Middle East Tensions and Drift Exploit Weigh on Meme Coin Market

The meme coin market has been impacted by persistent tensions in the Middle East, causing a cautious approach from traders. According to CoinMarketCap data, the total meme coin market capitalization slipped to under $28.5 billion from about $29.9 billion a week earlier.

On-chain activity remained strong, however, with new meme coin launches rebounding from a late-March lull. Pump.fun continued its expansion, introducing fresh trading features and buying back nearly $7 million worth of PUMP.

The Drift Protocol exploit added significant selling pressure to the market, with attackers reportedly dumping millions of dollars' worth of stolen crypto on the open market. The incident has been described as a 'highly sophisticated operation' that compromised deposits across Drift's borrow-lend, vault, and trading products.