Forbes, a popular magazine specializing in the world of finance and business, has published an article highlighting the 10 cryptocurrencies that rose the most in the market during the first half of the year.
The first half of 2024 has seen an impressive rally in the cryptocurrency market, with the total market capitalization of all existing crypto assets increasing by $661.000 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap cited by Forbes in its recent article. “These Meme Coins Outperformed Bitcoin In 2024 First Half's $600 Billion Crypto Rally.”
The magazine highlighted that while the launch of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds marked an important milestone for the value growth of the crypto market, it was some lesser-known cryptocurrencies, mainly memecoins, that stole the spotlight with surprising gains.
Forbes has compiled a list of the 10 cryptocurrencies that performed best in the first half of the year, considering those with a market capitalization of over $1.000 billion. Surprisingly, several of the cryptocurrencies and tokens mentioned in this list outperformed Bitcoin, which registered a 48% increase during this period.
Dogwifhat tops Forbes list of fastest growing cryptocurrencies
The cryptocurrency that tops the Forbes list is Dogwifhat (DOG), a memecoin or meme cryptocurrency that uses the image of one of the most popular memes on the Internet, a Shiba Inu dog wearing a pink wool hat, as its logo.
Dogwifhat saw a staggering 1.306% increase during the first half of 2024, reaching a market cap of $2.100 billion. It is closely followed by Pepe (PEPE), another memecoin that is inspired by the famous Pepe The Frog meme. This meme cryptocurrency registered an increase of 815% in the first half of the year, reaching a market capitalization of $5.000 billion.
The third place is occupied by Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET), an Internet of Things (IoT) cryptocurrency that saw a 545% increase in value and a market capitalization of $3.600 billion. FET currently ranks 27th among the most capitalized cryptocurrencies on the market.
The next cryptocurrency on the Forbes magazine list is Floki (FLOKI), Named after Elon Musk’s pet Shiba Inu, the cryptocurrency ranked fourth on the list, up 392%.
Completing the top 5 is JasmyCoin (JASMY), another IoT-related cryptocurrency, which saw a 343% surge to a market cap of $1.400 billion.
On the other hand, the remaining positions include Arweave (AR), with an increase of 188% in the first half; Core (CORE), with an increase of 152%; Toncoin (TON), with an increase of 135%; Bitget (BGB), with a 100% increase and finally, Bonk (BONK), with a 90% increase in value during this period.
The memecoin dilemma
While it is notable that several of the cryptocurrencies listed by Forbes in its recent article fall into the memecoin category, these are the ones that reflect the broader trend of investment in the crypto market.
The business magazine noted that collective enthusiasm and virality can drive significant short-term gains, as shown by several of the meme cryptocurrencies mentioned on its list. However, Forbes also warned that many of these digital assets have little intrinsic value and their price can fluctuate dramatically based on investor sentiment and trends on social media and the Internet.
“Memecoins can grab the public’s attention today and disappear tomorrow. If demand dries up, you’re left with worthless digital assets and a good story.”, said BankRate analyst James Royal told CNBC in an interview.
Therefore, despite the success they have had this year, it is crucial that investors approach these new opportunities in the crypto market with caution and care.
Bitcoin remains the dominant cryptocurrency
Despite the success of the aforementioned altcoins and memecoins, Bitcoin remains the cryptocurrency that dominates the digital asset market.
The world's largest cryptocurrency by capitalization now represents more than 54% of the total market value, its highest level since the first half of 2021. This increase in Bitcoin dominance, which rose from 40% at the end of 2022 to 54% today, suggests that despite the enthusiasm for memecoins, investors still trust Bitcoin as the most stable and reliable digital asset with the greatest potential for long-term growth.
Source: CoinMarketCap
On the other hand, the cryptocurrency market's rally in the first half of this year marked a significant shift from the crypto winter of 2022, which was fueled by the collapse of several high-profile projects, including FTX.
Currently, the crypto market recovery has been driven primarily by the enthusiasm generated by the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States and by the improvement of market conditions in general. To date, BTC ETFs have attracted around $15.000 billion of new capital to the market in their first five months of existence, according to Bernstein.
Outperforming the S&P 500
Likewise, despite the correction that the price of Bitcoin had been experiencing in recent weeks, which was driven by the massive sale of BTC by the German government, which got rid of the 50.000 BTC it had seized in January, and by the beginning of Mt. Gox's repayments to its creditors, the performance of this cryptocurrency this year continues to outperform that of the S&P 500 index.
Bitcoin is currently trading at around $62.600, registering a 9% weekly increase and a 42% semi-annual increase.
Thus, while the first half of 2024 has seen impressive gains in the cryptocurrency market, with some meme coins leading the way, Bitcoin continues to be the dominant cryptocurrency in the market. This year, BTC also recorded a new ATH, reaching $73.750 per unit on March 14.
Finally, it is important to note that the success of Bitcoin, memecoins and other altcoins in the first half of 2024 underscores the dynamic and often unpredictable nature of the cryptocurrency market.
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