Has the meme craze peaked? 4 key factors determine its future

Original Title: "Meme Coins Market Statistics -- 2024 Trends"

Written by: Diana Ploscaru

Compiled by: Baihua Blockchain

On November 20, the Google search volume for "Memecoin" surged to an all-time high. Although it still pales in comparison to the peak popularity of NFTs, it indicates that the interest in Memecoins is on the rise, and perhaps it has begun to break into the mainstream.

In 2024, Memecoins have become the fastest-growing segment of cryptocurrency, with an average return rate of an astonishing +1300%. This performance has led some crypto traders and analysts to speculate that the Memecoin market may be entering a super cycle, and compared to the brief craze of Dogecoin in 2021, Memecoins have not only experienced a strong recovery but have also officially gained recognition as a segment within the industry.

So, how is the Memecoin segment currently developing? What are the key influencing factors for the future?

01 Memecoin Market Statistics

The earlier Memecoin market was highly volatile. In May 2021, the total market capitalization of Memecoins once soared to a historical high of $89.95 billion, but then fell below $20 billion in 2022, a decline of nearly 80%. However, this year, the Memecoin market has generally remained at a high level.

According to CoinTelegraph, in 2024, Memecoins have become the fastest-growing segment of cryptocurrency, with the best-performing Memes achieving an average return rate of +1300%.

As of June 2024, the year-to-date performance of different cryptocurrency segments, source: Cryptonary

In fact, the performance of Memecoins at the beginning of 2024 exceeded that of all other crypto segments by tenfold. Although the RWA and AI segments have also seen significant growth since then, Memecoins remain the best-performing segment, with a year-to-date growth rate of 449% as of June.

02 The Surge of Memecoins in 2024

The attention on Memecoins is particularly evident on social media. According to data from Cryptonary, since December 2023, discussions about Memecoins on social platforms have been steadily increasing, especially on the X platform.

Out of over 8 million interactions, the X platform accounted for 75% of the share, far ahead of other social platforms. This is not surprising, as many Memecoin projects choose to announce their presales on the X platform. Additionally, a survey by CoinGecko shows that more than one-third of cryptocurrency participants prefer X as their platform for obtaining crypto news and updates.

As of October 2024, the number of interactions related to Memecoins on major social media platforms, data source: Cryptonary

YouTube ranks second, accounting for 20.5% of all observed cryptocurrency content, likely due to the increasing number of crypto analysis channels and videos on the platform.

According to the same survey by CoinGecko, 23.4% of crypto participants primarily rely on YouTube for crypto news.

In addition to social media, the search interest in Memecoins in 2024 seems to have reached unprecedented heights, and the latest search trends confirm this.

Source: Google Trends

Considering that most seasoned crypto users primarily obtain news through X (Twitter) and YouTube, this surge in search volume may partly come from new crypto investors entering the market.

This indicates that public awareness of Memecoins is continuously increasing during this cycle. In fact, we have also observed a rise in the adoption rate of Memecoins. During March 2024, the number of active PEPE wallets doubled. Other top Memecoins like DOGE and WIF may also have attracted a large number of new crypto investors.

03 Record Number of Memecoin Projects in 2024

With the rise of blockchains like Solana and BSC, as well as launchers like Pump.fun, a large number of new Memecoin projects have emerged in recent years. From April to August 2024 alone, over 500 new Memecoins were added to CoinMarketCap, with a record high of 138 in April.

As of October, CoinMarketCap has listed over 3,000 Memecoins. However, considering that Pump.fun has launched over 1.7 million Memecoins to date, this is just the tip of the iceberg. This trend reflects the high level of attention currently on Memecoin projects, but it also exacerbates the fragmentation of market liquidity.

Since Memecoins typically rely on attention and community support, the continuous increase in their number has led to fierce competition, gradually diminishing the potential of new projects—many of which have an average lifespan of only 5 days. According to a recent report by Web3 consulting firm BDC, 89% of Memecoin projects have a market capitalization between $0 and $1,000, and 43% of the projects have zero trading volume. More notably, only 5% of Memecoins had a market capitalization exceeding $10 million in 2024 (this data is based on a sample analysis of 2,000 projects). In other words, market competition has reached an all-time high, and most Memecoin projects are destined to fail.

