Brutal Correction Hits Speculative Crypto Sectors

The crypto market is going through an unstable period, marked by a sharp decline in the most speculative assets. In 24 hours, memecoins lost more than 5 billion dollars, bringing their capitalization to an annual floor. NFTs follow the same trajectory, reaching their lowest level since April. This plunge is part of a broader flight-to-safety movement, with investors massively deserting high-risk assets.

A lightning collapse of memecoins

While many analysts see these cryptos as a lucrative bubble for platforms, memecoins reached their lowest level of the year this Friday, November 21, with total capitalization brought down to 39.4 billion dollars.

This number marks a drop of 66.2 % from the peak of 116.7 billion dollars recorded on January 5. In just 24 hours, more than 5 billion dollars were wiped out from the market, despite a notable 40 % increase in trading volume.

This dynamic is part of a general correction context. Thus, the overall crypto market capitalization went from 3,770 billion dollars at the beginning of November to 2,960 billion on November 21, a loss of 800 billion dollars in three weeks.

The top ten memecoins have all been impacted, without exception, showing short- and medium-term losses. Currently, none manages to stay in the green, all indicators pointing downwards. Here are the key elements :

• Dogecoin (DOGE) falls by 14.10 % over seven days ;
• Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe (PEPE), Bonk (BONK), and Floki (FLOKI) suffer losses of up to 20 % ;
• The memecoin TRUMP, linked to Donald Trump, records the smallest drop in the top 10, at –11.65 % ;
• SPX6900 loses 14.26 % over the same period.

This widespread decline is nevertheless accompanied by growing activity, with an explosion in trading volumes, a possible sign of massive investor disengagement.

All these elements testify to a sharp disinterest in speculative assets, in a context of increased crypto market volatility. The severity and speed of this correction signal a strengthened risk aversion climate, likely to reshape investor priorities in the coming weeks.

The end of an euphoria cycle for NFT ?

Alongside the collapse of memecoins, the NFT market is going through a period of sharp contraction. The capitalization of non-fungible tokens dropped to 2.78 billion dollars on November 21, compared to 4.9 billion thirty days earlier.

This is the lowest valuation recorded since last April. This 43 % decline in one month confirms a growing disinterest from investors for collectible cryptos, whose speculative cycle seems to be slowing down.

Most major collections are affected. Hyperliquid’s Hypurr NFTs show a spectacular drop of 41.1 % over 30 days. Moonbirds fall 32.7 %, CryptoPunks 27.1 %, while Pudgy Penguins lose 26.6 % of their value.

Two exceptions stand out however: Infinex Patrons rise 11.3 % over the past month, while Autoglyphs limit the damage with a slight decline of 1.9 %. These isolated performances are nevertheless not enough to reverse the overall trend.

Unlike memecoins, which are affected by short-term market dynamics, the drop in NFTs seems to fit into a more structural trajectory, marked by a lasting decline in interest for this type of asset.

While the current correction reflects a form of market consolidation, it raises questions about the sustainability of certain segments of Web3. The frenzied speculation that propelled these assets in 2021–2022 appears to have lost momentum. Some analysts will see this as a necessary purification phase, while others as a deeper repudiation.