Crypto Trends Q2 2024: Meme Coins and AI Lead the Way

The second quarter of 2024 in the crypto world was dominated by meme coins, Real World Assets (RWA), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), maintaining a strong market presence at 35.7%, similar to the first quarter.

Solana and Base were standout ecosystems, capturing 22.9% of market interest. Despite a promising start, the overall crypto market cap fell by 14.4%, closing June at $2.43 trillion.

Bitcoin faced a challenging Q2, ending at $62,734, down 11.9%. The much-anticipated fourth halving event passed without major market impact, and Bitcoin’s price fluctuated between $58,000 and $72,000.

The mining hash rate dropped by 18.8% after peaking in April, marking the first decline since Q2 2022.

Despite this, companies like BitDigital and Tether continued to invest in mining and AI, while Block completed its advanced mining chip development.

The spotlight in Q2 was on meme coins, RWAs, and AI, with meme coins alone accounting for 14.3% of the market. Solana and Base remained leading blockchain ecosystems.

Ethereum became inflationary, adding more ETH to circulation than it burned, primarily due to decreased network activity and lower gas fees.

Centralized exchanges (CEXs) had a tough quarter, with spot trading volume dropping to $3.40 trillion, a 12.2% decrease from Q1. Binance held its top position, but Bybit rose to become the second-largest spot CEX.

Gate saw significant growth, increasing trading volume by 51.1%. In contrast, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) saw a 15.7% rise in trading volume, reaching $370.7 billion. Uniswap dominated the DEX market, while Thruster and Aerodrome experienced substantial growth, driven by the popularity of meme coins and airdrops.

Alexander Stefanov