The cryptocurrency industry has seen its most profitable sectors in the first half of 2024, with memecoins and emerging sectors taking the bulk of the profits.
According to BitEye, CoinGecko, and Wu Blockchain, memecoins have led the way, boasting a remarkable 1,834% returns since the start of 2024. In second place was the real-world asset tokenization sector, which saw a 214% return for investors. Artificial intelligence blockchain projects also performed well with a healthy 72% return, while decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) recorded a 59% return.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) continued to show strong performance, with ETH showing year-to-date gains of 50% and Bitcoin returning approximately 45%.
Layer-1 platforms saw an average return of 43%, while sectors like gaming and decentralized finance had more modest returns at 19% and 3% respectively. The layer-2 sector, however, saw a significant decline, averaging approximately 41% in losses.
The remarkable rise of memecoins can be attributed in part to the Solana network, where 541,000 new token projects were minted in May alone. Celebrities and online influencers such as Andrew Tate, rapper Lil Pump, and Iggy Azalea all launched their own memecoins on the network. However, some of these projects have been accused of insider trading and pump-and-dump schemes.
Solana’s user-friendly features and focus on simplifying token and smart contract deployment have earned it the title of “MacOS of blockchain” by Pantera Capital.
The real-world asset tokenization sector has also gained attention from institutional investors and banks. Seen as the next frontier for digital assets, it is estimated that real-world asset tokenization could encompass $874 trillion in wealth as investment funds, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and even real estate migrate to the blockchain.
Projects like Chainlink (LINK) are making progress in bringing the world’s assets to the blockchain through new partnerships that prioritize the digitization of wealth through distributed ledger technology.