
In 2024, the crypto world has its share of surprises in store. During the first quarter, established trends were shaken up. Fringe sectors like memecoins and AI have experienced unexpected surges, while some previously promising sectors have experienced unexpected disappointment.
The kings of crypto speculation
With stratospheric average returns of 1,313%, memecoins reaffirmed their status as the most profitable and speculative crypto phenomenon of the first quarter of 2024. Established stocks like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu once again shined, joined by new contenders offbeats such as Brett, BOOK OF MEME and cat in a dogs world. This memeric tidal wave illustrates the frenzy surrounding these originally parodic tokens.
Close behind memecoins, the artificial intelligence ecosystem has achieved a remarkable breakthrough with an average increase of 222%. All major AI tokens rose substantially, including surges of 480% for AIOZ Network and 378% for Fetch.ai. An unexpected consecration for this sector long neglected by crypto investors.
The rise of use cases
After briefly giving way to AI, the asset narrative of Reel World Assets (RWA) managed to regain the advantage at the end of the quarter, with a 286% increase. Driven by the success of MANTRA and TokenFi, this crypto sector has demonstrated the solidity of its economic model.
Decentralized finance (DeFi), for its part, recorded more moderate but notable gains of 99%, driven by Ribbon Finance but also heavyweights Jupiter, Maker and The Graph.
Finally, the DePIN ecosystem (decentralization, infrastructures, nodes), despite a sluggish start, managed to close the quarter with an 81% increase, thanks to the solid performance of Arweave, Livepeer and Theta Network.
Supporting established crypto ecosystems
If niche sectors have stole the show, major established crypto trends have brought a welcome contingent of stability. Layer 1 blockchains like Solana, Toncoin or Bitcoin Cash grew by around 70% in the first quarter, as did the GameFi ecosystem with increases of 64% for Echelon Prime, Gala or Ronin.
The only downside is that scalability projects for Ethereum layer 2 only increased by 39% over the period, with the notable exception of Stacks and Mantle which performed better.
This quarterly overview once again reaffirms the incredible vitality of the crypto sphere and its capacity to constantly reinvent itself. Whether euphoric or destabilizing, these perpetual ups and downs of trends confirm the immense potential for disruption in this decentralized universe, where change is the only constant.
Maximize your Tremplin.io experience with our 'Read to Earn' program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.