The most profitable segments of the cryptocurrency industry in the first half of 2024 have emerged; memecoins and emerging offshoots are taking the lion’s share of the profits.
According to data obtained from BitEye, CoinGecko and Wu Blockchain memecoins , led the competition by recording a surprising return of 1,834 percent since the beginning of 2024. In second place are real-world assets that provide investors with a 214 percent return ( RWA ) section took place. While artificial intelligence blockchain projects provide a healthy return of 72 percent, physical infrastructure networks ( DePIN) achieved a return of 59 percent.
Bitcoin, which forms the basis of digital assets, and ethercontinued to perform well, with ETH posting gains of 50 percent year-to-date, while Bitcoin has returned around 45 percent.
Additionally, while tier-1 platforms delivered an average return of 43 percent, segments like gaming and decentralized finance lagged behind the competition but still managed to post modest returns of 19 percent and 3 percent respectively. However, the tier-2 segment experienced a significant decline, with total losses averaging around 41 percent.
Memecoins dominate the crypto market
The rapid rise in Memecoins can be partially attributed to the Solana network. In May, 541,000 new tokens were minted on the Solana blockchain alone. Celebrities and influencers like Andrew Tate, rapper Lil Pump, and Iggy Azalea have flocked to the network to launch memecoins.
Solana’s architecture and focus on user-friendly features that facilitate token and smart contract distribution have earned the network the reputation of being the MacOS of blockchain, a title given to Solana by Pantera Capital.
RWA performed effectively
Widely seen as the next frontier for digital assets, RWA could eventually encompass $874 trillion in wealth as mutual funds, stocks, bonds and even real estate move onto the chain.
Projects such as Chainlink continue to make progress in moving the world’s assets to blockchain, with new subsidiaries that prioritize the digitization of wealth through distributed ledger technology.