Bitcoin
These Meme Coins Outperformed Bitcoin in the $600 Billion Rally in H1 2024
Top line
The first half of 2024 will likely be best remembered in the land of digital assets for debut of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the spotlight, but there have been several lesser-known cryptocurrencies that have stolen the spotlight.
Shiba Inus were the face of the 2024 cryptocurrency rally.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Key facts
The market value of all cryptocurrencies increased by $661 billion in the first six months of the year, according to CoinGecko, with bitcoin, by far the world’s most valuable crypto token, accounting for $409 billion of that gain.
Bitcoin’s 48% surge as institutional investors warmed to the asset was outpaced by several “meme coins,” tokens with little intrinsic value whose prices tend to fluctuate wildly as traders who congregate on social media move in and out of the coins.
Dogwifhat, an aptly named token whose logo is a Shiba Inu in a knit hat, is the biggest returner of the 70 or so coins with market caps above $1 billion, gaining about 1,300%, while Pepe, a token named after the frequently meme frog associated with circles on the right fringe, is the next best performer of the first half, with a gain of almost 800%, according to CoinMarketCap.
Floki, a coin named after the Shiba Inu dog owned by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, and a coin known simply as Shiba Inu, have surged 418% and 67% respectively, similarly outperforming bitcoin.
Shiba Inus (the dog, not the token) are undoubtedly the mascots of the meme coin boom, but perhaps the most famous dog-based token, dogecoin, has only gained 35%.
Several tokens that don’t fall under the meme coin umbrella also saw rallies that outperformed bitcoin, including ether (up 51%), the Ethereum token that could be approved for bitcoin-like ETFs. as soon as this summer, and Binance Coin (up 81%), the coin often abbreviated as BNB, which is issued by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and owned primarily by Binance’s billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao.
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10 Best Performing Cryptocurrencies (Market Cap Over $1 Billion)
- Dogwifhat: Up 1,306%, Market Cap at $2.1 Billion
- Pepe: Up 815%, Market Cap at $5 Billion
- Artificial Superintelligence Alliance: Up 545%, $3.6B market cap
- Floki: Up 392%, Market Cap at $1.6 Billion
- JasmyCoin: Up 343%, Market Cap at $1.4 Billion
- Arweave: Up 188%, Market Cap at $1.8 Billion
- Core: Up 152%, $1.2B market cap
- Toncoin: Up 135%, Market Cap $18.8 Billion
- Bitget: Up 100%, Market Cap at $1.6 Billion
- Bonk: Up 90%, Market Cap at $1.5 Billion
What is a meme coin?
There is no hard and fast rule as to what constitutes a meme coin, but typically it is considered a cryptocurrency that is tied to a viral internet joke and whose price moves even more severely than the already volatile asset class. Notably, these coins tend not to have much use beyond a speculative investment, unlike, say, bitcoin, which some seen as a modern alternative to gold for its ability to store value regardless of inflation or central bank activity. All cryptocurrencies except bitcoin are regarding such as altcoins (alternative coins), many of which are not meme coins. Meme investing is not exclusive to crypto, as the stock market has seen a rise in social media-driven momentum trading in recent years with shares of companies like GameStop and AMC.
Crucial quote
“Meme coins can capture public attention today and disappear tomorrow,” warned BankRate analyst James Royal. CNBC. “If demand dries up, you’re left with nothing but worthless digital assets and a good story,” Royal added.
Main context
First minted in 2009, bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market surged in popularity and value during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from a March 2020 low of nearly $4,100 to a November 2021 peak of nearly $69,000. The industry then endured the brutal “crypto winter” of 2022, marked by a series of high-profile bankruptcies of companies like Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, causing bitcoin to fall below $16,000 by the end of 2022. The cryptocurrency market then surged as broader market conditions improved and investors grew excited by the prospect of spot bitcoin ETFs, which brought in about $15 billion of new capital in their first five months of existence, according to Bernstein analysis. Bitcoin peaked at $73,768 in March. It now trades about 15% below that peak, but is still outperforming the S&P 500 stock index year to date.
