Dogecoin and Shiba Inu slide 10%, investors set sight on new meme coin

Crypto prices have plunged, forcing traders to cut positions on leading meme coins Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), with prices retracing by 10.28% and 8.94%, respectively. Meanwhile, Meme Kombat is pushing ahead as it nears $6 million in the ongoing presale.

DOGE and SHIB drop

Matrixport analyst Markus Thielen said the SEC will reject applications for all Bitcoin ETFs in January.

This comes after months of upwards momentum, with crypto notably outperforming its past pre-Bitcoin halving trajectories.

Traders speculate much of its recent performance results from the ETF narrative, so such a statement from a respected industry figure tellingly made a dent on crypto prices.

Thielen explained, “We believe all applications fall short of a critical requirement that must be met before the SEC approves.”

He continued, “SEC Chair Gary Gensler is not embracing crypto in the US and it might even be a very long shot to expect that he would vote to approve Bitcoin spot ETFs.”

Following this, Bitcoin fell from $45.5K to $42.15K. Meanwhile, Ethereum crashed from $2.38K to $2.21K.

However, top meme coins were adversely affected.

Dogecoin fell by over 11% while Shiba Inu dumped by more than 13% at one point.

While both projects have slightly recovered, there increased selloffs comparative to other cryptos indicates the high-risk, high-reward nature of meme coins and shows how traders often utilize them in the markets.

Coinalyze data shows that Dogecoin’s funding rate (the premium traders will pay to long an asset), reached its highest levels since 2021 in recent weeks.

This illustrates a notable bullish bias on Dogecoin, showing that traders were potentially overoptimistic and overleveraged.

As such, the market selloff may have forced liquidations of leveraged positions, causing the DOGE to tank. Simultaneously, the high-risk, high-reward nature of Dogecoin means investors may have cut their holdings early to avoid further losses.

A similar pattern is visible in Shiba Inu funding rate data, also reaching its highest levels since the 2021 bull run.

That said, meme coin communities remain optimistic, with SHIB Bezos posting on X:

Meanwhile, trader ANBESSA believes Dogecoin is primed for a significant breakout against the USD and Bitcoin in the mid-term.

But while traders remain bullish on Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, lesser-known meme coin Meme Kombat remained resilient.

Meme Kombat raises $5.9 million in presale

Meme Kombat is a GambleFi for users to bet on AI-generated battles between popular meme coin characters.

Users will wager using the platform’s MK token; a utility that may support prices in the long term.

Meanwhile, Meme Kombat will also benefit from the community-centric, viral meme coin allure, providing possible short-term potential.

The platform also staking rewards of up to 159% APY.

30% of its total supply has been allocated to staking and battle rewards and 10% to community rewards.

Even so, the high APY will decrease as the staking pool grows.

Meme Kombat team is known, with its founder’s information available on its website.

This attests to the project’s security and transparency efforts, while also displaying its long term vision.

As a result, YouTuber Michael Wrubel remains bullish, expecting MK to rally in the days ahead.

So far, in the presale, MK is available for $0.268.