2024 Crypto Assets Market Trends: AI and Meme coins Lead the Rise, Layer 2 Performs Poorly

In the past year, the crypto assets market has shown a divergent performance across different sectors. Based on market data from a certain data platform, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the major narrative themes in the crypto assets market from January 1 to December 29, 2024. The research method involved tracking the performance of the top ten tokens for each theme and calculating their average return relative to the beginning of the year (or the first trading day). The study selected representative tokens with high market capitalization at the end of the period and excluded specific public chain ecosystems and sectors with high overlap with other themes. The results show that the annual return rates of different narrative themes vary significantly, with a range from -20.7% to +2,939.8%.

AI and Meme coins become market leaders

The most outstanding cryptocurrency narrative theme of 2024 is the AI sector, with an average rise of an astonishing 2,939.8% YTD from the beginning of the year to now (. Following closely is the Meme coin sector, with an annual return rate of 2,185.1%. The returns of these two sectors far exceed those of other popular narrative themes by more than double, becoming the focus of market attention.

The Meme coin sector started to lead significantly in March, with a monthly return soaring from 96.6% to 1,713.1%. Despite the extreme volatility, Meme coins maintained the highest returns for most of 2024. However, after reaching a historical high return of 3,211.4% on December 9, the sector experienced a correction as market interest waned.

In contrast, the AI sector experienced a strong rebound at the end of the year, with a return in December nearly doubling from 1,598.1% to 2,939.8%. This was primarily due to the explosive growth of the AI agency platform Virtuals Protocol )VIRTUAL(, which also became the token with the largest rise in the crypto assets market this year. Ultimately, the AI sector surpassed Meme coins by the end of December, becoming the annual return champion.

Real-world assets ) RWA ( sector ranks third with an annual average return of 819.5%. The sector performed steadily at the beginning of the year, reaching a yield of 365.3% by April 12, and then consolidated sideways over the next six months. In November, driven by the price increase of MANTRA ) OM (, the RWA sector resumed its upward trend.

![Crypto Assets narrative annual performance: AI and Meme rise over 20 times, Layer 2 down 20.7% at the bottom])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-7f10d54608398d4d8993b59e3bdc8ee2.webp(

Layer 1, DePIN and DeFi sectors performed mediocrely.

Layer 1, decentralized physical infrastructure ) DePIN ( and decentralized finance ) DeFi ( sectors performed similarly in 2024, recording returns of 142.5%, 135.4%, and 101.4%, respectively. This means that Layer 1 and DePIN slightly outperformed Bitcoin's 125.5% rise during the same period, while the performance of the DeFi sector was even lower than that of Bitcoin.

It is worth noting that conservative investors can achieve returns comparable to at least three major narrative themes by holding only Bitcoin. This phenomenon reflects a decrease in market enthusiasm for these segments.

The performance of the gaming and Layer 2 sectors is poor

GameFi and Layer 2 have become the worst-performing sectors in 2024, even falling short of Ethereum's 49.0% rise. Specifically, the GameFi sector has only risen 14.7% this year, with six of the top ten gaming tokens experiencing declines ranging from 3.1% to 32.9%. This indicates that crypto projects in the gaming field have yet to attract enough investor attention.

Layer 2 is the only sector this year to record negative returns, down 20.7%. Amid a trend where projects are seeking to launch their own Layer 2 solutions, seven of the top ten Layer 2 coins have seen price declines ranging from 6.3% to 75.3%. This phenomenon may reflect a return to rational expectations in the market regarding Layer 2 technology.

2024 Crypto Assets Narrative Performance Ranking

According to the average annual price return rates of the 10 largest tokens in each sector, the performance ranking of the Crypto Assets narrative for 2024 is as follows:

1. AI: 2,939.8%
2. Meme: 2,185.1%
3. RWA: 819.5%
4. Layer 1: 142.5%
5. DePIN: 135.4%
6. DeFi: 101.4%
7. Bitcoin: 125.5%
8. Ethereum: 49.0%
9. GameFi: 14.7%
10. Layer 2：-20.7%

This ranking clearly showcases the overall landscape of the 2024 Crypto Assets market, reflecting the changing preferences of investors towards different technologies and application scenarios. The strong performance of AI and Meme coins, as well as the relative flatness of traditional sectors like Layer 1 and DeFi, provide important references for understanding the current development trends in the crypto market.

![Crypto Assets narrative annual performance: AI and Meme rise over 20 times, Layer 2 down 20.7% at the bottom])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-e54073507ba641fcac4a3ba2ccfdb3f9.webp(