Coingecko: Overview of the Top Twenty Tokens Leading the Rise in the Crypto Market in 2024

Author: Lim Yu Qian, Coingecko; Translated by: Wu Zhu, Jinse Finance

Which cryptocurrencies will have the largest gains in 2024?

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) is the asset with the largest increase in cryptocurrency in 2024, achieving the highest price return rate among the largest market capitalization crypto assets at 23,079.2%. The price of $VIRTUAL at the beginning of this year was $0.01311, mostly hovering below $0.20, then skyrocketed in the last quarter, reaching $3.04 on December 25. As the AI agent launchpad of Virtuals Protocol gains traction among cryptocurrency investors, the price has seen a strong rise.

In other words, if cryptocurrency investors bought $100 worth of $VIRTUAL on January 1 and held it for the entire year, they would be able to sell it on Christmas Day for a profit of $23,079.

The second highest cryptocurrency increase in 2024 is Brett (BRETT), whose token issuance price soared from $0.0009766 on February 29 to $0.145 on December 25, an increase of 14,784.6%. The highest point on December 1 was $0.234. Brett's significant price gain makes it the only Base chain meme token to date with a market value of $1 billion.

The third most profitable cryptocurrency is also a meme coin named Popcat (POPCAT), whose price rose from $0.007640 on January 1 to $0.8067 on December 25, an increase of 10,459.0%. Although Popcat was launched at the end of last year and became one of the leading bets in the narrative about Solana meme coins, its price only began to reach new highs this March. Popcat was the first cat meme coin to reach a market cap of $1 billion on September 27, maintaining that for several months before the market cap shrank again.

Overall, among the top 10 cryptocurrencies with the highest gains this year, 7 are Meme coins. In addition to Brett and Popcat, other Meme coins with significant gains include: Mog Coin (MOG), which increased by 6,051.0%; AI-generated Frog Meme Coin Turbo (TURBO) with a return of 3,036.0%; the recent FARTCOIN and AI venture capital fund AI16Z (AI16Z), which have risen by 2,890.5% and 1,409.9% respectively; and Pepe (PEPE), whose price performance surpassed that of the mid-2023 Meme coin frenzy season, rising by 1,400.6%, solidifying its position as one of the largest Meme coins.

Meme Coin Mid-Year Record Gains for $OM and $AERO

MANTRA (OM) ranked fourth in the meme coin-dominated cryptocurrency growth chart in 2024. The return rate of $OM is 6,418.3%, with its price rising from $0.0584 on January 1 to $3.81 on December 25. This makes MANTRA the most profitable RWA investment of the year, nine times that of Ondo Finance (ONDO), which is the second most profitable RWA game, with a return rate of 682.8%.

At the same time, Aerodrome Finance (AERO) ranks sixth among the tokens with the highest cryptocurrency gains in 2024, with a return rate of 3,139.4%, increasing from a token price of $0.0511 on January 1 to $1.66 in December, which has driven the development of the ecosystem.

The stable returns of Bitcoin and the poor performance of Ethereum

Bitcoin (BTC) recorded a 133.8% increase in 2024, with its price steadily rising from $42,208 on January 1 to $98,696 in December, continuing to set new historical highs. Bitcoin ranked 39th among the 123 large-cap cryptocurrencies analyzed, outperforming the remaining 84 cryptocurrencies. This means that, like last year, the chance of randomly selecting a cryptocurrency from this list that will surpass Bitcoin's growth in 2024 is about one in three.

On the other hand, Ethereum (ETH) has a lower return rate of 53.4% for 2024, with its price rebounding from $2,280 on January 1 to $3,498 on December 25. This is almost half of the 98.6% return achieved by Ethereum in 2023. The price remained within a range throughout the year, briefly testing the $4,000 level several times, but was unable to surpass the peak of 2021.

As of December 25, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by growth rate have returns ranging from 1,400.6% to 23,079.2%. Holding any of these cryptocurrencies this year would have outperformed Bitcoin by at least 10 times and Ethereum by 26 times.

Top Cryptocurrencies of 2024

In 2024, the top 20 most profitable cryptocurrencies ranked by price increase, along with Bitcoin and Ethereum, are:

Top Cryptocurrencies of 2023

The price increases for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the other top ten cryptocurrencies in 2023 are as follows: