The cryptocurrency market experienced a surge in 2024, with VIRTUAL, the native token of Virtuals Protocol, leading the charge with a staggering 23,000% plus increase in value.

VIRTUAL, the native token of the decentralized platform Virtuals Protocol, was the top-performing large-capitalization digital asset in 2024, surging more than 23,000% in U.S. dollar terms. According to a Coingecko report, this “monstrous” surge, which occurred between Jan. 1 and Dec. 25, coincided with the growing popularity of Virtuals Protocol’s artificial intelligence (AI) agent launchpad.

Source: Coingecko report.

As shown by data, the continued its rally, reaching a new all-time high of $4.04 on Dec. 31, solidifying its position as the year’s top-performing cryptocurrency. The Coingecko report meanwhile attributed the launchpad’s popularity to crypto investors seeking exposure to both AI and meme coins, the two dominant narratives of 2024.

The next two top-performing high-cap crypto assets were the meme coins Brett and Popcat. Launched on Feb. 29, Brett surged from its opening price of $0.0009766 to $0.234 on Dec. 1. Although the Base chain-based memecoin subsequently dropped to $0.145 on Dec. 25, Brett still achieved a massive 14,785% gain, making it the second-best performing crypto asset.

Popcat, which soared from $0.007640 on Jan. 1 to $0.8067 on Dec. 25, was the best-performing Solana-based memecoin, with a 10,459% gain. On Sept. 27, it also became the first cat memecoin to reach a $1 billion market capitalization.

Meanwhile, the Coingecko report states that seven of the 10 top-gaining crypto assets in 2024 were memecoins. MANTRA and ONDO were the most profitable real-world asset (RWA) investments, with gains of 6,418.3% and 682.8%, respectively.

Although 2024 was another record-breaking year for the top crypto asset, bitcoin (BTC), its overall gain of 133.8% was lower than the 162.5% gains it achieved in 2023. Ethereum, on the other hand, underperformed, with 2024 returns of 53.4%, just under half of the 98.6% it achieved in 2023.
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