Original article: Coingecko

Compiled by: Yuliya, PANews

This study analyzes the price performance of the 150 largest cryptoassets by market capitalization on the CoinGecko platform as of December 25, 2024. It provides a comprehensive examination of the annual cryptocurrency market by comparing price changes on January 1, 2024, or the earliest available data date. return on investment. To ensure the accuracy and reference value of the data, the study specifically excluded derivative commodity assets such as stablecoins, wrapped tokens, anchored assets, pledged assets and re-pledged assets.

What are the projects with the largest currency price increases in 2024?

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) became the best-performing large-cap cryptocurrency of 2024 with a stunning gain of 23,079.2%. The price of $VIRTUAL started at $0.01311 at the beginning of the year and stayed below $0.20 for most of the time, but suddenly exploded in the fourth quarter, reaching a high of $3.04 on December 25. This strong rally comes as Virtuals Protocol’s AI agent platform has gone viral, attracting a large number of cryptocurrency investors looking for dual investment opportunities in AI and meme coins.

From a return on investment perspective, if an investor invested $100 in $VIRTUAL on January 1st and held it until Christmas, they would have made $23,079 in profit.

Following closely behind is Brett (BRETT), which has risen 14,784.6% to $0.145 as of December 25 since its launch on February 29 at $0.0009766, although down from the $0.234 hit on December 1 All-time highs have fallen. Brett’s significant gains make it the only Base chain meme coin to date to reach a market cap of $1 billion.

Ranked third is also a Meme coin project, Popcat (POPCAT), whose price rose from $0.007640 on January 1 to $0.8067 on December 25, an increase of 10,459.0%. While Popcat launched late last year and became one of the leading meme coins in the Solana ecosystem, its price didn’t start breaking new highs until March of this year. Popcat became the first cat-themed meme coin to hit $1 billion in market capitalization on September 27 and remained there for several months before falling back in value.

It is worth noting that 7 of the top ten cryptocurrencies this year are meme coins. In addition to Brett and Popcat, other meme coins that performed well include:

  • Mog Coin (MOG), another cat-themed token, rose 6,051.0%;

  • AI-generated frog meme coin Turbo (TURBO) up 3,036.0%;

  • Recently launched Pump.fun project Fartcoin and AI proxy investment fund ai16z rose 2,890.5% and 1,409.9% respectively;

  • and Pepe (PEPE) up 1,400.6%.

It surpassed its performance during the meme coin mania of mid-2023 and solidified its position as one of the leading meme coins.

Beyond Meme Coins, $OM and $AERO

In a year dominated by meme coins, $OM and $AERO also posted significant gains. MANTRA (OM) ranked fourth, with a full-year increase of 6,418.3%. The price rose from US$0.0584 on January 1 to US$3.81 on December 25, becoming the best-performing RWA investment project this year, with a return rate of second Excellent RWA project Ondo Finance (ONDO) 9 times.

At the same time, Base chain decentralized exchange Aerodrome Finance (AERO) ranked sixth, with a full-year increase of 3,139.4%, rising from $0.0511 on January 1 to $1.66 on December 25, thanks to Meme coins and Base The popularity of the ecosystem drives the growth of on-chain transaction volume.

Bitcoin grows steadily, Ethereum performs worse than expected

Bitcoin (BTC) recorded a 133.8% gain in 2024, with the price steadily climbing from $42,208 on January 1 to $98,696 on December 25, matching 2023’s 162.5% gain. Ranked 39th out of 123 large-cap crypto assets analyzed, outperforming the remaining 84 cryptocurrencies. This means that, like last year, the chance of picking a cryptocurrency at random and outgrowing Bitcoin in 2024 is about one in three.

Ethereum (ETH), on the other hand, had a lower 53.4% ​​gain in 2024, with the price recovering from $2,280 on January 1 to $3,498 on December 25, just half of the 98.6% gain in 2023. Ethereum prices have been range-bound throughout the year, failing to break above the 2021 peak despite testing the $4,000 mark a few times.

As of December 25, the yields on the top ten cryptocurrencies ranged from 1,400.6% to 23,079.2%. Holding any of these cryptocurrencies will outperform Bitcoin by at least 10x and Ethereum by 26x.

Top 20 Most Profitable Cryptocurrencies in 2024

The 20 most profitable cryptocurrencies, along with Bitcoin and Ethereum, in 2024, ranked by price growth, are as follows:

Top 10 Most Profitable Cryptocurrencies in 2024

In 2023, the price returns for the top 10 cryptocurrencies, as well as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are as follows:

(The above content is excerpted and reprinted with the authorization of our partner PANews, original text link)

Statement: The article only represents the author's personal views and opinions, and does not represent the objective views and positions of the blockchain. All contents and opinions are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors should make their own decisions and transactions, and the author and Blockchain Client will not be held responsible for any direct or indirect losses caused by investors' transactions.

"Top 10 leading projects in 2024: the highest increase is more than 230 times, and 7 Meme coins are on the list" This article was first published on (Block Guest).