04 Market Recovery and Speculation of a Super Cycle

According to data from CoinMarketCap, the Memecoin market rebounded rapidly in the first quarter of 2024, with a total market capitalization exceeding $60 billion.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Although the total market capitalization has declined since the end of the second quarter, it remains above the levels of 2022-2023. By October this year, the Memecoin market size stabilized at around $50 billion and showed signs of short-term recovery. The current market indicates that this positive trend has continued.

Some crypto traders believe that a new Memecoin super cycle may still emerge this year, with potentially more mid-cap tokens performing well compared to the few tokens that saw massive gains in the past. However, it will not be as intense as the initial explosion of DOGE and SHIB in 2021. The main reason is that the number of Memecoins in the market has significantly increased since 2021.

Although OG Memecoins (like DOGE and SHIB) are still performing far below their peaks in 2021, Cryptonary's analysis for 2024 shows that these assets have nearly double the return rate of mainstream crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and BNB during this cycle. According to the same analysis, the performance of OG Memecoins remains relatively stable, while second and third-generation Memecoins are expected to reach new historical highs by the end of 2024.

In fact, despite market fluctuations due to the continuous price adjustments of multiple tokens, top emerging Memecoins like PEPE, POPCAT, and BONK performed strongly in the second and third quarters.

POPCAT showed strong performance from April to September 2024, data source: CoinMarketCap

Despite the overall bearish market sentiment mid-year, we still saw several projects performing exceptionally well. For instance, as of October 25, POPCAT's increase this year reached +8900.77%.

05 Memecoins Driving the Growth of Solana

Overall, the number of Memecoins on the Solana platform is the highest, with many performing well.

Solana seems to be the most popular blockchain for Memecoins in recent years, likely due to its fast transaction speeds, ease of use, and low fees. Today, emerging and rapidly growing Memecoins like WIF and BONK are mostly based on Solana, not to mention the numerous projects launched through Solana's Pump.fun platform.

According to DEX aggregator data provided by BDC, these leading blockchain platforms see an average of 40,000 to 50,000 new tokens emerging daily, with Solana accounting for nearly half of the Memecoin projects. In comparison, the BNB chain is Solana's biggest competitor, but it adds only about 5,400 new tokens daily.

As of March 2024, the blockchain with the most recorded new crypto tokens, source: BDC

Editor’s Note: According to the latest CoinGecko data, the top rankings of the Solana ecosystem have not changed since the first quarter of the study, continuing to lead by a wide margin, although some other ecosystems are intensifying efforts to attract more attention, gradually shrinking their share of investor interest.

For example, the BNB chain recently announced an initiative to support Memecoin innovation, aimed at helping users launch, migrate, and enhance the liquidity of new tokens. Given this, we are likely to see more BNB-based projects soon.

The Base chain also ranks in the top five for new project numbers, averaging about 1,700 new tokens daily. Considering the recent popularity of the Base chain, especially under the explosive popularity of BRETT, it may soon become a strong competitor to BSC and Solana.

Although the highest market cap Ethereum chain adds an average of 1,600 new tokens daily, it remains highly active in the Memecoin space, with 95% of multi-chain Memecoins supporting Ethereum. Additionally, about 40% of multi-chain Memecoins support both Ethereum and BNB. Notably, the popularity of Ethereum-native tokens like SHIB, PEPE, and FLOKI also proves that Ethereum remains one of the dominant forces in the Memecoin market.

06 Latest Memecoin Trends

Since the first quarter of 2024, we have seen an increasing number of promising Solana Memecoins, as well as some notable Base chain Memecoin projects emerging.

