DOGE ETF Hype Evaporates as Dogecoin Plunges to Fresh Lows
The meme coin's party is over—for now. Dogecoin's recent tumble has snuffed out the speculative fire around a potential spot ETF, leaving traders staring at a chart that looks more like a cliff than a launchpad.
From Hype to Nosedive
The chatter was deafening. Every crypto influencer and their dog seemed convinced a Dogecoin ETF was the next logical step. Then the market did what it does best: it reminded everyone that sentiment is a fickle fuel. The price action turned from a hopeful rally into a decisive breakdown, slicing through key support levels without much fuss.
It's a classic crypto narrative flip. The same crowd that was shouting 'to the moon' a few weeks ago is now quietly explaining why this was a healthy correction all along. The ETF dream isn't dead, but it's firmly on ice, waiting for a regulatory thaw that shows no sign of coming.
Reality Bites
Let's be real—the SEC has enough on its plate with Bitcoin and Ethereum. A Dogecoin ETF was always a long shot wrapped in a meme. This pullback serves as a brutal reminder that in crypto, fundamentals (or the lack thereof) eventually catch up, even to the most beloved joke. It's the market's way of charging a brutal fee for irrational exuberance—a tax Wall Street bankers would genuinely admire for its efficiency.
So where does that leave DOGE? In a familiar spot: searching for a floor. The 'buy the rumor, sell the news' playbook got flipped on its head this time. Traders sold the rumor, and then they just kept selling.
Spot DOGE ETF filings advance in the midst of zero demand
According to an S-1 amendment submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 2, 21Shares confirmed a 0.50% sponsor fee for its planned spot Dogecoin ETF. The filing stated that the fee would accrue daily and be paid weekly in Dogecoin to cover nearly all operating costs from the trust’s operations.
21Shares mentioned in the submission that the fee level places its proposed product, TDOG, near the midpoint of existing spot crypto ETF costs. However, the amendment clarified that any expenses related to taxes, litigation, or indemnification would require the trust to liquidate portions of its DOGE holdings to meet obligations.
The filing incorporated the earlier 8(a) submission required for its listing effectiveness and acknowledged The Bank of New York Mellon as administrator, cash custodian, and transfer agent, while Anchorage Digital Bank and BitGo were named as joint custodians for the trust’s assets.
The first spot dogecoin ETF, the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust, began trading on November 24 on the NYSE Arca. Within two days of trading that came just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Dogecoin recorded trading volumes just under 5 billion coins.
That figure averaged slightly below 1.7 billion per day across the three-day period, a modest performance given the excitement leading into the launch.
Earlier this year, another Dogecoin product, the REX-Osprey DOGE ETF (DOJE), briefly climbed into the top five for trading volumes after its debut in September. After a successful first day of trading, the ETF hasn’t quite garnered net inflows that altcoins XRP and ethereum have.
According to data from SoSoValue, Grayscale’s GDOG and Bitwise’s GWOW now hold roughly $6.92 million in net assets with a combined $2.8 million in inflows. DOGE ETFs recorded $513K inflows on Tuesday, $177K on Wednesday, but zero net flows yesterday. Between November 27 and December 2, there were no incomings or redemptions from the two spot ETFs.
Looking at the broader Dogecoin ETF market, which includes futures products, DOJE has $23.4 million in assets. In contrast, Bitwise’s BWOW, priced at $24.36, slipped 1.62% in the day and held $2.4 million in assets, charging a 0.34% fee.
GDOG traded at $17.44 following a 1.61% decline and reported $1.6 million in assets with a 0.35% fee, and 21Shares’ TXXD futures-based product traded at $22.26 after a 3.1% decline, with $856,900 in assets and a 1.89% fee.
Dogecoin on-chain activity and wallet numbers grow
Dogecoin posted a partial recovery earlier in the week after dropping by more than 22% over the past month. A rebound pushed it nearly 11% higher to cut losses and stabilize the price at $0.1475, placing the price NEAR $0.1493 at Wednesday’s start.
The memecoin’s network registered 71,589 active addresses in November, higher than the year-on-year peak reached in September. According to some analysts, the spike in on-chain activity could mean investors are flocking to buy the dip, owing to how DOGE’s overall price momentum weakened in the past three months.
Institutional orders dominated the sell-side volume and created downward price movement pressures that countered any bullish sentiment derived from the number of active addresses and ETF filing updates.
DOGE slipped from $0.1522 to $0.1477 for a 3% decline within the day during a peak turnover where 830.7 million DOGE changed hands, 174% above the 24-hour average. Over 14.4 million coins were sold to stop any upward movement attempts made by the top-10 ranked coin by market cap.
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