Internet culture and Sentient AI will be the fastest-growing categories.

Author: Eli Nuss

Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Over the past year, Memecoin has been the standout sector in the cryptocurrency space. Its total market capitalization has now surpassed $100 billion, making it larger than decentralized finance (DeFi) and even greater than the combined total of decentralized infrastructure networks (DePIN), gaming, and the metaverse.

Given the scale and diversity of this asset class, we attempted to map its entirety to uncover potential investment opportunities.

We analyzed the top-performing tokens from each quarter this year, and the results confirmed our suspicions: Memecoin dominated the rankings every quarter.

In the first quarter, $POPCAT, $WIF, $MOG, and $MYRO performed exceptionally well.

The second quarter's standouts included $PONKE, $SPX, $TURBO, $GIGA, $WOJAK, $BRETT, and $MOG.

By the third quarter, $SPX, $GIGA, $FUD, and $MUMU became the top-performing tokens.

When attempting to apply methodology to Memecoin, you quickly realize the importance of understanding "meta trends." This is a common phenomenon in the cryptocurrency space, but its significance is greatly amplified in Memecoin. Below is an extended timeline aimed at highlighting some important shifts and origins of "meta trends."

Before 2021, Dogecoin was the only major player in the market. Then, Shiba Inu launched, seen as the first true Dogecoin killer. Naturally, people flocked to Shiba Inu in hopes of replicating Dogecoin's success. This quest for the "next hot coin" ultimately formed a "meta trend." The success of Shiba Inu sparked a frenzy of various dog and Elon Musk-related memes in 2021, marking the first true Memecoin meta trend. In 2023, Pepe brought forth frog and boy club-related Memecoins. By the end of 2023, the emergence of Bonk and Wif established Solana as the mainstream meme chain, ultimately giving rise to pump.fun. This triggered widespread Memecoin mania in the first quarter, with new "meta trends" forming almost weekly, if not daily. After reaching a peak in March, the market cooled during the summer. The Memecoin community and network effect understanding framework proposed by @MustStopMurad became very popular, attracting significant capital inflow into "cult coins" like SPX6900. Recently, as Bitcoin finally began to break out, we saw market enthusiasm reignite, with new "meta trends" forming around @truth_terminal's $GOAT, the adorable hippo $MOODENG, and $PEANUT, may he rest in peace.

Due to the variety of "meta trends," we attempted to segment the market by category.

As can be seen, Dogecoin remains the dominant sector of Memecoin, primarily driven by Dogecoin itself. When we began compiling data a few weeks ago, the Sentient AI category was almost nonexistent, and the Martyr category had not yet formed (a nod to the earliest $Harambe). This indicates that this asset class is rapidly evolving.

Since the launch of Pepe, Dogecoin's dominance has been declining, which is not surprising.

As new "meta trends" continue to emerge, different domains are being thrust into the spotlight, and this trend seems likely to persist.

For instance, crypto culture coins like $bitcoin gained attention in 2023 when there wasn't much new capital entering the market, but later that year, the influx of some new capital allowed crypto culture to gradually give way to broader internet culture (such as $giga, $npc, etc.).

As we mentioned earlier, the rapid rise of $goat and $peanut is surprising. Although many AI memes have reached nine-figure market capitalizations, it may still be too early to categorize them into a new category separate from "meta trends."

Earlier this year, other categories like celebrity tokens and political memes also saw growth but gradually faded afterward.

Over time, Memecoin may become a microcosm of the entire crypto market, with Dogecoin's status akin to that of Bitcoin (BTC). Some "cult coins" communities may hold on for the long term, but most may be fleeting like NFTs in 2021.

Nevertheless, it is clear that seizing opportunities in new memes or meta trends holds significant potential.

I anticipate that internet culture and Sentient AI will be the fastest-growing categories. Internet memes have been widely accepted and possess a rich cultural background, giving them a natural advantage over other categories. Meanwhile, Sentient AI combines cutting-edge technology with one of the most volatile asset classes, seemingly poised to continue expanding its dominance in the meme market.

In emerging areas, there are always opportunities to introduce new animals—it's surprising how little attention is given to zoo animals (like tigers, giraffes, zebras, etc.) in the market. As for entirely new content, existing fan bases (like superheroes, sports, etc.) may find creative ways to tokenize.

In any case, I welcome feedback or insights on other perspectives regarding the market. Please note that this is definitely not financial advice.

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