- Meme coins had a significant year in 2024, with tokens like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu posting notable gains.
- However, these 1-200% gains appeared modest compared to newer tokens like Brett and Popcat, which posted percentage increases in the tens of thousands.
- A study from CoinGecko was conducted on the top ten market cap coins of each major sector’s annual returns.
- Based on this metric, artificial intelligence coins overtook meme coins in December 2024, with standout tokens like Virtuals Protocol driving the narrative.
Meme coins had a killer 2024.
With Solana emerging as the leading ecosystem for newer meme coin projects, several tokens burst onto the scene to post immense gains.
But, just like Steven Bradbury in the 2002 Olympics (ok…nothing like that), artificial intelligence coins came from the clouds to become the leading crypto narrative in 2024.
Related: Bitcoin’s Golden Year: ETFs, Trump and Record Highs Define Crypto’s 2024 Surge
2024’s Wild Ride Comes to a Close With Meme Coin’s Top Performers Blowing Away Investors
According to research from CoinGecko, the meme coin sector’s top ten tokens (by market cap) returned an average of 2,185% over the past year.
This figure is based on mean – not median – so naturally that number is pushed up by a select few outliers.
For example, Dogecoin (255%) and Shiba Inu (103%) enjoyed a spectacular 2024 by anyone’s standards. But their 12-month returns pale in comparison to the average growth of 2,000+ per cent.
The biggest winner for meme coins was Brett (BASED), which exploded nearly 15,000% in less than 12 months of trading.
Popcat wasn’t far behind, gaining more than 10,000% in 2024.
Other top-ten meme coins with gains of over 1,000% included Mog Coin, Fartcoin and Pepe.
AI Reigns Supreme: 2024’s Leading Crypto Narrative Surpasses Meme Coins
Despite the absurd gains collected by some of the top meme coins, artificial intelligence overtook the industry in December to become 2024’s leading narrative.
Using the same metric – average returns in 2024 based on top ten market cap tokens – the best AI coins pulled in gains of 2,940% this last year.
It wasn’t until the 2nd last week of 2024, on December 21st, that AI overtook meme coins to become crypto’s fastest-growing sector.
It’s not hard to see why, given the social prevalence of AI and the constant discussion around it – both in terms of usefulness and ethics.
Related: Australian Educator Battles Crypto Scammers: The Barefoot Investor Takes On Identity Thieves Head-On
However, just like meme coins, the AI sector was carried by one token in particular – Virtuals Protocol. The whopping gains from this coin peaked at nearly 24,000% in 2024. If you go just a week back, to Christmas 2023 when the VIRTUAL token dropped, it has increased in value by 45,000%.
If only Santa had left some in my stocking!
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