Coinbase, Robinhood Users See Red as Dogwifhat Plunges $1.2 Billion in Three Days

Just weeks after the popular meme coin Dogwifhat (WIF) launched on major centralized trading platforms, Coinbase and Robinhood users that invested in the dog-themed coin are likely licking their paws Tuesday.

WIF’s market cap has plunged by nearly $1.2 billion over the course of three days, as other meme coins in the cryptosphere have also taken a hit. At a current price of $2.83, Tuesday’s 12% drop has accelerated the recent losses, leaving almost anyone that bought WIF on Coinbase and Robinhood ahead of Tuesday morning in the red—on paper, at least.

Both firms listed WIF last month, broadening investors’ access to the coin in the U.S. The moves came not long after Donald Trump’s White House win, which is expected to ease the heightened regulatory scrutiny that both firms face under the current Securities and Exchange Commission.

Meme coins are extremely volatile assets that trade on little more than vibes. That said, Dogecoin’s market cap has topped $70 billion within the past month, and swathes of crypto traders have embraced meme coins this year, propelling recent coins like Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT), Moo Deng (MOODENG), and Just a Chill Guy (CHILLGUY) to staggering heights in no time flat.

Unlike centralized exchanges, anyone can create a market for digital assets using a decentralized exchange, making them a go-to breeding ground for meme coins like WIF, which caught fire among traders earlier this year. Still, in 2024, Coinbase and Robinhood remain popular with users who may not be as familiar with decentralized finance tech, or DeFi for shorthand.

Launched last December, WIF is barely a year old, but it’s had a storybook run as far as meme coins go. In February, traders’ excitement was amplified by a pink knitted hat placed upon New York City’s Charging Bull sculpture. Plans to place the meme coin’s mascot on the Las Vegas Sphere materialized in March with $700,000 raised, still to no avail.

Last month, Coinbase’s legal chief, Paul Grewal, wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that WIF had been added to the exchange’s roadmap for listing assets. Hours later, a Coinbase account signaled that WIF trading had gone live in the U.S., as traders flocked to WIF.

As WIF’s price surged Nov. 13, jumping 41% to $4.21 from $2.96, the asset’s trading volume exploded to $6.6 billion, according to CoinGlass data. That represented the meme coin’s busiest day on record, outpacing figures seen alongside its $4.80 all-time high price milestone set back in March.

Robinhood listed WIF around two weeks later, sparking a similar rally in the meme coin. A 7% spike occurred within seconds of Robinhood’s news, lifting WIF’s price to $3.47.

“Exchange listings are often good ‘sell the news’ events,” Thomas Dunleavy, a partner at venture capital firm MV Global, told Decrypt. “It has a material impact for the short term but a less noticeable impact in the long term.”

The sentiment was echoed by Bob Wallden, head of trading at Abra, a crypto investing platform. He told Decrypt, “In general, when we have seen tokens listed, there is an initial positive reaction by short term traders [...] only to have an eventual sell-off.”

Though WIF listings on Coinbase and Robinhood temporarily boosted the meme coin’s price, Bybit was the leading exchange for trading WIF Tuesday, according to CoinGecko. Outpacing Coinbase's $32 million, the international exchange had registered $179 million in WIF trading volume over the past day. Robinhood does not publicly disclose trading volumes for WIF.

Exchange listings are often coveted among meme coin promoters, but they aren’t make-or-break. The pseudonymous co-creator of DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON, Leonidas, told Decrypt Monday that it was “especially exciting” that the meme coin reached a $966 million market cap because it was achieved “without a spot listing on a tier-1 exchange.”

Coinbase and Robinhood did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Decrypt.

Edited by Andrew Hayward