Meme Coins Plunge Amid Iran-Israel Tensions, PEPE Drops 8.2%

Meme coins, including PEPE, FLOKI, and WIF, experienced significant losses as geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel triggered a risk-off market selloff. PEPE dropped by 8.2%, FLOKI declined by 5.8%, and WIF fell by 8.5%. The overall meme coin market cap decreased by 3% to $59.2 billion in 24 hours, highlighting the sector's sensitivity to global uncertainty. Analysts noted that these tokens are particularly reactive to such events due to their speculative nature.

Despite positive developments, such as FLOKI's 15 billion token burn, traders used these events as exit opportunities rather than buying signals. The broader market retreat overshadowed any potential benefits from such news. Other major altcoins, including Solana and HyperLiquid, also joined the retreat, with Solana down 3.7% and HyperLiquid falling 9.2%. The broader crypto market tumbled as a fifth day of direct military confrontation between Iran and Israel spooked global markets.

Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on June 13, striking over 100 nuclear and military sites across Iran—the largest assault since the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s. Iran retaliated with 350 missiles targeting Israeli cities, prompting President Trump to abruptly leave the G7 summit a day early and call for urgent American evacuation from Iran. Market experts highlighted the extreme sensitivity of meme coins to global uncertainty, with the tokens bearing the brunt of risk-off sentiment.

Min Jung, an analyst at Presto Research, explained that meme coins tend to show the highest volatility, often being the biggest gainers when markets are strong and the biggest losers when sentiment turns. With geopolitical tensions intensifying, risk appetite has pulled back, and meme coins are underperforming as a result. Ray Youssef, CEO of crypto super app NoOnes, noted that the meme segment is traditionally the first to react to such shocks, with whale activity revealing the extent of the exodus. PEPE's whale netflow collapsed by 97%, indicating the beginning of asset distribution.

Even positive developments couldn't shield tokens from the broader selloff. FLOKI showed negative dynamics despite the burning of 15 billion tokens, which theoretically should have supported the price. Traders used the news as an exit point rather than a buying opportunity. When asked about potential recovery, Jung pointed to external factors over internal market dynamics. Geopolitical tensions will be key, he said, adding that the upcoming “FOMC decision... could significantly influence market sentiment.”

Despite the current weakness, the pullback remains within historical norms. Bitcoin's 1% decline to $105,866 in the last 24 hours represents part of a broader 9% correction from recent highs—a drawdown that analysts told Decrypt was "well within the bounds of normal volatility for this cycle."