Memecoin and Altcoin steal the scene from the dominance of Bitcoin

An eventful year is coming to an end for the world of cryptocurrencies, which in 2022 experienced a rather negative period, only to begin a gradual recovery in 2023, driven by expectations for the Bitcoin Halving of 2024. In this article, the best performances achieved by some of the main cryptos during this 2024 will be analyzed, through some interesting statistical data.

Cryptocurrencies in 2024: Bitcoin Dominance continues with the 100,000$ threshold surpassed

From the table shown in Figure 1, where the last date considered for the calculations is 12/11/2024, it is noted how after a disastrous 2022 for all cryptocurrencies, none excluded, 2023 was instead a year of rebound and general recovery for the entire sector. As already mentioned, this movement was largely driven by the bull expectation in view of the Bitcoin Halving, but also by the anticipation for the launch of the first Spot ETFs on Bitcoin and Ethereum at the beginning of 2024, which opened the world of cryptocurrencies to a much wider pool of liquidity, making it accessible not only to institutional investors but also to a broader audience of investors.

As for 2024, considering that there are only a few days left until the end of December, it can now be stated that the bull expectations have not been disappointed, with Bitcoin (BTC) leading the market by consolidating its ‘Dominance’ (see this article), moving sideways for a few months after the April Halving, and then breaking previous all-time highs during the American presidential elections, surpassing for the first time in history the psychological threshold of $100,000. With an annual performance (a little over 11 months to be precise) of 132%, comparable to the 155% recorded in 2023, Bitcoin was still not the best-performing cryptocurrency of 2024 in terms of performance.

Dogecoin and Pepe: The Memecoins with the Best Performance of 2024

Observing the performance table, it is easy to notice how some Altcoins, which usually start their bull cycle with a certain delay compared to that of Bitcoin, have already managed to record significant rises in these 11 months of 2024. 

However, at the top of the list are Pepe (PEPE) and Dogecoin (DOGE), probably the Memecoins par excellence. Dogecoin in particular, born as a joke, has gathered a large community of fans that has contributed to the enormous success over time, thanks especially to the speculations arising from the interest of the Tesla and SpaceX magnate, Elon Musk. The latest of all, the one related to the fact that the newly elected president Donald Trump has decided to create a new department to improve government efficiency, called “DOGE” (Department of Government Efficiency) which will also be led by Elon Musk. The choice of this name could only fuel the interest of speculators towards Dogecoin, which indeed in the month of November had a 150% surge reaching 60 billion dollars in capitalization, with an annual performance of 345%. 

Even more impressive is the 1722% of Pepe, driven by some of the world’s largest exchanges, such as Coinbase, Robinhood, and Upbit, which have recently listed it, causing the token’s price to increase by about 70% in a few hours.

Ethereum, Solana e Ripple in 2024: Excellent returns and growing trends

So if Memecoins seem to lead this end of 2024, despite the classic Altcoins like Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) which still mark a plus 62% and 119% respectively, some cryptos mainly linked to DEFI stand out at the top of the list, such as Aave (AAVE), Fantom (FTM), and Arweave (AR), but especially Ripple (XRP). The latter, with a growth in the last quarter of 285%, practically equal to its annual performance, has earned the third place for market capitalization for a few days (behind Bitcoin and Ethereum) surpassing BNB, Solana, and even USDT, with which it is currently vying for the podium. 

Having remained under observation for quite some time following the controversies with the SEC, Ripple (XRP) has certainly benefited from the news of Gary Gensler’s resignation (notoriously opposed to crypto), but above all from WisdomTree’s request for a spot ETF on Ripple.

Best cryptocurrencies in 2024: The closest to all-time highs

Trying to look at the same table from another point of view, that is, by ordering the various crypto from the closest to its all-time high to the most distant, a rather different ranking from the previous one is observed (Figure 2). 

Bitcoin stands out among all, having recently touched its all-time highs without then undergoing major retracements. It is followed by BNB (the Binance token) at only 15% from the recent all-time high, and Solana (SOL), which has been a protagonist of this 2024 with an important rally that brought it back to a step away from the highest values ever recorded. Solana has indeed established itself in the main decentralized exchanges (DEX) as the most used Blockchain in terms of active users and traded volume. In the month of November, the DEX reached unprecedented values of volumes, with over 300 billion dollars traded, of which 30% solely on Solana.

Scrolling through the list, you find some cryptos (like ATOM, MANA, CVX, CRV SAND, and others) that, at current prices, should more than triple their value to return to their all-time highs. It must be said, however, that if there is a sector that has accustomed investors to astonishing returns, it is precisely the crypto sector. It would be difficult to hypothesize, in short time frames, returns close to or exceeding 1,000% on major stocks or other products like commodities or bonds, but cryptos have demonstrated many times in the past to be potentially capable of truly unimaginable returns, as well as equally ruinous falls.

Final considerations and crypto expectations for 2025

What to expect then for 2025? For many, it could be a positive year, both for the growth expectations linked to the four-year halving cycle, which sees three years of rises and one of decline repeating with a certain regularity (see Figure 3, source statmuse.com), and for the anticipation of the so-called Altseason, that is, the period in which even the Altcoins achieve often astonishing rises, and which usually occurs shortly after the first Bitcoin rally following a Halving.

As of today, despite the advent of ETFs and the initial regulations in the sector, the crypto market remains quite volatile, and therefore the advice to not invest large portions of one’s portfolio in assets that can make the overall portfolio risk too high remains valid. 

It is true, on the other hand, that with the advent of large investment funds and institutional investors in this market, the crypto component has now become an almost indispensable element for every portfolio.  

Until next time and happy trading!

Andrea Unger