Sitting in the top 9 and 10 in the crypto rank by market cap, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have been fighting to get the title of ultimate meme coin. Over the past week, SHIB has rallied from an all-time low driven by a retail fever right into DOGE’s face.

Related Reading | Elon Musk Reveals How Much He Owns Of Dogecoin Rival, Shiba Inu

This has brought concern to the crypto industry as many experts believe the meme coins rally suggests the market could be approaching a market top. They interpret the surge in DOGE and SHIB as a sign that the bull cycle is approaching its end, and crypto prices will return to their yearly lows or drop lower.

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu alone hold close to $70 billion in the total market, a value much higher than many companies trading in the U.S. public market. As some experts claims, these companies have utility unlike meme coins that “no one ever uses for anything”, as CNBC’s Ran Neuner claimed.

Over $70b is locked up in meme coins that no one ever uses for anything. pic.twitter.com/X5PW1OXPvJ

— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) October 27, 2021

Others, such as billionaires Mark Cuban and Elon Musk, have defended the use case for Dogecoin as a medium of exchange due to its scalability and potential for improvement. Musk alongside the inventor of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin spearheads an initiative to implement upgrades to DOGE.

In any case, both SHIB and DOGE represent the interest and demand of retail investors to gain exposure to assets capable of providing returns. In a 1-year period, this purpose has been met with both cryptocurrencies recording massive profits.

Related Reading | Elon Musk Reveals How Much He Owns Of Dogecoin Rival, Shiba Inu

Dog Coins DOGE And SHIB Fight For The Number 1 Memecoin Spot

In a recent report, research firm Delphi Digital analyzed meme coins recent rally led by SHIB and its massive market activity. In less than a day, Dogecoin’s competitor recorded $23 billion in trading volume in Binance and Coinbase.

This is over 20 times more than DOGE’s trading volume and around 3 times more than Bitcoin over the same period, as seen below.

Related Reading | Shiba Inu And Dogecoin Battle For Supremacy, Who Will Lead The Pack?

Additional data provided by Delphi Digital records the face-off experienced by both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu as the former trend to the upside on the back of its competitor’s rally. In that sense, the research firm claims the cryptocurrencies have displayed an inverse correlation. Delphi Digital said:

Ironically, while coins in a category tend to be highly correlated, we’re seeing the opposite with DOGE and SHIB. The two could have made a decent pair trade today (long DOGE, short SHIB), which may indicate the same capital moving to and from the two assets. If true, a SHIB rally could signal a coming DOGE dump.