It's Been a Rough Start to 2025 for the Stock and Crypto Markets

The stock market has gotten off to a rough start in 2025. As of March 4, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down by 1.5% and 5.2%, respectively.

The stock market has gotten off to a rough start in 2025. As of March 4, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down by 1.5% and 5.2%, respectively.

Broadly speaking, when the stock market is performing poorly, investors may shift their funds into alternative assets such as commodities or cryptocurrency. However, so far this year the crypto markets haven't been too lush, either. The top two cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, have dropped by 7% and 36%, respectively, and others have followed in their wake.

Joining its cohorts in the crypto sell-off is Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE). After surging by 251% in 2024, its price has tanked by 36% so far this year.

But is buying the dip in Dogecoin now a smart idea?

What fueled Dogecoin in the first place?

Even though Dogecoin's price rose significantly last year, the chart below should help paint a clearer picture as to what really went on with the cryptocurrency. As you can see, the vast majority of Dogecoin's gains in 2024 occurred during the last two months of the year.

Dogecoin Price data by YCharts.

Dogecoin's rising price action can be traced to the presidential election. During then-candidate Donald Trump's campaign, Tesla CEO Elon Musk emerged as a major surrogate for and massive donor to the Republican nominee. One of the factors influencing Musk's relationship with Trump was their shared view that the federal budget had become too bloated. As a result, Musk floated the idea of creating a team focused on identifying wasteful spending that could be cut.

The name that he and Trump bestowed on that initiative: the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Image Source: Getty Images.

Is now a good time to buy Dogecoin?

If you take a close look at its price chart, you'll notice that the price of Dogecoin actually started to fall toward the end of 2024. It has declined by 53% since Dec. 1.

Dogecoin Price data by YCharts.

If you've followed Musk at all prior to the election then you may know that the entrepreneur has jokingly endorsed Dogecoin on several occasions in the past. It's likely that Musk's comical affinity toward it played a role when a name was picked for the cost-cutting initiative. But at the end of the day, DOGE is no more than a clever acronym. It has no tangible relationship with the cryptocurrency.

Moreover, Dogecoin remains a meme coin with little to no utility in the real or digital worlds. In my opinion, the sell-off that started in December was the first domino to drop. As investors began to reflect on the fact that the coin had risen on pure hype unrelated to any actual worthy catalysts, its bubble began to deflate.

In my view, the decline in Dogecoin was inevitable -- and it's likely far from over. Dogecoin has always been a highly speculative investment in an already volatile crypto environment. Smart investors should probably avoid it altogether. For these reasons, I do not recommend buying the dip in Dogecoin, as I think its price will continue to crater.