Surprising fact
Despite the rise in value of several other cryptocurrencies, bitcoin reached its most dominant level since the first half of 2021 this year, according to for CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin represents over 55% of the aggregate market value of the global cryptocurrency market, up from 40% at the end of 2022.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC), Stocks Bleed as China’s Surprise Rate Cut Signals Panic, Treasury Yield Curve Steepens
Risk assets fell on Thursday as China’s second rate cut in a week raised concerns of instability in the world’s second-largest economy.
Bitcoin (BTC)the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, is down nearly 2% since midnight UTC to around $64,000 and ether (ETH) fell more than 5%, dragging the broader altcoin market lower. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a measure of the broader cryptocurrency market, lost 4.6% in 24 hours.
In equity markets, Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and the euro zone’s Euro Stoxx 50 all fell more than 1.5%, and futures linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were down slightly after the index’s 3% drop on Wednesday, according to the data source. Investing.com.
On Thursday morning, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced a surprise, cut outside the schedule in its one-year medium-term lending rate to 2.3% from 2.5%, injecting 200 billion yuan ($27.5 billion) of liquidity into the market. That is the biggest reduction since 2020.
The movement, together with similar reductions in other lending rates earlier this week shows the urgency among policymakers to sustain growth after their recent third plenary offered little hope of a boost. Data released earlier this month showed China’s economy expanded 4.7% in the second quarter at an annualized pace, much weaker than the 5.1% estimated and slower than the 5.3% in the first quarter.
“Equity futures are flat after yesterday’s bloody session that shook sentiment across asset classes,” Ilan Solot, senior global strategist at Marex Solutions, said in a note shared with CoinDesk. “The PBoC’s decision to cut rates in a surprise move has only added to the sense of panic.” Marex Solutions, a division of global financial platform Marex, specializes in creating and distributing custom derivatives products and issuing structured products tied to cryptocurrencies.
Solot noted the continued “steepening of the US Treasury yield curve” as a threat to risk assets including cryptocurrencies, echoing CoinDesk Reports since the beginning of this month.
The yield curve steepens when the difference between longer-duration and shorter-duration bond yields widens. This month, the spread between 10-year and two-year Treasury yields widened by 20 basis points to -0.12 basis points (bps), mainly due to stickier 10-year yields.
“For me, the biggest concern is the shape of the US yield curve, which continues to steepen. The 2- and 10-year curve is not only -12 bps inverted, compared to -50 bps last month. The recent moves have been led by the rise in back-end [10y] yields and lower-than-expected decline in yields,” Solot said.
That’s a sign that markets expect the Fed to cut rates but see tighter inflation and expansionary fiscal policy as growing risks, Solot said.
Bitcoin
How systematic approaches reduce investor risk
Low liquidity, regulatory uncertainty and speculative behavior contribute to inefficiency in crypto markets. But systematic approaches, including momentum indices, can reduce risks for investors, says Gregory Mall, head of investment solutions at AMINA Bank.
Low liquidity, regulatory uncertainty and speculative behavior contribute to inefficiency in crypto markets. But systematic approaches, including momentum indices, can reduce risks for investors, says Gregory Mall, head of investment solutions at AMINA Bank.
Low liquidity, regulatory uncertainty and speculative behavior contribute to inefficiency in crypto markets. But systematic approaches, including momentum indices, can reduce risks for investors, says Gregory Mall, head of investment solutions at AMINA Bank.
July 24, 2024, 5:30 p.m.
Updated July 24, 2024, 5:35 p.m.
(Benjamin Cheng/Unsplash)
Fuente
Bitcoin
India to Release Crypto Policy Position by September After Consultations with Stakeholders: Report
“The policy position is how one consults with relevant stakeholders, so it’s to go out in public and say here’s a discussion paper, these are the issues and then stakeholders will give their views,” said Seth, who is the Secretary for Economic Affairs. “A cross-ministerial group is currently looking at a broader policy on cryptocurrencies. We hope to release the discussion paper before September.”
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) slide as risk aversion spreads to crypto markets
Ether, the second-largest token, fueled a slide in digital assets after a stock rout spread unease across global markets.
Ether fell about 6%, the most in three weeks, and was trading at $3,188 as of 6:45 a.m. Thursday in London. Market leader Bitcoin fell about 3% to $64,260.
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