Don't Get Fooled By The Success Of Dogecoin, Shiba Inu: 76% Of X (Twitter) Influencers Promote Dead Meme Coins, Study Reveals

A new report has revealed a startling trend in the cryptocurrency market: 76% of influencers on X (formerly Twitter( promoting meme coins are endorsing tokens that eventually lose nearly all their value.

What Happened: The study, by CoinWire, analyzed 1,567 meme coins promoted by 377 influencers, uncovering that two out of three tokens they promoted are now classified as "dead."

The report's findings are particularly concerning for retail investors drawn to the hype surrounding popular meme coins like Dogecoin DOGE/USD and Shiba Inu SHIB/USD.

While established tokens such as DOGE and SHIB have maintained significant market presence and liquidity, many of the promoted meme coins fail to replicate this success.

Instead, they follow a pattern of rapid value decline, with 86% losing 90% of their value within three months of promotion.

Even the allure of potential 10x returns—often the centerpiece of influencer hype—proved elusive, with only 3% of promoted tokens achieving such gains.

Larger influencers, those with over 200,000 followers, fared worse, delivering 89% negative returns on promoted tokens within three months, compared to smaller influencers who sometimes achieved positive results.

"Influencers benefit financially from these promotions, with average earnings of $399 per tweet," the report states. "However, the data shows that these endorsements frequently lead to significant losses for their followers."

Also Read: Drug Cartels Use Tether And Bitcoin To Launder Millions, Court Documents Reveal

Why It Matters: Speaking with Benzinga, Eric Chen, CEO and co-founder of Injective Labs said that influencers in crypto represent a broad spectrum of individuals and strategies.

While some may chase momentum by promoting volatile or speculative tokens, others focus on more nuanced, qualitative insights, Chen said.

He cautioned against oversimplifying the role of influencers, noting that token performance depends on a variety of factors, including market sentiment, retail investor activity, and decisions by larger players like whales.

"While there are undoubtedly some bad actors in the space, it's unfair to generalize the actions of a few as representative of the entire group. Market direction is driven by a wide array of participants, not just influencers," Chen added.

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