Key Figures and Discoveries
- Over the 11 months of 2024, the memecoin sector saw a 330% increase in market cap and a 979% surge in trading volume, outpacing Bitcoin by 2 and 9 times, respectively.
- Memecoins’ share in the altcoin market size and volume surged by over 182% and 350%, respectively.
- AI and cat-themed memecoins emerged as the fastest-growing categories in market size.
- Most political memecoins lost 80% of their trading volume following the U.S. elections.
- TON became the fastest-growing network for memecoins, with trading volume soaring 750-fold over the last six months.
- In 2024, a 10% move in Bitcoin’s price typically triggered a 28.9% average volatility among top memecoins.
Introduction
When reviewing the list of top gainers and losers in 2024, memecoins are likely to dominate both categories. This is due to their staggering issuance: over 60,000 memecoins are created daily, with nearly half launched on Pump.fun. This surge has made entire networks increasingly reliant on memecoins; on Solana, for instance, they account for nearly 80% of DEX volume. The expansion shows no signs of slowing, as networks like Tron and Sui have recently joined the list of major memecoin “benefactors.”
The appeal is simple: frequently emerged stories of wallets turning a few hundred dollars into millions with investments in some “LOL” token sound more compelling for those who might not want to stick in the space for a while, or look for quick profits. As memecoins dominate in crypto-related search interest, they are becoming the new hub for retail traders, even surpassing Bitcoin in attention.&
There’s no question that memecoins have been among the most influential crypto narratives this year. But just how impactful have they become? To find out, we examined the 2024 performance of the memecoins sector to assess their rising market share and behavior during high-volatility events.
Methodology
The data used for this research consists of publicly available information from CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, CoinGlass, and Artemis. The performance of certain digital assets has been adjusted using data provided by CEX.IO Spot Trading, a trading platform, which offers deep liquidity across 300+ pairs thanks to liquidity aggregated from top-tier crypto exchanges under one roof.&
The observation period for this study was focused on 11 full months of 2024 to show the monthly development of the memecoin sector. As for memecoins and categories established after the March 2024 frenzy, the observation period has primarily been June-November, or the last 6 months.
Part 1: The Weight of Memecoins in the Crypto Market&
Doubled Share in Market Cap
The memecoin sector registered a 330% increase in its combined market cap in 11 months of 2024. This increase is 3 times larger than Bitcoin’s and 9 times larger than Ethereum’s over the same period. As a result, the memecoin sector substantially boosted its share within the crypto market:
- In total crypto market cap — +142%, from 1.3% to 3.16%.
- In total crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin (Total2) — +182%, from 2.71% to 7.62%.
- In total crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin and Ether (Total3) — +167%, from 4.2% to 11.21%.
Most of this growth occurred following the memecoin frenzy in March, which became a turning point in terms of memecoin issuance. For instance, in February, the daily number of memecoins deployed on Pump.fun was limited to a few dozen, but this figure skyrocketed to thousands starting March. This frenzy was driven by the broader crypto rally and the growing feasibility of creating new memecoins. The cost-efficiency of establishing markets on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on Solana and Base networks further amplified the surge.
Tenfold Increase in Trading Volume
Memecoins experienced even more pronounced growth in trading volume, which rose by 979% on average over the last 11 months, further elevating their position in the broader crypto market:
- A 362% increase in the general crypto trading volume, now representing around 5.27%.
- A 350% growth in altcoin (Total2) volume, reaching 6.52%.
- A 367% surge in Total3 (excluding Bitcoin and Ether) volume, hitting 7.57% in November.
In March and November, memecoin volume almost doubled, while most other sectors lagged behind. In June, while most digital assets experienced a steep decline in volume, memecoins retained significant interest, temporarily securing 5.71% of total crypto trading volume.
Memecoins’ Volume/MCap Outpaces Most of the Market
In 2024, the Volume/MCap ratio saw substantial growth across most cryptocurrencies. Memecoins outperformed the altcoin market (Total2), with their Volume/MCap ratio jumping 150% to reach an average of 11.55%. A high Volume/MCap ratio typically signals greater trading activity relative to market size, but it also tends to increase susceptibility to sudden price swings.
Memecoins’ Volume/MCap ratio momentum primarily ramped up after the March frenzy. At its peak, the Volume/MCap ratio across the memecoin sector soared past 50%, showcasing rapid speculation. In addition, in 2024, it became more common for memecoins’ trading volume to briefly exceed their market cap, a rare occurrence among assets with market caps over $100 million (excluding major stablecoins).
Part 2: Increased Memecoin Diversity in the Crypto Market
Rising Dominance Among Leading Digital Assets
In 2021, memecoin volume and market cap were dominated by just two assets: Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. By contrast, 2024 has seen a surge in top-ranking memecoins, with the average number in the top 100 tripling from 3 in January to 10 in November. Furthermore, there has been a consistent rise each month, reflecting the resilience of interest in the memecoin sector and its expanding influence, despite general volatility.
Broader memecoin zoo
One major driver that boosted memecoins’ influence in 2024 has been the growth of new communities. This led to the formation of different memecoin categories, which haven’t generally been a thing before March 2024. This is because the vast majority of the largest memecoins were dog-themed, representing around 85% of the sector’s market cap in early March. However, their share fell to 72% by November, with AI-related and cat-themed memecoins dominating in the market cap growth over the past six months. By December, their share in total memecoin market cap increased to 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively.