Among these projects, several categories of Memecoins have been particularly popular in this cycle:

1) Animal Coins like Dogs and Cats

Doge-themed coins remain the most popular category of Memecoins. The world-famous Dogecoin (Doge) showcases how animal-related memes can gain strong community support in the cryptocurrency space. The success of the two OG tokens, DOGE and SHIB, is a powerful testament to this phenomenon. By 2024, this trend continues, with DOGE and SHIB still being the highest market cap Memecoins.

However, this year has also seen the emergence of other top dog-themed Memecoins, such as WIF, FLOKI, and BONK, whose performances are noteworthy.

According to data from Cryptonary, by March 2024, dog-themed Memecoins accounted for more than half of the total market capitalization of Memecoins, with a market cap of approximately $36 billion and a return rate of 2.5 times.

Growth of different Memecoin categories in 2024, source: Cryptonary

However, cat-themed Memecoins have also seen significant growth, becoming the fastest-growing category in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. By March 2024, the market cap of cat-themed coins skyrocketed from $5 million to $1.8 billion, providing investors with a 10-fold return.

Recently popular themes like pufferfish and goats seem far from over. In the future, we are likely to see more animal-themed tokens entering the Memecoin market.

2) PolitiFi Memecoins

With the U.S. elections being a hot topic, PolitiFi has become one of the most active Memecoin categories in the first half of this year. However, as the dust settles from the elections, this trend has cooled down.

According to Cryptonary's analysis, the market cap of the PolitiFi category once exceeded $1 billion at the beginning of this year, with some major Memecoins providing investors with returns as high as 27,000% at their peak.

However, many crypto assets have significantly retraced since then. As of October, the market cap of PolitiFi has dropped to $634 million, covering 133 listed tokens on CoinMarketCap.

It is important to note that many PolitiFi coins have self-reported market capitalizations, so actual data may vary significantly. Currently, ConstitutionDAO is the largest project in this field, with a market cap exceeding $400 million. On the other hand, many PolitiFi coins have dropped 80%-90% from their historical peaks.

Overall, PolitiFi coins exhibit high volatility (more severe than other Memecoins), and few tokens can maintain lasting community support.

3) Celebrity-themed Memecoins

Although celebrity-themed Memecoins have gained significant attention in recent years, they have also attracted considerable skepticism and criticism.

Memecoins endorsed by celebrities often spark temporary hype, but the vast majority of projects have very short lifespans. Additionally, these tokens are often seen as tools for pump-and-dump schemes and even considered potential scams, as project teams typically use investor funds as exit liquidity.

For example, TrumpCoin (DJT), launched in June 2024, had one wallet address controlling 67% of the token supply. Such situations often signal a risk of rug-pull, making it difficult for the asset to recover. In fact, as of October, DJT's price had dropped 97.72% from its historical peak.

Celebrity-themed memes often have short lifespans

This concerning trend of dubious projects has even drawn public criticism from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who explicitly stated that many celebrity-themed Memecoins offer little to no real value to investors.

The failure of TrumpCoin (DJT) is not an isolated case. According to an analysis by CryptoPotato, data from July 2024 shows that since June, the prices of all new celebrity Memecoins launched on Solana have averaged a decline of 94%. Even the better-performing projects have generally seen price drops of over 70%. Today, celebrity coins like JENNER and LILPUMP are still far below their historical highs.

Nevertheless, a few projects remain active in the market, primarily due to ongoing discussions on social media. The most notable example is Iggy Azalea's token MOTHER, which, as of 2024, has still increased by 192.8%, despite a decline from its historical peak.

However, like PolitiFi Memecoins, celebrity-themed Memecoins, while often sparking hype, seem destined for short-lived existence.

07 What are the Most Popular Memecoins Currently?

While most Memecoins are doomed to fail, some have withstood the test of time due to strong community support. Especially in recent months, some emerging Memecoins have gradually established themselves in the market thanks to solid community foundations.

Here are the top ten Memecoins ranked by market capitalization as of November 20, 2024.

