Dogecoin's 10% Decline This Year Led By Bearish European Hours

Dogecoin (DOGE) is down 10% this year, with most of the bearish pressure on the leading meme crypto coming during European hours, according to data tracked by Velo Data app.

DOGE's cumulative year-to-date returns during European and U.S. trading hours were -44.44% and -25%, respectively. Meanwhile, the cumulative return during the Asia-Pacific day stood at a positive 25.6%.

In other words, sellers have been dominant during the European hours, represented by 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Brussels time, and U.S. hours, identified by 08:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. New York time. Meanwhile, buyers have had the upper hand during the Asian hours, identified as 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Seoul time.

Self-proclaimed dogecoin killer shiba inu's (SHIB) session-wise returns paint a similar picture. Meanwhile, bitcoin has consistently rallied during the American hours.

Velo decided on these equal-length time windows after considering local volume profiles and stock exchange hours. Some overlap exists between the sessions.

Memecoins have been around for a while and traded heavily on South Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb, which explains DOGE and SHIB's positive performance during the Asian hours. During DOGE's 10% surge in late July, most of trading volume came from Upbit – known for speculation in crypto-Korean won trading pairs.

Per Matrixport, 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.

Besides, the dour performance of DOGE and 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), in its lawsuit against Coinbase and Binance, filed in June, referred to several altcoins as securities. DOGE and SHIB were not mentioned, but stricter regulations for altcoins could impact memecoins.