In terms of trading volume, dog-themed memecoins emerged as the fastest-growing category, with a 226% increase over the past six months. However, before the U.S. elections in November, political memecoins were taking the lead in trading volume growth. Following the event, most political memecoins saw a more than 80% drop in trading volume, losing market appeal.
Note: The performance from June 1, 2024, to December 1, 2024.
Moving outside Ethereum
In previous cycles, top-ranking memecoins primarily consisted of Dogecoin and a variety of Ethereum-based tokens. However, the 2024 memecoin boom extended to other networks, with Solana being the largest winner, currently accounting for 15% of market cap and 30% of trading volume within the sector.
Over the last six months, the largest growth in market cap has been observed in TON-based memecoins, with trading volume growing over 750 times, albeit still accounting for a minor share (1% and 2% in total memecoin market cap and volume, respectively).
Note: The performance from June 1, 2024, to December 1, 2024.
New Memecoins Lead in Futures Open Interest
At the start of 2024, most memecoin-related futures open interest was centered on Dogecoin, which held around 65% of the sector’s share. However, open interest later diversified to include newer memecoins, with WIF achieving a staggering 15,000% increase over 11 full months of 2024.
Following the March memecoin rally, market attention in futures shifted toward newly launched assets. Over the last six months, POPCAT, BRETT, and MEW have shown triple-digit growth in open interest, emerging as leading memecoins in the futures market. This growth reflects heightened investor speculation and volatility expectations, particularly among newer memecoins.
Note: The performance from June 1, 2024, to December 1, 2024.
As a result, the memecoin sector turned into one of the fastest-growing in terms of crypto speculation, with the top 10 memecoins now accounting for more than 4% of total futures open interest.&
By November, Dogecoin maintained its position as a leading memecoin in terms of open interest in the futures market, keeping its 65% share. However, this is primarily due to the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) following U.S. elections, which reestablished interest in the Dogecoin market. Before the news about the launch of this institution, Dogecoin’s share in memecoin open interest was around 51%.
Note: The share distribution as of December 1, 2024.
Part 3: Exploring Memecoin Amplifier During Market Volatility
Given memecoins’ rising share in the crypto market, we decided to analyze volatility events to gauge the sector’s sensitivity to market swings. We examined weeks with ±10% price changes for Bitcoin and Ether, using them as triggers for overall market movement. This analysis focused on the performance of the top six memecoins, which collectively accounted for over half of the sector’s market cap and trading volume in 2024. These assets include DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, FLOKI, WIF, and BONK.
Key Insights: Bitcoin Volatility
Bitcoin saw 8 weeks of double-digit price changes in 2024, yielding the following insights:
- Memecoins have outperformed Bitcoin during price surges, but suffered larger drops in downturns.
- DOGE and BONK have shown the strongest correlation with Bitcoin, with an average sector correlation of 0.7.
- The average “memecoin amplifier” effect was 2.89x (or 2.09x excluding a surge in early March). This means that for a 10% Bitcoin price change, memecoins exhibited average volatility of 28.9% and 20.9%, respectively.
Key Insights: Ether Volatility
Ether’s 2024 volatility, with 13 weeks of double-digit price changes so far, suggested the following:
- Memecoins had a higher average correlation with Bitcoin (0.74) during Ether’s fluctuations.
- Memecoins underperformed Ether in more than half of the observed cases, suggesting Ether’s price changes have a limited impact on memecoin performance.
- The average memecoin amplifier effect was 2.65x (1.35x excluding the Week 9 anomaly).
These price swings revealed that memecoins thrive more in Bitcoin-driven rallies than Ether ones. Furthermore, average memecoin amplifiers have been larger during BTC price surges than drops, even excluding the anomaly surge in early March.&
Due to relatively high correlation and sensitivity to Bitcoin moves, the largest memecoins could potentially act as high-risk, high-reward proxy bets on Bitcoin. This is because Bitcoin serves as the primary driver of overall market sentiment, while top memecoins could be viewed as bets on this sentiment. Unlike Ethereum, which is heavily tied to utility-driven projects, Bitcoin’s simplicity as a store of value aligns more closely with the memecoin market’s speculative, hype-driven nature.&
As a result, memecoins can amplify Bitcoin trading by acting as a gateway for retail investors who are looking for higher/faster returns during Bitcoin rallies. This influx can feed back into Bitcoin as traders rotate profits or losses between memecoins and Bitcoin, intensifying both trading volume and volatility.
Memecoin Performance During High-Impact Events
Memecoins have also been more sensitive to high-impact events, often reacting with amplified moves, surpassing both BTC and ETH in either direction. Within a week, memecoin response typically accelerates if there is a broader crypto market rally, or smooths out depending on the performance of top digital assets. For example, during the Yen carry trade unwinding in early August, top memecoins nearly offset losses as Bitcoin quickly rebounded.
Table: Digital asset price performance amid major 2024 events. Note: “Memes” performance includes the average price change of the top 6 memecoins over 1-day and 7-day periods.
Conclusion
Memecoins are no longer a joke — their market share in crypto has surged by 2-4 times over the first 10 months of 2024. In November, the influence of memecoins expanded even further, experiencing a new hype wave. Moreover, this may be just the beginning. Bitcoin’s dominance has been predominantly on the rise throughout this year, with only three brief altcoin seasons so far. In previous cycles, post-halving rallies have coincided with declining Bitcoin dominance and extended altcoin seasons. Consequently, the next 6-12 months could see memecoins flourish even more, potentially establishing a solid sentiment indicator for the entire industry.
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