The rapid rise of meme coins can be attributed to their viral nature and the strong communities behind them.
In the first half of 2024, the cryptocurrency market witnessed a surprising turn of events as meme coins like Dogwifhat (WIF), Pepe coin (PEPE), and Floki Inu (FLOKI) dramatically outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets.
According to a Forbes report citing data from CoinGecko, the total market value of cryptocurrencies surged by $661 billion in the first half of the year, with meme coins taking the lead despite Bitcoin’s dominance in the industry.
Meme Coins Steal the Spotlight
Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable crypto asset, contributed $409 billion to the entire market value in H1 2024. Despite this massive contribution, the crypto asset only experienced a 48% increase compared to other digital assets in the industry.
While BTC saw decent growth, meme coins like WIF led the rally with an incredible gain of more than 1,300%. This token, featuring a Shiba Inu in a knitted beanie as its logo, became the top returner among other cryptocurrencies with market caps of over $1 billion.
The meme coin ranked first on the list of best-performing digital assets in the first half of the year, with a market cap of $2.1 billion. Following closely was PEPE, a token inspired by the widely recognized meme frog. PEPE’s value soared over 815% in the first six months of 2024, reflecting its growing popularity within online communities. The Ethereum-based meme coin, which entered the industry last year, has a market cap of $5 billion.
Floki’s Impressive Performance
In addition to PEPE and WIF, FLOKI was also named one of the best-performing meme coins so far this year. The token, named after Elon Musk’s Shiba Inu dog, saw substantial gains, rising by 418%. FLOKI still outperformed Bitcoin despite its slower growth compared to the first two meme coins. The rapid rise of meme coins can be attributed to their viral nature and the strong communities behind them. These coins often gain traction through social media platforms, where enthusiasts gather to drive their prices up.
Despite their lack of intrinsic value, meme coins have proven to be significant players in the market, with Shiba Inus becoming the unofficial mascot of this trend. Even Dogecoin (DOGE), the original meme coin, saw a modest gain of 35%. Other meme coins, such as BONK, also posted gains of 90%.
Non-Meme Coins Also Perform Well
While meme coins garnered much attention, other cryptocurrencies also showed strong performances. Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), rose by 51%, fueled by speculation about potential ETF approvals similar to Bitcoin.
Binance Coin (BNB), the native token of the world’s largest crypto exchange, also experienced significant growth. BNB’s value increased by 81%, despite the legal challenges faced by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
Digital assets like Toncoin (TON) and BGB, the native token of the crypto exchange Bitget, witnessed modest gains of 135% and 100%, respectively.
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