Memes will increase their share of crypto market size in the coming years

Meme Tokens: A Growing Force in the Cryptoverse

Meme tokens have cemented their presence in the crypto market and are poised to continue expanding their market share. By the end of 2024, meme assets are projected to be valued between $50 billion and $60 billion, with Dogecoin (DOGE) remaining a significant driver of growth.

Market Influence and Growth

ArcStream Capital's research suggests that the meme token market is far from reaching its peak, with a potential 3.54% share of the crypto market by 2025. The firm categorizes the meme market into three distinct periods:

1. A latent phase (2013-2019) marked by sporadic meme launches.
2. A sporadic launch phase (2020-2022) featuring tokens like ShibaInu (SHIB) and Floki (FLOKI).
3. A transformative phase (2023-2024) where memes have solidified into a distinct asset class, characterized by pure image-based tokens building communities solely on hype.

Trading Activity and Market Dominance

Meme tokens have significantly higher trading activity, with a daily turnover of 11%. This surpasses other crypto categories such as DeFi (5%), L2 (7%), and L1 (4%). Typically, three high-volume meme tokens, including DOGE, SHIB, and DogWifHat (WIF), rank among the top 20 most actively traded tokens.

Unlike long-term utility projects, meme tokens quickly gained market value, reaching valuations of up to $500 million within days. However, most faced a threshold of $1 billion market capitalization.

Cult-Like Following and High-Risk Growth

After the recent market correction, only seven meme tokens remain above $1 billion in value. Nonetheless, the active DEX trading facilitates the prominence of new tokens, offering potential for visibility and growth within a short time frame.

Some tokens exhibit cult-like behavior, with the potential to maintain long-term support. They emulate the model of GameStop shares, which triggered a short squeeze in 2021.

While new meme tokens present high-risk growth opportunities, only 0.23% of newly launched tokens have achieved a market cap above $1 million. However, this demand has fueled competition among traders seeking to acquire potential rising stars.

Adoption and Influence

Meme influencer Murad Mahmudov's list of old and new memes has further expanded their adoption and influence. Despite still being relatively small in market dominance, new memes are outperforming older generations in the short term.

Conclusion

Meme tokens have established their relevance in the crypto landscape. They have outperformed narratives surrounding other asset classes and contributed to the top-performing assets in 2024. Even unlisted new meme tokens have spurred activity in older, more liquid assets. As the meme market continues to evolve, it warrants close observation to understand its growing influence and potential impact on the crypto ecosystem.