Online discussions about memecoins have hit a year-to-date high, according to onchain analytics platform Santiment, with traders largely engaging in speculative trading amidst a shift in sentiment from Bitcoin (BTC).

Two weeks ago, discussions around Bitcoin and layer-1 protocols peaked during the market volatility brought on by the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs, but that’s since shifted to high market cap memecoins, Santiment marketing director Brian Quinlivan said in a May 1 blog post.

“Online discussions around these high-risk tokens have proliferated as traders are engaging more in gambling, rather than a calculated investment approach, with hopes of short-term gains spurring interest in memecoins over lower-risk tokens,” he said.

“This is a telltale sign that traders are increasingly investing based solely on speculation and short-term gains.”

Quinlivan said the overall crypto market rose 10% in the past eight days, but Bitcoin only gained 7%, which indicates traders are flocking to more speculative assets.

“Any time Bitcoin leads an initial rally and then begins to move sideways, investors generally start taking bigger risks in hopes of scoring even higher returns through more speculative and riskier purchases,” he said.

Dogecoin discussions spike on ETF news

In particular, Dogecoin (DOGE) has seen a notable spike in positive crowd sentiment after a major decline in April, as various applications for DOGE exchange-traded funds were filed in the US.

Despite the Securities and Exchange Commission delaying its decision on these filings until mid-June, Quinlivan says traders are in a state of cautious anticipation.

“Until late April, DOGE had been on a major decline in terms of crowd interest. But its social dominance has spiked to its highest level in nearly three months, as the conversations and filings surrounding Nasdaq’s ETF listings have risen.”

DefiLlama data shows PumpSwap, the decentralized exchange of the memecoin launch platform Pump.Fun saw a spike to $11 billion in monthly trading volume during April after recording only $1.7 billion in March.

Meanwhile, Pump.Fun’s monthly trading volume rose to $3.3 billion in April, up from $2.5 billion in March.

Memecoin activity exploded after the launch of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin on Jan. 18, with Pump.fun usage recording a high of $3.3 billion in weekly trading volume.

However, traders soon cooled on memecoins. CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong said in a March 6 report that memecoin investor interest dropped after a series of bad launches, noting the fallout from the Libra (LIBRA) token launch in February as a significant catalyst.