The MarketVector Meme Coin Index (MEMECOIN) has surged more than 137% since the start of 2024 as top meme coins continue to rise.
MarketVector’s memecoin index has outperformed the S&P 500 index by more than 15 times this year. In contrast, the S&P is up 9.3% year-to-date (YTD), according to TradingView data.
The Memecoin index is trading at $76.60 as of 8:52 a.m. UTC, up 137% year-to-date and up more than 186% over the past year.
MarketVector, a subsidiary of American asset management giant VanEck, launched the Memecoin index on October 31, 2021. It includes the six largest memecoins, including Dogecoin (DOGE) with a 30.7% allocation, and Shiba Inu (SHIB) with a 28.3% allocation. , 14.5% Pepe (PEPE), 12.5% Dogwifhat (WIF), 7.14% Floki Inu (FLOKI) and 6.7% Bonk (BONK) tokens.
According to Anndy Lian, intergovernmental blockchain expert and author of NFT: From Zero to Hero, the “high-risk, high-reward strategy” will make memecoins attractive to speculative investors and keep the top coins relevant. It’s highly likely. Lian told Cointelegraph:
“This creates a viral effect that can lead to rapid price increases. Many investors are attracted by the potential for quick, high returns. Memecoin is known for its volatility, which can result in significant profits for traders who time their investments properly.”
Looking at the individual components of the Memecoin fund, Pepe was the biggest gainer, up 482% YTD, followed by Floki, up 372% YTD, and Shiba Inu, up 112% YTD, in third place. Bonk was the worst performer, up more than 59% YTD, but still outperformed the S&P 500 by more than six times.
Memecoin often offers exponential returns compared to some of the best cryptocurrencies. Compared to the 137% increase in the Memecoin index, the market capitalization of top altcoins excluding the top 10 cryptocurrencies increased only 24% YTD.
Top altcoins experience weekly selloffs.
Despite profitable annual gains, the six largest memecoins have seen a sell-off this week, sparking concerns that memecoin season is potentially over. Over the past five days, Dogwifhat has been the biggest decliner, down more than 15%, while Pepe is down more than 5%. This is the smallest decline among the top memecoins.
Memecoin has no underlying utility, making it difficult for traders and technical analysts to predict price movements, which are mainly driven by each Memecoin’s social media hype cycle.
Trading volume is often used to gauge sentiment towards memecoins. According to a report by Cointelegraph, weekly memecoin trading volume has been declining across all blockchains since early March.
Related: Traders lose 7-digit amounts due to 0L network hard fork