Meme coins hit record low share of altcoin market, CryptoQuant analyst says

Meme coins have spent years as crypto’s loudest corner. Lately, they have been one of its smallest. On October 5, 2026, CryptoQuant on-chain analyst Darkfost reported that meme coins now make up roughly 3% of total altcoin market capitalization. The ratio sits at 0.027, an all-time low for the metric. How far meme coins have fallen The metric compares the combined market value of meme coins against the total market value of altcoins, meaning crypto assets other than Bitcoin. Back in July 2026, the ratio had already dropped to 3.7%. At the time, that marked the lowest reading since February 2024. The contrast with the recent past is stark. During the meme coin season of November 2024, the ratio peaked above 10%. Why the gap keeps widening Darkfost pointed to several forces behind the decline. The first is straightforward: altcoins have simply performed better than meme coins in recent months. The second factor is supply. A steady stream of new meme coins has flooded the market, spreading available liquidity across an ever-growing list of tokens. The third factor is interest, or the lack of it. According to the research, the number of meme coin holders has fallen to multi-year lows. ...