Analysis of the Thematic Performance of the Crypto Assets Market in 2024: AI and Meme coins Lead the Rise, Layer 2 Performs Poorly

The cryptocurrency market in 2024 shows a diversified development trend, with significant differences in the performance of different thematic sectors. Based on market data analysis, the annual return rates of major narrative themes from January 1, 2024, to December 29, 2024, range from -20.7% to +2,939.8%.

AI and Meme coins lead the market

In 2024, AI and Meme coins have become the two major highlights of the Crypto Assets market. The AI sector leads with an astonishing average rise of 2,939.8% year-to-date (YTD), while Meme coins follow closely with a year-to-date return of 2,185.1%. The performance of these two sectors far exceeds that of other popular themes by more than double.

Meme coin started to significantly lead in March, with a monthly return skyrocketing from 96.6% to 1,713.1%. Despite the high volatility, Meme coin maintained the highest returns for most of 2024. However, after hitting a historical peak return of 3,211.4% on December 9, the sector experienced a correction as market interest waned.

In contrast, the AI sector experienced a strong rebound at the end of the year, with returns in December nearly doubling from 1,598.1% to 2,939.8%. This was mainly due to the explosive growth of the AI agency platform Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), which also became the token with the largest rise in the crypto assets market this year. Ultimately, the AI sector surpassed Meme coins at the end of December, becoming the annual return champion.

The real world asset ( RWA ) sector ranks third with an annual average return of 819.5%. The sector performed steadily at the beginning of the year, reaching a yield of 365.3% by April 12, and then consolidated over the next six months. In November, driven by the price increase of MANTRA ( OM ), the RWA sector restarted its upward trend.

Layer 1, DePIN and DeFi sectors performed moderately.

Layer 1, decentralized physical infrastructure ( DePIN ) and decentralized finance ( DeFi ) sectors performed similarly in 2024, recording returns of 142.5%, 135.4%, and 101.4%, respectively. This means that Layer 1 and DePIN slightly outperformed Bitcoin's return of 125.5% during the same period, while the performance of the DeFi sector was even lower than that of Bitcoin.

In other words, conservative investors holding Bitcoin can achieve returns comparable to at least three major narrative themes.

The performance of the gaming and Layer 2 sectors is poor.

GameFi and Layer 2 have become the worst-performing sectors in 2024, even falling short of Ethereum's 49.0% rise. Specifically, the GameFi sector has only risen 14.7% this year, with six of the top ten game tokens experiencing declines ranging from 3.1% to 32.9%.

Layer 2 is the only sector that recorded negative returns this year, falling 20.7%. Amid the trend of projects seeking to launch their own Layer 2 solutions, seven of the top ten Layer 2 coins saw their prices decline, with a drop of between 6.3% and 75.3%.

2024 Cryptocurrency Narrative Performance Ranking

According to the average annual price return rates of the top 10 tokens in each sector, the performance ranking of the 2024 Crypto Assets narrative is as follows:

1. AI: 2939.8%
2. Meme coin: 2185.1%
3. RWA: 819.5%
4. Layer 1: 142.5%
5. DePIN: 135.4%
6. DeFi: 101.4%
7. NFT: 84.1%
8. Privacy coins: 62.6%
9. GameFi: 14.7%
10. Layer 2: -20.7%

This ranking clearly demonstrates the main trends and investment hotspots in the 2024 Crypto Assets market, providing valuable insights for investors and market analysts.