appreciated by 41.7% over the past week, while PEPE delivered the strongest advance with a 67% increase, marked by a breakout from descending wedge chart formations. Shiba Inu also progressed substantially, climbing 28.7% across seven days and achieving nearly a 48% gain from its lows at the end of December. Dogecoin also recovered the $0.15 price level after rebounding between 30% and 33% since December, partially driven by renewed institutional interest, including inflows through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Collectively, these four meme coins recorded weekly gains ranging from 25% to 67% during the first week of 2026, effectively reversing a prolonged downturn across the sector that culminated in a 61% decline throughout 2025.
From a market capitalization perspective, meme coins increased their combined value by $14 billion over eight days, rising from $38 billion on January 1 to $52 billion, translating to a 36.8% surge in slightly more than a week. This rate of growth outpaced the broader altcoin market, suggesting concentrated demand within this niche segment of cryptocurrencies.
Observers from CryptoQuant, such as analyst Darkfost, highlight that meme coin dominance within the altcoin market reached its lowest point in December 2025. Specifically, meme coins comprised 11% of the total altcoin market cap in November 2024 but dwindled to 3.2% by December 2025. Historically, such low levels of dominance have preceded periods characterized by substantial increases in meme coin valuations and trading volume.
The recent strong performances and increased whale participation in major meme coins could signal the early stages of a renewed phase of growth and investor interest in this segment.
| Ticker | Name | Price | Recent % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| DOGE | Dogecoin | $0.1409 | -3.65% |
| BTC | Bitcoin | $90,506.89 | -0.84% |
| ETH | Ethereum | $3,090.39 | -2.37% |
| FLOKI | FLOKI | $0.000053 | -4.00% |
| PEPE | Pepe | $0.000006 | -7.25% |
| SHIB | Shiba Inu | $0.000009 | -1.94% |