Top 10 leading projects in 2024: the highest increase is over 230 times, with 7 MEME coins listed

Original text: Coingecko

Compiled by Yuliya, PANews

This study analyzed the price performance of the 150 largest cryptocurrencies listed on the CoinGecko platform as of December 25, 2024, by comparing the price changes as of January 1, 2024, or the earliest available data, comprehensively examining the investment returns of the annual cryptocurrency market. To ensure the accuracy and reference value of the data, the study specifically excluded derivative commodity assets such as stablecoins, packaged tokens, anchored assets, staked assets, and re-staked assets.

What are the projects with the biggest price increases in 2024?

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) became the best-performing large-cap cryptocurrency of 2024 with an astonishing increase of 23,079.2%. The price of $VIRTUAL started at $0.01311 at the beginning of the year and remained below $0.20 for most of the time. However, it suddenly surged in the fourth quarter, reaching a high of $3.04 on December 25th. This strong upward trend is attributed to the viral spread of Virtuals Protocol's AI agent platform, attracting a large number of cryptocurrency investors seeking opportunities in both AI and Meme coins.

From an investment return perspective, if an investor invests $100 to purchase $VIRTUAL on January 1st and holds it until Christmas, they will be able to make a profit of $23,079.

Following closely behind is Brett (BRETT), which has risen by 14,784.6% to $0.145 since its price of $0.0009766 on February 29, up to December 25, despite a slight pullback from its all-time high of $0.234 on December 1. Brett's significant increase has made it the only Base Chain Meme coin with a market value of $1 billion to date.

The third-ranked project is also a Meme coin project Popcat (POPCAT), whose price rose from 0.007640 US dollars on January 1 to 0.8067 US dollars 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 Meme coins in the Solana ecosystem, its price did not start to break through its previous high until March of this year. Popcat became the first cat-themed Meme coin with a market value exceeding 1 billion U.S. dollars on September 27 and maintained it for several months, and then the market value declined.

It is worth noting that 7 of the top ten cryptocurrencies with the highest increase this year are meme coins. In addition to Brett and Popcat, other outstanding meme coins include:

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

AI-generated frog Meme Coin Turbo (TURBO) has increased by 3,036.0%.

The recently launched Pump.fun projects Fartcoin and AI proxy investment fund ai16z have increased by 2,890.5% and 1,409.9% respectively;

And Pepe (PEPE) rose by 1,400.6%.

Surpassing the performance during the mid-2023 Meme coin frenzy, it has solidified its position as one of the main Meme coins.

Apart from Meme Coin, $OM and $AERO

In this meme coin-dominated year, $OM and $AERO also achieved significant gains. MANTRA (OM) ranked fourth, with a full-year increase of 6,418.3%, rising from $0.0584 on January 1st to $3.81 on December 25th, becoming the best-performing RWA investment project of the year, with a return rate nine times higher than the second-best RWA project, Ondo Finance (ONDO).

At the same time, the decentralized exchange on the Base chain, Aerodrome Finance (AERO), ranked sixth, with a full-year increase of 3,139.4%, rising from $0.0511 on January 1 to $1.66 on December 25, benefiting from the enthusiasm of Meme coins and the Base ecosystem driving the growth of on-chain trading volume.

Bitcoin has grown steadily, while Ethereum's performance has not met expectations.

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

On the other hand, Ethereum (ETH) had a lower increase in 2024, at 53.4%, with prices recovering from $2,280 on January 1st to $3,498 on December 25th, only half of the 98.6% increase in 2023. The Ethereum price fluctuated throughout the year and tested the $4,000 level several times but failed to break the peak of 2021.

As of December 25th, the dividend yield of the top ten cryptocurrencies ranged from 1,400.6% to 23,079.2%. Holding any of these cryptocurrencies would result in performance at least 10 times that of Bitcoin and 26 times that of Ethereum.

Top 20 most profitable cryptocurrencies in 2024

In 2024, the top 20 most profitable cryptocurrencies, ranked by price increase, are as follows: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the following:

The Top 10 Most Profitable Cryptocurrencies in 2024

In 2023, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by price increase, as well as the price returns of Bitcoin and Ethereum, are as follows:

(The above content is excerpted and reproduced with authorization from the partner PANews, original link )

Disclaimer: The article represents the author's personal views and opinions, not the views and positions of Block. All content and opinions are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors should make their own decisions and transactions, and the author and Block will not be responsible for any direct or indirect losses incurred by investors.

<2024 Top 10 Rising Projects: Highest Increase Over 230 Times, 7 Meme Coins on the List> This article was first published in Blockcast.