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The cryptocurrency market has always been a turbulent realm of extreme price fluctuations and quick changes in investor sentiment. However, based on today’s CoinMarketCap data, it is clear that “cultural coin projects” are currently leading the charge. Market leaders such as Bitcoin and Ethereum tend to control the overall macro-directional movement within the marketplace. However, the current top gainers in crypto are primarily high-beta assets and community projects that are showing signs of decoupling from the market’s generally sluggish performance.

Memecoin Mania – Pepe and Dogecoin Take the Lead

Pepe’s (PEPE) recent price increase of 18.98% in the past 24 hours provides key metrics of this coin. As of this writing, according to CoinMarketCap, PEPE has a current price of $0.0₅467 and has traded over $1.2 billion in the last 24 hours. This indicates that Pepe is not a fad and is undergoing continued support from whale investors entering Pepe and the new addition of Pepe to many large exchanges.

The veteran thereof to follow closely is Dogecoin (DOGE) with an increase of 11.69% and an enormous volume of $2.8 billion, so DOGE is benefitting from the broader “risk on” environment. Historically, when Dogecoin moves it signals a retail driven rally as investors rotate capital out of stablecoins back into higher-performing speculative assets.

Emerging Contenders – Pippin and Humanity Protocol

Several different niche projects are also showing a lot of movement outside of the established memecoins. Pippin has posted a respectable 15.34% gain, trading at roughly $0.7446, but its lower volume versus PEPE implies that although it’s gaining traction, it will still be more of a speculative play for savvy traders.

Humanity Protocol has entered the top leaders in projects with an increase of 10.36%. Humanity Protocol signifies a new level of “proof of person” and decentralized identity. The rise in projects which offer this type of proof has created an increased need to have the use of digital verification due to the rapidly growing use of AI-generated content. The increase in projects that utilize this type of proof shows that there is an increased need to integrate social identity with blockchains.

The Infrastructure Play – Morpho and Pi

Meme and identity protocols were not the only things that turned green today. Morpho (MORPHO), a decentralized lending protocol, increased by 8.51% to $1.43. The increase in DeFi infrastructure indicates yield-seeking behavior is cropping up in the on-chain economy again. Furthermore, Pi (PI) also saw a 10.81% increase while going through its transition to a fully open mainnet.

As mentioned in Coindesk’s most recent reporting, the overall market is trying its best to maneuver through a complicated and confusing regulatory environment, but there is still a significant demand for mid-cap tokens. The difference between the performances of the two winners and those of the top tier of assets suggests that capital is about to become pickier.

Conclusion

The current snapshot of the cryptocurrency market highlights how it is divided into two distinct sides. The “fun” side of the cryptocurrency market, led by Pepe and Dogecoin, is producing most of the trading volume and excitement from retail investors. Busy developing value in the background are infrastructure and identity-oriented projects like Morpho and Humanity Protocol. Therefore, for investors, the message is very clear: although the headlines are dominated by the larger-scale projects, mid-cap gainers that are catering to specific community and utility niches are where significant volatility, as well as opportunity, currently exists.