1) Dogecoin (DOGE)

DOGE ** is the earliest and most resilient Memecoin in the market, having weathered over a decade of ups and downs and still standing strong.** DOGE was launched on the BNB chain in December 2013, with slow early adoption. Although it reached an all-time high of $0.7376 between April and May 2021, the subsequent Memecoin market saw a significant correction in 2022. It wasn't until this cycle that it experienced a major breakthrough, with DOGE rebounding first this year, starting to rise in early February, and breaking the $0.2 mark in March, reaching its highest level since December 2021. Despite some price pullbacks during this period, the increase this year has been considerable, with a market cap far exceeding other Memecoins, reaching approximately $57.62 billion as of November 20, ranking first.

2) Shiba Inu (SHIB)

SHIB was initially a project on Ethereum aimed at replicating the success of DOGE, and it has achieved significant results. Since its launch, SHIB has accumulated gains of hundreds of thousands of times, reaching its all-time high during the Memecoin craze in 2021, but subsequently experienced declines in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, SHIB has once again risen, with a market cap of approximately $14.5 billion as of November 20, currently ranking second on CoinMarketCap.

3) Pepe (PEPE)

PEPE was launched on Ethereum in April 2023, and its price has increased hundreds of thousands of times to date. The significant rise of PEPE began in March 2024, largely driven by the Certik audit report released in December 2023, which scored its code security at a high 91%. In the recent Memecoin craze, it surged again, with a market cap of approximately $8.54 billion as of November 20.

4) Bonk (BONK)

BONK is one of the many Doge-themed Memecoins launched last year, and its price has been steadily rising since October 2023. It is also one of the few Memecoin projects with extensive cross-chain interoperability, allowing transfers across five major blockchains including Ethereum, BNB, Solana, and Polygon. As of November 20, its market cap is approximately $4.1 billion.

5) Dogwifhat (WIF)

WIF is another emerging Doge-themed Memecoin, launched on Solana in mid-December 2023. It started trading in March 2024 and quickly became the first top Memecoin to break the $1 mark. This news further boosted WIF's popularity, reaching an all-time high price of $4.85 on March 31, 2024. At one point, WIF's market cap even surpassed that of PEPE, but the price later fluctuated. Currently, WIF's price is around $3.4, with a market cap of approximately $3.4 billion as of November 20.

6) FLOKI (FLOKI)

FLOKI is one of the earlier launched Memecoins and has recently seen a resurgence. The coin is inspired by Elon Musk's Shiba Inu, Floki, and was launched on Ethereum and BNB chains in mid-2021. Within four months of its launch, the price reached an all-time high, but then entered a downward trend. In 2024, market enthusiasm reignited as FLOKI may become an asset in the upcoming Valhalla NFT game. In June 2024, the coin reached a new all-time high price of $0.0003462, but then experienced a price pullback. As of November 20, FLOKI's market cap is approximately $2.32 billion, making it one of the top Memecoins.

7) Brett (BRETT)

BRETT is one of the few top Memecoins on the Base blockchain and is the second most popular Pepe-themed Memecoin in 2024. This meme was launched in March 2024, initially performing poorly, but began to rise from mid-May and reached an all-time high price of $0.193 in early June, with a market cap of approximately $1.73 billion as of November 20.

8) Popcat (POPCAT)

POPCAT is one of the stars of this Memecoin super cycle. Launched on Solana in December 2023, it initially saw a decline but began to rebound in early 2024. Starting in March, POPCAT entered an upward channel, reaching its first all-time high price of $0.97 in July. Despite significant fluctuations in the third quarter of 2024, it strengthened again in early September. As of November 20, its market cap reached $1.67 billion, a remarkable performance for a Memecoin launched less than 12 months ago.

9) Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT)

PNUT is a Memecoin launched on the Solana chain in November 2024, inspired by a euthanized internet-famous squirrel named Peanut. The event sparked heated discussions on social media, propelling the token to rapid popularity. PNUT surged 800% within a week of its launch, reaching a market cap of $1.6 billion, and was listed on exchanges like Binance and OKX, becoming a market hotspot, with a market cap of approximately $1.61 billion as of November 20.

