Why traders are fleeing Dogecoin even as Bitcoin, Ethereum stay strong

• DOGE leads realized losses across majors amid sticky conviction in BTC and ETH.
• Is the meme-king losing its edge as the reflexive trade during volatility spikes?

The market’s flashing a clear structural divergence.

Dogecoin [DOGE] has long been a high-beta favorite during risk-on phases, attracting flows from traders seeking short-term upside during volatility spikes.

In the current macro context, that rotation into DOGE would be the expected play. 

And yet, despite macro conditions favoring risk, DOGE has been sidelined—while Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] have held strong. In fact, capital has remained sticky in majors, signaling conviction rather than froth.

BTC books profits, not fear

According to Glassnode data, BTC ended Q2 with a modest 1.09% drawdown, drifting further from its ATH.

Source: Glassnode

But here’s the catch—Realized Profits totaled $1.3 billion, dwarfing just $33 million in Realized Losses. That’s a profit dominance ratio of nearly 40 to 1.

In essence, despite BTC cooling off from its ATH, underwater holders aren’t rushing to sell. Instead, it’s mainly profit-takers stepping in, showing confidence rather than fear.

That’s a strong signal. Even more than a month after hitting ATH, we’re not seeing signs of a distribution phase just yet.

Ethereum under pressure—but still afloat

Ethereum, on the other hand, was showing signs of pressure. Realized Losses hit $18.4 million, accounting for 52% of its $35.2 million in Realized Profits.

DOGE, however, was the clear outlier to the downside. Among the top ten assets, it posted the most severe realized loss profile, with $132 million in losses dwarfing just $5 million in realized gains. 

So what does this all signal?

BTC and ETH continued to show profit dominance, while underwater participants are holding through the volatility. That resilience is sidelining the speculative flows that once powered DOGE’s role as a volatility hedge.

DOGE loses its edge in a risk-on market

Broader sentiment remains decisively risk-on. However, the entire memecoin sector has taken a disproportionately sharper hit.

Over the last 30 days, the combined market cap of memecoins has shed approximately $6.53 billion, representing an 11.52% drawdown to a current valuation of $52.28 billion.

In stark contrast, Bitcoin’s market cap has expanded by 2.5%, now standing at $2.11 trillion.

This paints a clear structural divergence. Speculative flows are parking in majors, not memecoins.

What a difference a cycle makes

To frame this shift, recall the mid-2024 memecoin supercycle: From March to November, memecoins surged from $15 billion to over $90 billion, with DOGE rallying 210% to a near $70 billion valuation.

Source: CoinGecko

In comparison, Bitcoin climbed 55% over the same stretch, making it one of the cycles where memecoins decisively outperformed BTC and ETH. 

In fact, that outperformance was quantified in the DOGE/BTC ratio, which surged 107% by early December. 

At present, however, the dynamics have shifted.

Despite BTC and ETH demonstrating structural resilience, memecoins have failed to replicate that momentum. Since Bitcoin’s new all-time high in late May, the DOGE/BTC ratio has retraced over 30%.

This breakdown validates AMBCrypto’s core thesis: With capital consolidating in majors, DOGE is losing relevance as a high-beta proxy, no longer attracting outsized flows during risk-on cycles.