Why is Crypto Down Today? POPCAT, FARTCOIN and SPX Tumble as Retail Rotates

It’s been a rough 24 hours in crypto and no corner has felt the pain quite like meme coins.

Previously soaring tokens POPCAT, FARTCOIN, and the upstart newcomer SPX have each dropped by more than 20%, wiping out tens of millions from their combined market caps and causing a complete meltdown in Telegram chats, Reddit boards, and Twitter feeds.

The sell-off, according to analysts, is being driven by rotating retail sentiment, with many traders fleeing high-risk, low-liquidity assets in favour of more stable ones, such as Bitcoin, USDT, or even real-world asset (RWA) protocols. It's the latest shift in a notoriously volatile space but one that has left many bag holders questioning their choices.

POPCAT, a token that gained notoriety for its meme-heavy branding and influencer-fuelled rise, collapsed following the sudden implosion of a viral marketing campaign. A planned celebrity tweetstorm failed to materialise, and when engagements didn’t meet expectations, larger holders began to offload positions en masse.

FARTCOIN had a more dramatic fall. A wallet-tracking bot revealed that a prominent project promoter had secretly transferred millions of tokens to a centralised exchange, just days after declaring to their community that they were committed to the long term. The backlash was immediate, with the influencer deleting their profile and publicly disowning the coin. In just a few hours, FARTCOIN experienced a 27% decline.

SPX, meanwhile, had only launched two weeks ago but had gathered a cult following thanks to a sleek website, aggressive airdrop campaigns, and the promise of a decentralised meme metaverse. But on Wednesday morning, the token’s liquidity pool was unexpectedly drained during an automated market maker (AMM) update. While the developers claimed it was a “contract migration error”, the damage to investor confidence was immediate and severe.

“It’s a classic meme cycle,” said Nikhil Rathore, a researcher at MemeWatch DAO. “Speculation leads, reality lags. And eventually, someone’s left holding the bag.”

Marketwide, meme coin volumes are down 36% on the day, with social mentions for leading tokens plunging. Yet, amid the carnage, some seasoned traders see an opportunity.

On-chain data from DEXTools and Etherscan indicates wallet accumulation from small and midsized addresses. “You’d be surprised how quickly this space can flip,” said Rachel Meza, an independent analyst. “Meme coins thrive on volatility, a single influencer, a viral TikTok, or a coordinated pump, and these tokens can retrace their losses.”

But for now, caution is the prevailing sentiment. As the broader crypto market consolidates and retail traders recalibrate their risk appetite, tokens without strong fundamentals or development teams are increasingly considered liabilities.

So what comes next? Will there be a new surge in meme mania? Could we see a resurgence of disciplined investing?

Until then, FARTCOIN is in a gaseous state, POPCAT is nearing the end of its life, and SPX remains in orbit. It's still stuck in orbit as gravity increases.