10) Goatseus Maximus (GOAT)

GOAT was officially launched in October 2024, founded by Andy Ayrey, initially as an AI humor experiment, but gradually evolved into a phenomenon of "AI doctrine" with a cult-like follower culture due to viral spread on social media. GOAT was initiated on Solana's Pump.fun platform and promoted by an AI account named Truth Terminal after its launch, quickly gaining popularity and attracting significant attention, with its market cap briefly surpassing $500 million, triggering a wave of memecoin and related project airdrops, making it another dark horse in the 2024 memecoin trend. As of November 20, its market cap is approximately $1.1 billion.

08 Key Factors Influencing Memecoin Trends

The trends of Memecoins are influenced by various factors, with the following being key drivers:

1) High Return Potential

Compared to more mature cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH, Memecoins attract many investors due to their high-risk, high-reward characteristics. Traditional cryptocurrencies have higher prices and lower volatility, often requiring investors to commit significant capital to achieve substantial returns. In contrast, Memecoins are more appealing due to their low prices, especially during the presale phase, which lowers the investment threshold.

Memecoins have enormous return potential, particularly in the initial months after a project launches, when prices often see significant increases. For example, since its launch in December 2023, POPCAT's price has risen by +8900.77%. In other words, if $2,500 were invested last December, the current investment return could exceed $220,000 (based on October data).

2) Social Sentiment

Social sentiment is one of the key factors influencing the demand and price trends of Memecoins. Simply put, the more hype and attention a Memecoin receives in the market, the greater the community engagement, and the higher the token's valuation will rise. A prime example is the resurgence of Dogecoin in 2023: just 15 minutes after Musk posted a photo of his dog Floki, Dogecoin's market cap surged by $500 million. Meanwhile, FLOKI also skyrocketed, with its price increasing nearly 50% within an hour.

Overall, the price fluctuations of Memecoins are closely tied to community enthusiasm, and discussions on social media often serve as the main catalyst for price changes.

This highlights the significant impact of social media discourse and public support on Memecoin trends. When the hype surrounding a token is substantial enough, it can trigger dramatic market fluctuations in a short period.

3) Development of Utility

A common criticism of Memecoins is that they are purely speculative assets with no real utility. Moreover, due to the rapid fading of hype, many Memecoins have very short lifespans.

However, not every Memecoin is like this; some have integrated into broader ecosystems. For example, Memecoins like FLOKI can serve as assets in crypto games, offering unique in-game purchases, rewards, or staking opportunities.

Similar developments in other crypto sectors, such as gaming, AI, and DeFi, may provide real-world use cases and help maintain active communities, extending the lifespans and relevance of these tokens beyond the initial hype cycle.

In fact, we have already seen the continuous integration of Memecoins into crypto gaming, with new Shiba Inu-style play-to-earn Memecoins on the rise.

4) Security and Assurance Issues

Of course, Memecoins are also controversial for various reasons. Firstly, their high volatility is almost inevitable, especially when these tokens lack real-world utility. Many people liken investing in Memecoins to gambling.

Coupled with this already unstable market and the prevalence of pump-and-dump schemes, the risk of losing investments seems to outweigh the opportunity for short-term massive gains.

The above image is an example of a pump-and-dump scheme seen in PolitiFi Memecoins. Unsurprisingly, many investors may choose to avoid Memecoins as a result. However, scams in the Memecoin market continue to emerge.

Despite all cryptocurrencies having a unique crypto asset ID (UCID), malicious actors can still use the same codes and symbols to impersonate established memes, attempting to deceive unsuspecting investors into purchasing their categories.

The above image shows the story of two seemingly identical PEPEs. Since smart contracts can be exploited easily, a careless mistake in investment could mean your crypto assets are stolen.

09 Conclusion

It is evident that the current Memecoin market is thriving, surpassing levels seen before 2023, and performing better than other cryptocurrency sectors.

Social media interactions have also reached an all-time high, indicating that overall market sentiment remains bullish. The success of new Memecoins this season has even sparked speculation about a potential super cycle. However, with thousands of new Memecoins flooding the market, the fragmentation of the market has intensified, and many projects are destined to become cannon fodder.