Original article: Coingecko
Compiled by: Yuliya, PANews
This study analyzes the price performance of the 150 largest crypto assets by market capitalization on the Coingecko platform as of December 25, 2024, and comprehensively examines the annual cryptocurrency market investment returns by comparing price changes on January 1, 2024 or the earliest available data date. To ensure the accuracy and reference value of the data, the study specifically excludes derivative assets such as stablecoins, wrapped tokens, anchored assets, pledged assets, and re-pledged assets.
What are the cryptocurrency projects with the biggest gains in 2024?
Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) with an astonishing increase of 23,079.2% became the best-performing large-cap cryptocurrency in 2024. The price of $VIRTUAL started at $0.01311 at the beginning of the year, mostly staying below $0.20, but suddenly surged in the fourth quarter, reaching a high of $3.04 on December 25. This strong upward trend was driven by the viral spread of the AI-managed platform of Virtuals Protocol, attracting a large number of cryptocurrency investors seeking dual investment opportunities in AI and Meme coins.
From an investment return perspective, if an investor had invested $100 in $VIRTUAL on January 1 and held it until Christmas, they would have made a profit of $23,079.
Following closely is Brett (BRETT), which has increased by 14,784.6% to $0.145 since its launch at a price of $0.0009766 on February 29, despite retreating from the historical high of $0.234 set on December 1. Brett's significant increase makes it the only Base chain Meme coin to reach a market cap of $1 billion so far.
Ranked third is also a Meme coin project Popcat (POPCAT), which saw its price increase from $0.007640 on January 1 to $0.8067 on December 25, with an increase of 10,459.0%. Although Popcat launched at the end of last year and became one of the leading Meme coins in the Solana ecosystem, its price did not start breaking new highs until March of this year. On September 27, Popcat became the first cat-themed Meme coin to surpass a market cap of $1 billion and maintained that for several months before experiencing a decline.
Notably, among the top ten cryptocurrencies with the highest increases this year, 7 are Meme coins. Besides Brett and Popcat, other well-performing Meme coins include:
Another cat-themed token Mog Coin (MOG) increased by 6,051.0%;
AI-generated Frog Meme Coin Turbo (TURBO) increased by 3,036.0%;
Recently launched Pump.fun project Fartcoin and AI-managed investment fund ai16z rose by 2,890.5% and 1,409.9% respectively;
and Pepe (PEPE) increased by 1,400.6%.
surpassing the performance during the mid-2023 Meme coin frenzy, solidifying its status as one of the major Meme coins.
Aside from Meme coins, $OM and $AERO
In this Meme coin-dominated year, $OM and $AERO also recorded significant gains. MANTRA (OM) ranked fourth with an annual increase of 6,418.3%, with the price rising from $0.0584 on January 1 to $3.81 on December 25, making it the best-performing RWA investment project of the year, with a return rate 9 times that of the second-best RWA project Ondo Finance (ONDO).
Meanwhile, the decentralized exchange Aerodrome Finance (AERO) on the Base chain ranked sixth, with an annual increase of 3,139.4%, rising from $0.0511 on January 1 to $1.66 on December 25, benefiting from the popularity of Meme coins and the growth of on-chain trading volume within the Base ecosystem.
Bitcoin shows steady growth, while Ethereum underperforms expectations.
Bitcoin (BTC) recorded a 133.8% increase in 2024, with the price steadily rising from $42,208 on January 1 to $98,696 on December 25, comparable to the 162.5% increase in 2023. It ranked 39th among the 123 analyzed large-cap cryptocurrencies, outperforming the remaining 84 cryptocurrencies. This means that, as last year, the probability of randomly selecting a cryptocurrency that outperforms Bitcoin's growth in 2024 is about one-third.
On the other hand, Ethereum (ETH) had a lower increase of 53.4% in 2024, with the price recovering from $2,280 on January 1 to $3,498 on December 25, only half of the 98.6% increase in 2023. Throughout the year, Ethereum's price fluctuated, testing the $4,000 mark several times but failing to break through the peak of 2021.
As of December 25, the top ten cryptocurrencies had returns ranging from 1,400.6% to 23,079.2%. Holding any of these cryptocurrencies yielded at least 10 times better performance than Bitcoin and 26 times better than Ethereum.
Top Crypto 2024
In 2024, ranked by price increase, the 20 most profitable cryptocurrencies alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum are as follows:
Popular cryptocurrencies of 2023
In 2023, the price returns of the top 10 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum were as follows:
