Memes have dominated the market in every quarter of this year.
Article Author: Eli Nuss
Source: X Platform
Article Translated by: Scof, ChainCatcher
Over the past year, Memecoins have been the best-performing sector in the crypto market. Today, the total market capitalization of Memecoins has exceeded $100 billion, surpassing the combined total of DeFi, DePin, gaming, and the metaverse.
As the scale and diversity of this asset class continue to expand, we attempt to map the market to identify opportunities within.
We analyzed the best-performing Memecoins for each quarter this year, and the results confirmed our hypothesis—Memecoins dominated the market in every quarter. In the first quarter, $POPCAT, $WIF, $MOG, and $MYRO were the top performers.
In the second quarter, $PONKE, $SPX, $TURBO, $GIGA, $WOJAK, $BRETT, and $MOG performed prominently; in the third quarter, it was $SPX, $GIGA, $FUD, and $MUMU leading the way.
When trying to formulate a methodology for the Memecoin market, one thing is very clear: understanding the 'meta' (cultural trends and fads) is crucial. While this is generally applicable in cryptocurrency, it is especially important for Memecoins, with an impact far exceeding other categories. Below is an extended timeline aimed at highlighting some significant Meta changes and emerging trends.
Until 2021, the Memecoin market almost exclusively featured Doge. Then, Shiba Inu launched as the first real 'Doge killer,' and people naturally flocked to it, hoping to replicate Doge's success. This mindset of seeking the 'next XX' is the root of forming the Meta. Shiba Inu's success spawned various Memecoins related to dogs and Elon Musk, making 2021 the first true Memecoin Meta. Subsequently, in 2023, the launch of Pepe Coin drove a wave of Memecoins related to frogs and 'boys club', while the later launches of Bonk and Wif established Solana as the dominant chain for Memecoins, ultimately forming pump.fun. In the first quarter of 2023, the Memecoin market erupted into the first widespread frenzy, with new Metas appearing almost weekly or even daily. After reaching a local peak in March, the market slowed down slightly in the summer. As Bitcoin began to break through, market enthusiasm reignited, with new Metas continuously emerging, including $GOAT, $MOODENG (the adorable hippo coin), and $PEANUT.
Today, the Memecoin market has emerged with an abundance of Metas, and we attempt to break down the market according to different categories.
As you can see, Dogecoin remains the dominant sector in the Memecoin market, primarily driven by Doge. A few weeks ago, when we started compiling this data, the Sentient AI category was almost non-existent, and the Martyr category did not show any significant performance (although we must respect the OG coin $Harambe). This is enough to prove how quickly the Memecoin market is evolving.
Not surprisingly, since the launch of Pepe Coin, the dominance of Dogecoin has begun to gradually decline.
This trend seems likely to continue, as new Metas will constantly emerge, and different sectors will be pushed to the forefront.
From the perspective of the market capitalization changes across categories, there are several interesting trends.
For example, Memecoins in the Crypto Culture category (such as $bitcoin) gained some attention in 2023, especially when relatively little new capital was entering the market at that time. However, with the injection of new capital towards the end of the year, the Crypto Culture category gradually gave way to broader internet culture (such as $giga, $npc, etc.).
As mentioned earlier, the rapid rise of $GOAT and $PEANUT is also very surprising. While it may still be too early to categorize them into a new category, it is evident that there are many AI-related Memecoins today, with market capitalizations already reaching nine figures.
Additionally, earlier celebrity tokens and politically related Memecoins also saw some growth, but most have gradually cooled off since then.
Over time, Memecoins have the potential to become a fractal of the entire crypto market, with Dogecoin's status akin to that of Bitcoin (BTC). Some 'cult coins' will have loyal community support and exist for the long term; however, most Memecoins may be fleeting like NFTs in 2021.
Nevertheless, it is clear that there is a huge opportunity to get ahead in the new Meta.
I expect that the fastest-growing categories in the future will be internet culture and self-aware AI. Internet culture is widely recognized and has a rich cultural background, giving it a distinct advantage compared to other categories. Self-aware AI combines the most exciting technology with the most volatile asset class, and they may continue to dominate the Memecoin market in the future.
As for the open market space, there is always room for new animal species—many animals are currently lacking in the market, especially some exotic animals (such as tigers, giraffes, zebras, etc.). As for entirely new Memecoin categories, existing fan cultures (such as superheroes, sports, etc.) may be tokenized in creative ways.
