In the first quarter of 2024, crypto narratives experienced impressive returns, with memecoins leading the pack with an average return of 1312.6%, followed by RWA and AI.
In the first quarter of 2024, memecoins emerged as the most profitable crypto narrative with an average return of 1312.6%. Among the top memecoins by market cap, new tokens like Brett, BOOK OF MEME, and cat in a dogs world have garnered significant returns, according to CoinGecko. BRETT, in particular, saw the highest return of 7,727.6% since its launch in Q1. The memecoin narrative outperformed other narratives by a wide margin, including RWA and Layer 2.
RWA, the second highest-grossing narrative, achieved a 285.6% return in Q1. Although it briefly held the top spot in early February, it was overtaken by memecoins and AI stories. Notable performers in the RWA narrative were MANTRA and TokenFi, which gained 1074.4% and 419.7% QTD respectively. However, XDC Network suffered a 15.6% decline.
The AI narrative closely followed RWA with a return of 222.0% in Q1. All large-cap AI tokens saw gains, with AIOZ Network and Fetch.ai leading the way with returns of 480.2% and 378.3%, respectively. Even the lowest earner, OriginTrail, saw a return of 74.9%, indicating a general interest in the AI narrative.
The DeFi narrative achieved a moderate return of 98.9% in Q1, with Ribbon Finance being the top gainer large-cap token, gaining 430.8% QTD. Other notable performers in DeFi were Jupiter, Maker and The Graph. DePIN, on the other hand, recorded losses in the first half of the quarter, but managed to finish with an 81.0% return. Arweave, Livepeer and Theta Network were the top gainers in the DePIN narrative.
The Layer 1 narrative reported a 70.0% return in Q1, with Toncoin and Bitcoin Cash as the top performers among major L1 cryptocurrencies. Solana gained attention as a popular memecoin chain, returning to 2021 price levels with a 91.9% increase. GameFi’s narrative had a similar performance to Layer 1, with Echelon Prime, Gala, and Ronin leading the way. However, Layer 2 had the lowest return of 39.5%, with Ethereum’s established L2s performing the worst.
Overall, the first quarter of 2024 showed the diverse performance of various crypto narratives. Memecoins demonstrated significant gains, while RWA, AI, DeFi and DePIN narratives also saw positive returns. Layer 1 narratives, games, and layer 2 had more modest performance. Investors and traders should consider these trends when evaluating their crypto investment strategies.
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