In the first quarter of 2024 (Q1), memecoins emerged as the most profitable cryptographic storyoffering massive average returns of 1,312.6% on its top tokens, according to a recent study and report led by CoinGecko.
This figure far exceeded returns from other stories, highlighting the growing popularity and frenzy surrounding memecoins in the cryptocurrency market.
RWA vs. Memecoins
Three newly launched tokens were among the top 10 memecoins by market cap at the end of the quarter: Brett (BRETT), BOOK OF MEME (BOME), and Cat in a dogs world (MEW).
BRETT has generated the highest returns since its launch with a gain of 7,727.6%, followed closely by dogwifhat (WIF) with a gain of 2721.2% during the quarter. Notably, the memecoin narrative has far outperformed other crypto narratives.
Compared to the second most profitable narrative, RWA, memecoins were 4.6 times more profitable and their returns were 33.3 times higher than the layer 2 narrative, which saw the lowest gains in Q1.
The RWA narrative, which means “Real-world assets”, reported 285.6% in the first quarter. Despite briefly holding the most profitable narrative title in early February, memecoins and artificial intelligence (AI)-based tokens outperformed RWA in terms of returns. However, RWA managed to regain its position before the AI story in late March.
Notable gainers in the RWA category included MANTRA (OM) and TokenFi (TOKEN), which recorded quarterly returns (QTD) of 1,074.4% and 419.7% respectively. XDC Network (XDC) was the only RWA token to decline, falling 15.6% for the quarter.
Artificial intelligence closely followed RWA as the only other narrative to generate triple-digit returns, reaching 222.0% in the first quarter. All large-cap AI tokens saw gains, with AIOZ Network (AIOZ) leading the pack at 480.2% and Fetch.ai (FET) following closely at 378.3%.
Even the lowest gainer in the AI category, OriginTrail (TRAC), returned a respectable 74.9% during the quarter, indicating general interest in AI-related tokens.
Trace layer 1 tokens behind
The decentralized finance (DeFi) narrative generated moderate returns of 98.9% in the first quarter. In late February, DeFi yields were boosted by Uniswap (UNI) fee change proposal. DeFi tokens that performed well include Jupiter (JUP) with gains of 125.7%, Maker (MKR) with 121.2%, and The Graph (GRT) with 111.0% QTD.
In contrast, the Layer 1 (L1) narrative generated relatively lower profitability with returns of 70.0% in Q1 2024. Solana (SOL) gained attention as a popular memecoin chain, the best performing major L1 cryptocurrencies were Toncoin (TON) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with gains of 131.2% and 130.5%, respectively .
Bitcoin (BTC) gained 65.1%, reaching new all-time highswhile Ethereum (ETH) posted a more modest increase of 53.9%, despite anticipation surrounding Ethereum ETF spot applications in the United States.
Layer 2 (L2) emerged as the least profitable crypto narrative in Q1, with a relatively lower gain of 39.5%. Established Ethereum L2 solutions underperformed, with Arbitrum (ARB) returning 5.6%, Polygon (MATIC) recording a gain of 1.2% and Optimism (OP) closing the quarter with a slight decline of 1.2%. However, Stacks (STX) and Mantle (MNT) posted relatively strong returns of 142.5% and 95.8% QTD, respectively.
As of this writing, Dogecoin (DOGE), the largest memecoin by market capitalization, is trading at $0.1745. Over the past 24 hours, it has seen a price correction of almost 7%. Over the past month, Dogecoin has shown limited bullish momentum, with a marginal gain of just 0.7% during this period.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
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