Written by Lei, Golden Finance

In 2024, the cryptocurrency market ushered in remarkable growth, with multiple tokens and projects emerging with technological breakthroughs, community support and practical applications, redefining the industry future. From the innovation of decentralized finance (DeFi) and Layer-1 blockchain to the deep integration of Meme currency and AI blockchain, each track has demonstrated strong vitality and differentiated advantages. These trends not only highlight the huge potential for diversified development of the crypto market, but also open up a new window of opportunity for investors. However, in the process of chasing high returns, investors need to be clearly aware of the high volatility of the crypto market and carefully evaluate the actual value and long-term sustainability of each project.

Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC)

Category: Store of Value, Digital Gold

Growth: +120% (Breaking the $100,000 mark)

Driving factors:

Institutional adoption: MicroStrategy, Tesla and other institutions continue to increase their Bitcoin holdings, and financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds are increasingly recognizing Bitcoin.

Regulatory Clarity: The approval of Bitcoin ETFs has increased market confidence and attracted more institutional investors.

Hedging against inflation: Bitcoin is seen as a hedge against fiat currency depreciation and geopolitical risks, especially in emerging markets.

Data performance:

Market value: Bitcoin’s market value continues to remain above 2 trillion US dollars, occupying a dominant position in the market.

Price growth: In 2024, the price of Bitcoin exceeded $100,000, setting a new all-time high.

Layer1 Ethereum (ETH)

Category: Smart Contract Platform, Layer1

Increase: +87%

Driving Factor:

Ether Square 2.0 Transition: The transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism significantly improves network scalability and reduces energy consumption.

DeFi and NFT dominance: Ethereum is still the core platform for DeFi and NFT, and its ecosystem continues to grow.

Layer 2 solutions: The launch of Arbitrum, Optimism, etc. has improved transaction throughput and reduced transaction fees.

Data performance:

Market value: The peak market value of Ethereum is close to US$450 billion, and the total locked value (TVL) of DeFi exceeds US$100 billion.

Market share: Ethereum controls about 70% of the DeFi market share, and many leading platforms (such as Uniswap, MakerDAO) are running on Ethereum.

Solana (SOL)

Category: High-speed blockchain, smart contract platform

Increase: +134%

Driving factors:

Speed ​​and Scalability: Solana runs at 5 per secondWith a throughput of 0,000 transactions and low transaction fees, it has become the preferred platform for DeFi, NFT and Web3 applications.

Institutional investment: venture capital support such as Andreessen Horowitz, and integration with large platforms such as Google Cloud.

Ecosystem growth: The rapid expansion of the Solana ecosystem covers multiple fields such as DeFi, NFT and games.

Data performance:

Market value: Solana’s market value exceeded US$110 billion.

Price growth: Solana price breaks through $255, setting a new all-time high.

Sui ($SUI)

Category: Layer-1 Blockchain

Growth: +516%

Driver:

High Scalability and low fees: Using the unique Move programming language, it provides a high-speed and low-fee trading experience.

Grayscale Sui Trust: The cooperation with Grayscale has significantly increased Sui’s awareness among institutional investors.

Data performance:

Sui's ecosystem has grown rapidly, attracting multiple developers and projects to join. Established stablecoin partnership with Binance. The amount of ecological TVL locked has increased by more than 6 times.

DEX&Middleware Chainlink (LINK)

Category: Oracle, data layer of smart contracts

Increase: +80%

Driving factors:

Key technical role: Chainlink provides decentralized oracles for smart contracts, ensuring seamless connection between blockchain and real-world data.

Partnerships: Cooperation with platforms such as Ethereum, Polkadot and Solana strengthens its application in cross-chain and decentralized finance (DeFi).

Data performance:

Market value: Chainlink’s market value exceeded US$28 billion.

Usage: Chainlink’s oracles power thousands of smart contracts, and the total cross-chain transfer value exceeded $287 million.

Aerodrome ($AERO)

Category: Decentralized Exchange (DEX) Tokens

Rise: +2,083%

Drivers:

Innovative liquidity pool: The introduction of Slipstream liquidity pool has greatly improved the attractiveness of trading and liquidity providers.

