Dogecoin (DOGE) is down 10% this year, according to data tracked by Velo Data app, with most of the bearish pressure on the leading meme crypto coming during European hours. Sellers have been dominant during the European and U.S. trading hours, while buyers have had the upper hand during the Asia-Pacific day. This is likely due to the heavy trading of memecoins on South Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb.
The dour performance of DOGE and Shiba Inu (SHIB) during U.S. and European hours is consistent with the murky regulatory outlook for alternative cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) referred to several altcoins as securities in its June lawsuit against Coinbase and Binance, though DOGE and SHIB were not mentioned.
Velo Data app tracked DOGE’s cumulative year-to-date returns during European and U.S. trading hours at -44.44% and -25%, respectively, while the cumulative return during the Asia-Pacific day stood at a positive 25.6%. Matrixport reported that South Korea dominates the market for smaller tokens due to a lack of social mobility opportunities, sky-high property prices, and a competitive labor market.