Meme Coins And Real World Assets Lead Crypto Market Gains In 2024
According to CryptoPotato, the cryptocurrency industry has seen a significant revival since the beginning of 2024. The global crypto market capitalization has surged from $1.77 trillion to $2.2 trillion, marking a 25% increase. Among the top performers are meme coins and Real World Assets (RWAs), which have experienced substantial price increases.
Meme coins have been particularly notable, with the prices of leading meme coins such as DOGE, SHIB, WIF, PEPE, BONK, and FLOKI soaring by an average of 338% year-to-date (YTD). The standout performer in this category is dogwifhat (WIF), which has seen its value rise from less than $0.02 at the start of 2024 to around $1.80 currently, even reaching an all-time high of $4.58 in April. DOGE and SHIB have also seen gains, though more modest, and together they account for over 50% of the meme coin market cap.
Real World Assets (RWAs) have also been a sensation, with Mantra (OM) and Ondo (ONDO) skyrocketing by 1570% and 380%, respectively. Other sectors that have performed well since January 1 include Layer 1 (+17%), SOL DeFi (+9.8%), and AI & DePIN (+43%).
The largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), have also seen significant gains. BTC started 2024 at around $42,260 and is currently priced at approximately $60,000, representing a 43% increase. BTC reached an all-time high of over $73,500 in mid-March. ETH has increased by 15%, from $2,280 to around $2,600. The future performance of these flagship cryptocurrencies remains to be seen, especially in light of recent bullish events such as the BTC halving and the launch of spot BTC and ETH ETFs in the United States.