Meme Coin Market Sees Mixed Performance Amid Fresh Inflows and Renewed Risk Appetite

The meme coin market experienced a modest rise in total market capitalization, but performance was mixed among its largest tokens.

According to CoinMarketCap data, the total meme coin market cap rose approximately 1% week-over-week (WoW), with some large-cap coins struggling to break out. Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepe (PEPE) each fell between 1% and 2%, while MemeCore (M) dropped more than 12%. However, Bonk (BONK) bucked the trend with a modest gain of about 2%.

The uneven performance followed the release of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' April 2026 Consumer Price Index report, which showed inflation rising to 3.8% from a year earlier. Energy costs drove much of this pressure, with gasoline climbing 5.4% on the month and 28.4% year-over-year.

Crypto fund inflows helped mitigate market pressure. Global crypto funds drew in $858 million last week, led by $706 million into Bitcoin products. Dogecoin exchange-traded funds also saw net inflows of approximately $5.5 million over the past seven days.

Smaller meme coins experienced sharper gains, with BUILDon (B) surging more than 100% in market capitalization to push it into the top 10 meme coins. Siren (SIREN), an AI-themed token on the BNB Chain, also rallied sharply, gaining nearly 60% week-over-week.