Memecoins aren’t new to the crypto space, but they’re making a strong comeback in 2024. In the last cycle, at the market's peak, $DOGE had an incredible market cap of $90 billion, while $SHIB hit $40 billion. Together, the memecoin market cap soared to nearly $150 billion. Fast forward to today, the total memecoin market cap sits at $53 billion—a 70% drop from its previous cycle highs. But don’t be fooled; the stage is set for a massive rebound.
Here’s what’s different this time around:
Last cycle, many retail traders avoided memecoins due to Ethereum’s high gas fees and low transaction throughput. But now, we’ve got game-changing networks like $SUI, $SOL, and $APT offering lightning-fast transactions with fees under $0.001. This opens the door for more retail investors to get involved in memecoins without the costly barriers of the past.
On top of that, new crypto projects are launching with valuations over $2 billion, pushing retail traders to hunt for opportunities in smaller-cap projects. And guess where they’re looking? Memecoins! This has made memecoins one of the best-performing assets in 2024, and with the ongoing bull run, their momentum shows no signs of slowing down.
If people expect large caps like $SOL to 5x from their last cycle highs, it’s not far-fetched to imagine memecoins doing the same. A 5x-7x move from their previous peak would push the memecoin market cap to an astounding $750 billion to $1 trillion by the cycle’s peak. While not all memecoins will pump equally, we could see some hit $80 billion+ market caps, with many others reaching $10-$20 billion.
Buckle up—this could be the year of the memecoins!
