Dogecoin (DOGE) surged by 7% as major cryptocurrencies experienced a relief rally on Tuesday, fueled by discussions around the upcoming U.S. tariffs set for April 2, which are expected to be more nuanced than initially feared.
Reports indicate that President Trump’s proposed “reciprocal tariffs” for April 2 might focus on specific targets rather than broadly impacting multiple nations, potentially exempting certain countries and avoiding an escalation of existing metal tariffs.
The anticipation of these tariffs caused significant market turmoil in February, leading to a 17.6% drop in bitcoin (BTC), bringing it below $80,000 from its peak in January.
Recently, the Federal Reserve upgraded its inflation expectations while downgrading growth forecasts, likely as a result of Trump’s trade policy. However, it characterized inflation driven by tariffs as temporary and upheld plans for two interest rate cuts in 2025, offering support for riskier assets.
This shift in sentiment, combined with the prospect of more lenient tariffs, has sparked optimism across the markets. Memecoins are at the forefront of this upswing, with DOGE, pepecoin (PEPE), mog (MOG), and floki (FLOKI) all rising over 5% in the past 24 hours. The overall meme sector has increased by an average of 5.6%, according to data from CoinGecko.
This outpaces a 3% gain in bitcoin, Solana’s SOL, and XRP, while the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index is up by 2.7%.
Memecoins tend to show significant volatility, often acting as leveraged bets when ether (ETH) or bitcoin rise, due to their highly speculative nature and heightened sensitivity to shifts in the broader crypto market.
Retail traders frequently view positive movements in major cryptocurrencies as a beacon of bullish sentiment throughout the crypto landscape, prompting a rush towards higher-risk, higher-reward opportunities like memecoins, which are generally more affordable and can yield rapid returns.
AI Tokens Remain Steady Amid ‘Bubble’ Concerns
In other news, major Artificial Intelligence (AI) tokens have remained stable despite comments from a prominent figure who indicated concerns about a potential bubble in the sector. The category has increased by 4.5% in the past day, as per CoinGecko data.
During an HSBC conference in Hong Kong, it was noted, “I begin to see signs of a bubble forming,” expressing concerns, particularly about speculative data center constructions, with numerous funds raising significant capital.
It appears that investments in AI are occurring ahead of current demand, according to this perspective.
NEAR protocol, the top AI token by market capitalization, is holding steady today but has risen 14% in the past week as the market digests news that Coinbase and leading AI companies are collaborating on the development of AI agent technology.
Meanwhile, the IP token of Story continues to perform well, gaining 8% in value for the day as the project secures valuable Hollywood and K-pop intellectual property to leverage on its platform. Story aims to provide rights holders with a means to navigate the AI revolution by crafting straightforward frameworks for licensing their content for AI training.