Meme coin madness: DOGE rises as Roaring Kitty reignites market enthusiasm

Meme coins linked to Solana (SOL), along with GameStop stock, saw significant spikes as 'Roaring Kitty' reappeared on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), sparking a frenzy among traders. Retail trader Keith Gill, known as TheRoaringKitty, posted an image of a man adjusting in a chair. This referenced a popular meme about 'locking in' or focusing on the market, igniting enthusiasm among his followers.

This resurgence of meme stock and altcoin trading harkens back to Gill's influential role in the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021, where GME soared over 44% in pre-market trading and AMC Entertainment Holdings surged by 12%, with both stocks gaining over 1000% by year's end. Gill's history of analysing GameStop on Reddit, which gained momentum during the pandemic, fuelled a viral movement that dramatically affected the stock, leading to massive gains, not least for Gill himself. Starting with an investment of $53,000, Gill's portfolio skyrocketed to almost $50 million at its zenith. This compelling rags-to-riches story of an everyman trader beating the institutional hedge funds from his home office propelled Gill to fame, and Roaring Kitty became a kind of folk hero in online trading communities before going quiet for several years.

Dogs and frogs have their day

Traders rushed to Dogecoin and other meme coins following Keith Gill's unexpected return. The current meme coin surge, including a GameStop-themed token on the Solana blockchain rising over 2700%, shows the enduring impact of Gill's influence, even three years after the GameStop stock craze. Although some opportunistic developers are trying to ride the hype by launching tongue-in-cheek junk coins with names related to GameStop or 'stonks' (ironic internet slang for 'stocks'), higher market cap altcoins are also benefiting from the Roaring Kitty effect. Notably, famous meme coins Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) also enjoyed significant gains, proving that cats and dogs can help each other after all.

DOGE's price increased by approximately 9.5% over 24 hours and is currently at around $0.151. The jokey canine coin actually outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market, which saw returns of around 2.75% in the same period.

This resurgence in meme coins mirrors the heightened risk appetite among retail investors seen during the GameStop short squeeze, suggesting a similar sentiment driving the current market activity.

The rally in Dogecoin has also led to significant liquidations, with $5.59 million worth of DOGE liquidated in the past 24 hours, $3.96 million of which were short positions. This forced covering of short positions contributes to further price increases.

Despite the liquidations, traders are increasingly optimistic about Dogecoin, as evidenced by the rising open interest in DOGE futures contracts and an uptick in funding rates, indicating bullish sentiment.

Technically, Dogecoin's price movement this week so far aligns with the formation of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, suggesting a potential breakout if the price decisively surpasses the neckline around $0.166. The target for this pattern points to a potential increase of 55% to around $0.227. However, a failure to break above the neckline could lead to a pullback, with support around $0.122 likely to come into play.

Dogecoin isn't the only meme coin to be enjoying a day in the sun. Pepe coin (PEPE) surged past the $0.000010 mark for the first time since 15 March, marking a remarkable 34% rally over the past 24 hours to establish a new all-time high of $0.00001119.

Over this period, PEPE's trading volume surged by an impressive 245%, reaching $1.56 billion, while its market capitalisation soared to $4.31 billion, surpassing that of Ethereum Classic to claim the 23rd position among cryptocurrencies by market value.

Memes to make the market fun again?

Several market analysts have attributed the enthusiasm around Roaring Kitty and the recent surge in meme coins to a general sense of ennui in the market — essentially, retail traders are bored, and idle capital is looking for action.

Given the relatively subdued nature and low volatility in the major cryptos following the Bitcoin (BTC) halving event, as well as the increasing role of 'boring' traditional retail investors in the big cryptos, retail traders from internet communities are playing with meme coins as a way to stimulate fresh narratives and create accessible opportunities in the crypto space.

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The recent excitement surrounding meme coins highlights the unpredictability of the crypto market, the importance of staying up to date with the crypto community sentiment, and how crucial it is to be able to act fast to capitalise on trends. That's why an easy-to-use online crypto trading platform like StormGain is essential for success in the modern digital asset market.

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