Dogecoin ETFs: DOA? Dwindling Volume Signals Investor Apathy – The Brutal Truth

Dogecoin's ETF experiment is gasping for air. Trading volume has plummeted, suggesting the market's verdict is already in: a collective shrug.

The Silence Is Deafening

Forget moon missions—these funds are struggling for liftoff. The initial hype has evaporated, leaving behind a chilling quiet on the trading floors. It's the kind of stillness that speaks louder than any rally cry, hinting that the 'joke' asset might not be laughing its way into serious institutional portfolios.

A Reality Check for Meme Finance

The narrative clashes with cold, hard liquidity. While proponents dreamed of Wall Street validation, the actual money flow tells a different story. It's a classic case of building the product and hoping the customers come—a strategy that rarely works outside of Silicon Valley pitch decks.

What's Next for the Doge?

This isn't necessarily the end for Dogecoin itself, which thrives on its community and cultural cachet. But for the ETF wrapper? The data suggests a harsh truth. Sometimes the market doesn't just reject an idea; it doesn't even bother to show up for the vote. Another reminder that in finance, you can package anything into a product—but you can't package demand out of thin air.

Dogecoin ETFs Record Dwindling Volume And Inflows

SoSoValue data shows that the dogecoin ETFs have continued to see their daily volume and inflows decline since they launched last month. On December 10, the Grayscale and Bitwise DOGE ETFs recorded a trading volume of $125,100. Meanwhile, these funds as a group saw a total net inflow of $171,920 on the day. 

Further data from SoSo Value shows that the Dogecoin ETFs trading volume has been on a decline since December 2, when they recorded a daily trading volume of $1.09 million. These funds have recorded only three 7-figure trading volume days out of 12 trading days since November 24, when Grayscale’s Dogecoin fund launched. 

This is relatively low and signifies little demand for the DOGE ETFs among institutional investors. For context, Grayscale’s chainlink ETF, the only LINK fund at the moment, has outperformed the Dogecoin ETFs despite launching at the start of this month. Grayscale’s LINK ETF has a total net asset of $77.71 million, while the DOGE ETFs have total net assets of $6.01 million. 

The net flows also highlight the underperformance of these Dogecoin ETFs. Since launching, Bitwise’s Doge fund has recorded a net outflow of $972,840. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s fund has taken in just over $3 million. The funds, as a group, have recorded net inflows on five of 12 trading days. 

Possible Reason For The Underperformance

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas had warned before now that crypto ETFs like the Dogecoin ETFs would record fewer assets given their distance from Bitcoin in terms of market cap. “’The further away you get from BTC, the less asset there will be,’ he said. Notably, DOGE funds have the lowest net assets among the top 10 cryptos by market cap with ETF wrappers. 

The Solana and XRP ETFs, which also just launched last month, have outperformed the Dogecoin ETFs, although there are more funds offering SOL and XRP. Meanwhile, Balachunas’ theory hasn’t applied to the LINK ETF, as it has outperformed DOGE funds despite Chainlink having a lower market cap than Dogecoin. 

Furthermore, the Hedera and Litecoin ETFs also boast larger net assets than the Dogecoin ETFs, indicating that institutional investors are simply not bullish on DOGE, possibly due to its meme coin status and lack of utility. DOGE is, so far, the only meme coin with an ETF wrapper. 

At the time of writing, the Doge price is trading at around $0.138, down over 6% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.