Dogecoin price has been in a strong freefall this year, erasing over 63% of its value and underperforming other blue-chip tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum. DOGE was trading at $0.123 today, Dec. 28, down by ~72% from its highest point this year.
Why Dogecoin Price Crashed This Year
There are a few reasons why the DOGE price plummeted this year. First, the decline was because of the crypto market crash that happened, bringing the valuation of all tokens from over $4.2 trillion to $2.9 trillion today. Bitcoin and most altcoins are all ending the year in the red.
Second, as we wrote on Shiba Inu Coin, the decline was because of the ongoing performance in the meme coin industry. While most tokens tumbled, meme coins were among the worst affected. Indeed, the market cap of all meme coins tracked by CoinGecko dropped from over $100 billion earlier this year to $39 billion today.
Third, the token plunged as Elon Musk had no impact on it when he served as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He resigned from the role earlier this year to focus on his companies like Tesla, xAI, and SpaceX.
Additionally, the recently launched spot DOGE ETFs have not become successful. These funds, which were launched by Grayscale and Bitwise, have had no inflow in weeks.
They have also accumulated just $5 million in assets, a tiny amount considering that Dogecoin is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of over $20 billion.
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Dogecoin price also plunged as the Crypto Fear and Greed Index tumbled to the fear zone after the huge liquidation event in October this year. Indeed, recent data shows that the futures open interest has dropped to $1.5 billion, down sharply from the year-to-date high of nearly $6 billion.
What Next for DOGE Price in 2026?
Unfortunately, there are signs that the Dogecoin price will continue falling in 2026. The logarithmic weekly chart shows that the coin recently moved below the ascending trendline that links the lowest swings since October 2023. Moving below that level confirmed the bearish outlook.
Most importantly, the token has formed a head-and-shoulders pattern, which is characterized by a head, two shoulders, and a neckline. The ascending trendline described above was part of the pattern’s neckline.
DOGE price has dropped below the 50-week Exponential Moving Average (EMA). It also moved below the 78.6% Fibonacci Retracement level. Therefore, the most likely DOGE price prediction for 2026 is bearish, with the initial target being the year-to-date low of $0.090.
A crash below that level will point to more downside, potentially to the important support level at $0.0493, its lowest level in 2023, and 60% below the current level.
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