The next Memecoin trend in a bull market, did you catch it?

Original Article Title: Memecoin Market Map - a $120B Asset Class
Original Article Author: nuss_eli, Crypto Kol
Original Article Translation: zhouzhou, BlockBeats

Editor's Note: This article analyzes that the market capitalization of Memecoins has exceeded $120 billion, surpassing sectors like DeFi, emphasizing the need to pay attention to its development and trends. The article reviews the evolution of memes from Dogecoin to Shiba, Pepe, and other meta-narratives, as well as tokens that have performed exceptionally well each quarter. It also explores the rise of different categories and market changes such as the potential of sectors like Internet culture and AI perception. The author believes the Memecoin market will continue to evolve, with new meta-narratives bringing significant opportunities, and predicts that the dominance of dog-themed coins will weaken, potentially leading to more animal tokens and innovative tokenization methods in the future.

The following is the original article content (slightly reorganized for better readability):

Meme Coin Market Map: An Asset Class with a total market value of $120 Billion

Over the past year, Memecoins have been one of the best-performing sectors in the cryptocurrency field. Currently, the total market value of Memecoins has far exceeded $100 billion, surpassing DeFi, DePIN, gaming, and the metaverse combined. Given the size and diversification of this asset class, we attempt to map the market to identify potential opportunities.

We analyzed the best-performing tokens each quarter this year, confirming our speculation: Memecoins have dominated the list every quarter.

The best-performing tokens in Q1 include POPCAT, WIF, MOG, and MYRO.

The best-performing tokens in Q2 include PONKE, SPX, TURBO, GIGA, WOJAK, BRETT, and MOG.

The best-performing tokens in Q3 include SPX, GIGA, FUD, and MUMU.

When attempting to analyze methods for Memecoin applications, you will quickly realize the importance of understanding the "meta-narrative." This is a prevalent phenomenon throughout the cryptocurrency space, but it is particularly significant in Memecoins. Here is an extended timeline highlighting key meta-narrative shifts or origins.

Before 2021, the market was dominated by Doge coin. Then Shiba Inu was launched, becoming the first project to truly challenge Doge coin. People naturally flocked to it, hoping to replicate Doge coin's success. This eagerness to find the "next big thing" created a meta-narrative. Shib's success led to a slew of dog or Elon-related Meme coins in 2021, forming the first true Meme coin meta-narrative.

In 2023, Pepe took the lead, bringing forth a wave of Meme coins related to frogs and the "boys club." Then in 2023, the rise of Bonk and Wif established Solana as the leading Meme coin chain and ultimately drove the development of pump.fun.

This process reached a widespread Meme coin frenzy in Q1 and spawned the formation of nearly new meta-narratives almost every week or even every day. After reaching a peak in March, the summer market slowed down. MustStopMurad's Meme coin community and network effect analysis framework quickly gained popularity, leading to a significant influx of funds into "cult coins" like SPX6900. Recently, with BTC finally breaking out, we have seen new enthusiasm surrounding the GOAT of truth terminal, the adorable hippo MOODENG, and the late PEANUT, forming new meta-narratives.

Today, due to the abundance of meta-narratives making it difficult to keep track, we are attempting to categorize the market by themes.

It is evident that dog coins still dominate the Meme coin sector, primarily driven by Doge coin. When we started organizing this data a few weeks ago, the "Perception AI" category was almost non-existent, and the "Martyr" category was even absent (paying homage to the OG Harambe), showcasing the rapid evolution of this asset class.

Unsurprisingly, since Pepe's launch, the dominance of dog coins has been on a decline.

This trend is likely to continue as new meta-narratives continue to emerge, pushing different sectors into the spotlight. Observing the shift in the weight of these different categories over time can reveal some intriguing trends.

In 2023, when there wasn't much new money in the market, Crypto Culture tokens (such as bitcoin) saw some growth. However, by the later part of that year, as some new funds flowed in, Crypto Culture gradually got replaced by a more widespread Internet Culture tokens (such as giga, npc, etc).

As mentioned earlier, the rapid rise of goat and peanut was also surprising. It might still be too early to transition them from meta-narratives to a new category, although there are now many multi-billion dollar AI-related Meme coins.

Earlier this year, celebrity tokens and political Meme coins also saw some growth but then tapered off. In the long run, the Meme coin market might serve as a microcosm of the crypto market, with Doge coins similar to BTC. There are some "cult coins" communities that may never sell these tokens, and they are expected to exist long-term, but most Meme coins might be short-lived, similar to the 2021 NFT craze.

Nevertheless, early involvement in new meta-narratives undoubtedly presents significant opportunities.

The fastest-growing categories are still expected to be Internet Culture and AI Perception, with Internet Culture tokens widely recognized and backed by a wealth of cultural sediment, giving them an inherent advantage over most other categories. Meanwhile, AI Perception combines the most exciting technology with the most volatile asset class, potentially maintaining dominance in the Meme coin market.

In terms of undeveloped areas, the new animal category always has the potential to enter the market—surprisingly, there are currently almost no tokens related to zoo animals (tigers, giraffes, zebras, etc.) in the market. As for entirely new content, existing fan bases (superheroes, sports, etc.) might be tokenized in innovative ways.

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