Best Meme Coins to Buy as DEX Volumes Hit 37.4% ATH

Quick Facts:

• The DEX-to-CEX ratio reached an all-time high of 37.4% in June, while DEX spot volumes reached $419B in October.
• Record DEX meme coin volumes and sticky on-chain flows favor projects that turn memes into engagement engines, not just speculative tickers.
• Maxi Doge ($MAXI) channels 1,000x trading mentality into staking, competitions, and partner tournaments, targeting the growing on-chain degen trading culture.
• PEPENODE ($PEPENODE) experiments with mine-to-earn mechanics, using virtual nodes and tiered rewards to gamify engagement and keep wallets active on-chain.

DEX dashboards are starting to look like bull market TikTok feeds: non-stop meme coins, degens, and ridiculous volume candles.

A recent CoinGecko report shows that the DEX-to-CEX ratio hit an ATH of 37.4% in June, while DEX spot volumes bagged $419.76B in October; also an all-time high.

Record on-chain activity and surging swap counts show traders favoring self-custody and DeFi-native flows instead of parking idle capital on centralized exchanges.

That shift matters.

When liquidity lives on-chain, meme coins, GameFi tokens, and trading communities have a structural advantage. They’re built for engagement, not just price charts. Staking loops, quests, trading contests, and gamified dashboards keep users clicking, swapping, and compounding.

Below are three meme plays positioned for this DEX-first era: Maxi Doge ($MAXI) as a high-octane trading culture coin, PEPENODE ($PEPENODE) as a mine-to-earn experiment, and Shiba Inu ($SHIB) as the veteran building full-stack Web3 infrastructure.

1. Maxi Doge ($MAXI) – Never Skip Leg-Day, Never Skip a Pump

Maxi Doge ($MAXI) is built for the trader who treats every market move like a PR attempt: heavy, sweaty, and fully maxed out.

Branded as a 240-lb canine juggernaut, $MAXI wraps a 1,000x leverage trading mentality into an ERC-20 token designed for on-chain competitions and meme coin-first community culture.

The presale already reflects that appetite for risk. The $MAXI presale has raised over $4.2M, with a current token price of $0.0002705 and staking at 73%.

For a pure meme/trading culture play, that level of early capital indicates strong conviction from retail looking for the ‘next DOGE,’ but with a DeFi-native backbone rather than pure hype.

Core to the value prop is its Leverage King Culture – not actual 1,000x margin, but an ethos. Holder-only trading competitions and on-chain leaderboards will reward top ROI hunters, turning every pump into a public scoreboard.

In a world where traders are glued to DEX screeners, that public ranking mechanic is powerful social glue.

The project also targets partner events with futures platforms and gamified tournaments, aiming to bridge meme energy with more sophisticated trading venues. If DEX and perp volumes remain sticky, a meme brand that speaks directly to high-leverage culture has room to carve out a niche.

Join the $MAXI presale while it’s hot.

2. PEPENODE ($PEPENODE) – Turning Memes Into Mine-to-Earn Infrastructure

If Maxi Doge is the trading gym, PEPENODE ($PEPENODE) is the mining rig with a meme face. Branded as the world’s first mine-to-earn meme coin, it flips the usual ‘buy and hope’ mechanic into a more active, gamified mining experience using virtual nodes rather than physical hardware.

The project’s virtual mining system and tiered node rewards are designed to reward early and dedicated participants with higher yields. Instead of pointing GPUs at a proof-of-work chain, you engage with a gamified dashboard, spin up virtual nodes, and climb reward tiers based on your commitment.

It’s mining as a game loop, not a power bill.

Momentum is already building. The PEPENODE presale has raised over $2.2M, with a current token price of $0.0011685. For a niche concept like mine-to-earn, that kind of presale traction suggests clear market curiosity about new ways to wrap yield and engagement around meme coins.

This project also has particularly attractive staking rewards of 583% APY. If you want in, check our guide to buying $PEPENODE today.

With sufficient market support, $PEPENODE could become one of the best meme coins to buy.

Ready to jump in? Buy $PEPENODE before the next price increase.

3. Shiba Inu ($SHIB) – From Meme Dog to Web3 Ecosystem and ETF Target

Shiba Inu ($SHIB) started as a meme challenger to $DOGE, but it has quietly become one of the most serious infrastructure plays in the meme sector.

The centerpiece is Shibarium, Shiba Inu’s Layer-2 network built to support scalable, low-cost Web3 applications. Instead of relying solely on Ethereum mainnet, Shibarium offers cheaper, faster execution for DeFi, games, and NFT projects that still want the reach of Shiba’s enormous community and brand footprint.

$SHIB also runs a deflationary token model with burns driven by ecosystem activity, along with a multi-token stack that includes $SHIB, $BONE, $LEASH, and $TREAT. Together, these power governance, liquidity, and incentive layers – pushing Shiba Inu closer to a full multi-asset platform rather than a single speculative meme.

The market is taking notice. In October 2025, Shiba Inu was included in T. Rowe Price’s SEC filing for a new active crypto ETF. This signals that institutional players now see $SHIB as part of the investable large-cap crypto universe, not just a bull market joke.

At the moment, $SHIB trades at ~$0.0000008857 and is currently on an ascending path after gaining 3.36% over the past 24 hours. If you want a handful, now’s the time to buy.

Get your $SHIB today from OKX and other leading exchanges.

This isn’t financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decision.

Authored by Bogdan Patru, Bitcoinist – https://bitcoinist.com/best-meme-coins-to-buy-dex-volumes-hit-ath