The ongoing cryptocurrency bull run resulted in a dramatic rise in fortunes, with some coins seeing their year-to-date returns go through the roof.
What happened: Meme coins have taken the lead, with Popcat and First Neiro on Ethereum netting eye-popping returns to their holders in 2024.
NEIRO, an Ethereum ETH/USD–based meme token, surged over 83% over the week, taking its YTD gains to 55,438%.
For the curious, NEIRO has been inspired by the sister of Kabosu, the inspiration behind Dogecoin DOGE/USD and the accompanying army of dog-themed cryptocurrencies.
Powered by the rally, the coin has ballooned to a market capitalization of over $1 billion.
| Cryptocurrency | 7-Day Gains +/- | YTD Gains +/- | Price (Recorded at 10:50 p.m. ET) |
| First Neiro on Ethereum (NEIRO) | +83.77% | +55438.12% | $0.002368 |
| Popcat (POPCAT) | +30.84% | +20120.26% | $1.64 |
Cat-themed cryptocurrency, Popcat, saw its YTD gains rocket past 20,000% after a 30% spike over the past week.
The Solana SOL/USD–based coin stood at a market capitalization of $1.62 billion. Both POPCAT and NEIRO were among the top 10 biggest meme coins by market value as of this writing.
Why It Matters: The blistering rally has also seen Dogecoin DOGE/USD, the king of meme coins, more than double in value over the week. Its YTD gains have leapfrogged to 336%.
The coin flipped XRP XRP/USD and USD Coin USDC/USD to become the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
The rise had everything to do with expectations of an Elon Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President-elect Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin BTC/USD hovered below $90,000 in what has been a record-shattering rally pinned on Donald Trump’s presidential victory. The leading cryptocurrency was up over 110% since the beginning of 2024.
Photo by CMP_NZ on Shutterstock
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