Base network integration: Integration with the Base network provides solid technical support for DeFi transactions and token exchanges, driving market performance.

Data performance:

Aerodrome’s innovative liquidity pool positions it as a leader in the field of decentralized exchangesBit. TVL lock-up volume increased by more than 10 times.

AI Agent+MEMEGoatseus Maximus ($GOAT)

Category: AI&Meme Token

Increase: +415%

Driving Factors:

Integration of artificial intelligence: GOAT is not just a typical Memecoin, it combines the functions of AI with decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities, enhancing its technological uniqueness.

Memecoin culture: As a member of Memecoin, GOAT is driven by the MEME "cultural craze" on the one hand, and on the other hand, with its interesting brand image and innovation combined with AI, it has formed a strong relationship with traditional Memecoin. differentiated competitiveness.

Community promotion: GOAT further enhances community members’ participation in tokens and loyalty to the project through the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

Data performance:

The daily trading volume of GOAT tokens has reached record highs in multiple decentralized exchanges (DEX) and centralized exchanges (CEX), with the highest peak Nearly 500 million US dollars, showing the market's high attention to it.

ELIZA

Category: Early Chatbot/AI Token

Increase: +23,873%

Driver:

Technological Innovation: ELIZA Described as an open source modular architecture for building AI agents that interact seamlessly with users and blockchain systems, it demonstrates how it is technically different from other tokens.

Financial incentives: 10% of tokens are allocated to snapshotted platform users, showing ELIZA’s strategy of motivating community participation through the distribution mechanism.

Human-computer dialogue research: ELIZA was developed to study human-computer dialogue and the important cognitive processes of interpretation and misunderstanding.

Data performance:

After ELIZA was launched, its market value exceeded US$80 million in a short period of time, reaching a maximum of US$120 million, indicating the market’s rapid acceptance and investment enthusiasm. The current price is $62 million.

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL)

Category: AI and Metaverse Protocol / AI Token

Rise: Increased by approximately 8043.52% in the past 90 days, with a market value of US$2.44 billion.

Drivers:

Artificial Intelligence and Metaverse Integration: Virtuals Protocol is committed to transforming virtual interactions through its AI and Metaverse protocols, providing co-ownership, human curation, plug-and-play Game AI infrastructure.

Quickly deploy AI agents: This project allows users to deploy their own AI agents (using their own tokens) in just 5 minutes, enhancedits appeal in the fields of artificial intelligence and the metaverse.

Data performance:

The price of VIRTUAL tokens has recently reached a record high, with its market value exceeding US$3 billion. VIRTUAL tokens are traded on several cryptocurrency exchanges including Bitget, BiKing, Hibt, BitMart and BingX

Animal MEMEDogecoin ($DOGE)

Category: Meme Tokens

Rise: +356%

Driving factors:

Star power: Supported by celebrities such as Elon Musk, Dogecoin gained widespread recognition on social media and actual transactions.

Community Support: A strong and active community, with ongoing development and activities keeping the token attractive.

Data performance:

Dogecoin’s wide range of application scenarios include micropayments and rewards, driving its price increase. The market value ranks first in the MEME sector.

dogwifhat ($WIF)

Category: Meme Token

Growth: +1,828%

Drivers:

Community-driven growth: With strong community support and social media marketing, dogwifhat has quickly become one of the most popular meme tokens.

Decentralized features: The decentralized management of tokens has attracted a large number of community members to participate, driving up the price of tokens.

Data performance:

Dogwifhat’s community activity and decentralized features have helped it become a popular project in the market. The 24-hour trading volume is close to $1 billion.

Pepe ($PEPE)

Category: Meme Token

Growth: +1,794%

Driving Factors:

Strong Community Support: Pepe has expanded its market visibility through airdrops and community activities, and has received large-scale community support.

Social media influence: Using the power of social media, Pepe attracted a lot of attention, driving up demand and prices.

Data performance:

Pepe’s continuous community activities and social media marketing provide it with strong market momentum. The market value climbed to No. 3 in the MEME sector.