Review of 2024 Cryptocurrency Performance: What are the Top Ten Gainers?

Original Source: Coingecko

Original Translation: Yuliya, PANews

This research analyzed the price performance of the top 150 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization listed on the CoinGecko platform as of December 25, 2024. By comparing the price change from January 1, 2024, or the earliest available date, a comprehensive overview of the annual cryptocurrency market investment returns was conducted. To ensure data accuracy and reference value, the study specifically excluded asset classes such as stablecoins, wrapped tokens, pegged assets, staking assets, and re-staking assets.

Which Were the Top Performing Cryptocurrency Projects in 2024?

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) emerged as the best-performing large-cap cryptocurrency of 2024 with a staggering 23,079.2% increase. The price of $VIRTUAL started at 0.01311 US dollars at the beginning of the year, mostly staying below 0.20 US dollars, but experienced a sudden surge in the fourth quarter, reaching a high of 3.04 US dollars on December 25. This strong uptrend was driven by the viral adoption of Virtuals Protocol's AI agent platform, attracting a significant number of cryptocurrency investors seeking AI and Meme coin dual investment opportunities.

From an investment perspective, if an investor had bought $100 worth of $VIRTUAL on January 1 and held until Christmas, they would have gained $23,079 in profit.

Following closely is Brett (BRETT), which has risen by 14,784.6% to 0.145 US dollars as of December 25 from its issuance at 0.0009766 US dollars on February 29, despite retreating from its historical high of 0.234 US dollars set on December 1. Brett's significant gain has made it the only Base Chain Meme coin to achieve a market capitalization of one billion US dollars to date.

Ranked third is another Meme coin project, Popcat (POPCAT), whose price surged from 0.007640 US dollars on January 1 to 0.8067 US dollars on December 25, marking a 10,459.0% increase. While Popcat was launched at the end of last year and became one of the leading Meme coins in the Solana ecosystem, its price did not start breaking previous highs until March this year. Popcat became the first cat-themed Meme coin with a market capitalization exceeding one billion US dollars on September 27 and maintained this position for several months before experiencing a slight decline in market cap.

It is worth noting that 7 out of the top ten performing cryptocurrencies this year are Meme coins. Apart from Brett and Popcat, other standout Meme coins this year include:

· Another cat-themed token, Mog Coin (MOG), rose by 6,051.0%;

· An AI-generated frog Meme coin, Turbo (TURBO), rose by 3,036.0%;

· The recently launched Pump.fun project, Fartcoin, and the AI-managed investment fund ai16z saw gains of 2,890.5% and 1,409.9%, respectively;

· And Pepe (PEPE) recorded a 1,400.6% increase.

Surpassing the performance during the mid-2023 Meme coin frenzy, they have solidified their position as key Meme coins.

Beyond Meme Coins, $OM and $AERO

In this Meme coin-dominated year, $OM and $AERO also saw significant gains. MANTRA (OM) ranked fourth, with a yearly increase of 6,418.3%, rising from $0.0584 on January 1 to $3.81 on December 25, becoming the best-performing Real World Asset (RWA) investment project of the year, outperforming the second-best RWA project, Ondo Finance (ONDO), by a factor of 9.

Additionally, the Base chain decentralized exchange Aerodrome Finance (AERO) ranked sixth, with a yearly increase of 3,139.4%, rising from $0.0511 on January 1 to $1.66 on December 25, benefiting from the popularity of Meme coins and the Base ecosystem driving on-chain transaction volume growth.

Bitcoin Shows Steady Growth, Ethereum Underperforms

Bitcoin (BTC) recorded a 133.8% increase in 2024, with the price steadily climbing from $42,208 on January 1 to $98,696 on December 25, equivalent to the 162.5% increase in 2023. It ranked 39th among the 123 analyzed large-cap crypto assets, outperforming 84 other cryptocurrencies. This means that, similar to last year, the probability of randomly selecting a cryptocurrency and surpassing Bitcoin's growth in 2024 is approximately one in three.

On the other hand, Ethereum (ETH) had a lower increase in 2024, at 53.4%, bouncing back from $2,280 on January 1 to $3,498 on December 25, only half of the 98.6% gain in 2023. Ethereum's price fluctuated throughout the year, testing the $4,000 mark several times but failing to surpass its 2021 peak.

As of December 25, the top ten performing cryptocurrencies had gains ranging from 1,400.6% to 23,079.2%. Holding any of these cryptocurrencies resulted in returns at least 10 times that of Bitcoin and 26 times that of Ethereum.

Top Crypto 2024

In 2024, based on price increase ranking, the top 20 most profitable cryptocurrencies along with Bitcoin and Ethereum are as follows:

2023 Popular Cryptocurrencies

In 2023, the top 10 performing cryptocurrencies and their price returns compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum were as follows:

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