Largest Gainers of Q1 2024
The largest gainers of the first quarter of 2024 are Popcat with 3,424% growth, followed by Aerodrome at 2,873% and Dogwifhat (WIF) at 2,721%. Myro and Mantra's OM rounds up the top 5 with 1,403% and 1,074% gains respectively. Other top gainers in Q1 2024 include: Delysium (AGI), FLOKI, Pepe, Nosana (NOS), and AIOZ Network.
Key Takeaways
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The crypto market stayed green for the majority of the first quarter of the year as Bitcoin reached new highs. Following Bitcoin’s climb to a new all-time high, many crypto assets have also seen significant gains with some assets recording four-figure percentage gains.
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Some of the major narratives driving crypto performance in Q1 include: the resurgence of Solana (and meme coins), AI, and DePIN.
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Dogwifhat and POPCAT made the top gainers list alongside other memecoins like Myro on the Solana blockchain and Pepe on Ethereum. POPCAT tops the list as the highest gainer in Q1 2024 with over 3,400% growth in value.
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Other assets that made the list include meme coins like Dogwifhat, Myro, Floki and Pepe, AI protocols like Delysium,and DePIN projects including AIOZ network.
This article was updated in April 2024 to reflect price movements of Q1 2024 by Joel Agbo.
On its route to a new all-time high, Bitcoin’s price grew over 60% in the first quarter of the year. Projects in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) category also saw a significant bump in value; In addition to Delysium, which saw a 708% increase, other AI projects like Singularity (AGIX) and Fetch.ai also grew over 300%. The DePIN category also grew considerably, exceeding a cumulative market capitalization of $40 million, with projects like Nosana and AIOZ also making the list of the top 10 gainers for Q1 2023.
From just $1.8 billion on the opening day of the year, the crypto space grew to a market cap of almost $2.9 billion in the first quarter; Ethereum (ETH) also crossed $4,000 for the first time since the 2021 bull run.
Now let’s go through some of the biggest gainers of the first quarter of the year, including some events behind the price growth they experienced during this time.
Popcat (POPCAT) – 3,424%
Towards the end of 2023, there was a resurgence of interest in the Solana blockchain. This increase in interest led to the rise of meme coins on Solana, as more users started flocking to the blockchain. New and existing meme coin projects on the network flourished starting from the last quarter of the year 2023, and extended into the first quarter of the new year.
POPCAT was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this movement. The POPCAT/SOL trading pair was created on Raydium Dex on December 12, 2023, as a fair launch. The POPCAT community has garnered attention from the rest of the Solana community and beyond, with influencers and traders contributing to the popularity of the project, influenced by the meme coin season on the network.
POPCAT opened for trading on the first day of the year at just above $0.0076. After moving up just about 20% in the first two months of the year, the price growth picked pace in the month of March. During this time, POPCAT price grew from just above $0.009 on February 28 2024 to a quarterly peak of above $0.35 on March 15, 2024. The project has seen relative growth in trading and social metrics during this time, earning listings from top-tier exchanges and recognition from other popular players in the space. After an impressive month of March, POPCAT closed above $0.26 on the last day of the month, scoring over 3,400% price growth, moving up to the top 300 positions on CoinGecko by marketcap, becoming the top gainer of the first quarter.
Aerodrome Finance (AERO) – 2,873%
Aerodrome is the largest protocol on Base by TVL at over $700 million according to DefiLlama data, boasting over 175K monthly users and generating over $21 million in monthly fees. Aerodrome Finance token (AERO) price growth took off in the last week of February 2024 following the announcement of a strategic investment by Coinbase Ventures in the project. The crypto asset's value increased from just above $0.10 on February 24, 2024, to a quarterly high of $1.76 on March 28, 2024. Coupled with interest in the Base Layer 2 network post EIP-4844, its trading metrics grew as more exchanges listed the asset and more projects in the Base ecosystem announced partnerships and integration of the project’s technology. AERO closed on March 31, 2024, at $1.50, reaching the top 200 on CoinGecko based on market cap. It is the second biggest gainer in the first quarter of the year, achieving over 2,800% price growth.
Aerodrome is an AMM-powered decentralized exchange and liquidity solution on the Base network. According to the project, it presents investors with a platform to trade crypto assets with low slippage and enables projects on the network to build sufficient liquidity. It uses the AERO token in its incentive strategy to attract liquidity providers, AERO holders, and projects to participate on the platform. Liquidity providers receive AERO emissions based on votes by VeAERO holders. VeAERO holders are incentivized by protocols using the platform to vote on their pools to boost their liquidity-building process; these incentives are known as ‘Bribes’.
Dogwifhat (WIF) – 2,721%
Dogwifhat (WIF) was launched on the Solana blockchain on November 20, 2023, and appealed to the meme coin community thanks to its humorous theme featuring “literally just a dog wif a hat.” The price growth it has enjoyed since its creation is majorly thanks to the relentless push by its community and other projects in the space that have keyed into its humor, along with interest in the Solana network.
WIF opened for trading in the new year at just above $0.15 and gradually began its climb in the first two months of the year. On March 5 2024, top-tier exchange Binance announced that it will be listing WIF.
The listing announcement added to the ongoing price growth, heating things up even further for the project. WIF moved over 100% following the Binance listing, trading above $3 on March 15, 2024. On March 29, 2024, it flipped Pepe to become the third largest memecoin by market cap. WIF closed for the first quarter of the year above $4, trading at $4.28 per token on March 31, 2024, and moving up to the top 40 positions by marketcap on CoinGecko. It is the third biggest gainer of the first quarter of the year with over 2,700% value increase.
Myro (MYRO) – 1,403%
MYRO benefits from the same trend as the other meme coins on the Solana blockchain. The dog-themed meme coin launched on the Solana blockchain on November 9, 2023, and is named after the dog of Solana co-founder Raj Gokal. The Solana community has since then rallied around the project with the support of key influencers. This has materialized into a significant rise in value and an exponential growth in popularity. Like other similar projects, the Myro community found creative ways to fit the project’s imagery into humorous conversations while teasing price growth. Myro had a quite positive end to the year 2023 and followed this trend in the new year. Community activities aided by recognition by notable players in the Solana community and the crypto space are also likely contributors to the growth in value.
Myro opened for trading in the new year at just above $0.02 and quickly went up 10X to over $0.20 in January. On January 20, 2024, it traded at $0.23 as the Solana network became a fertile ground for meme coins. However, the price dropped below $0.06 in the following month and consolidated for the rest of the month as the price stayed below $0.10 throughout February. Myro resumed its uptrend in March as the Solana ecosystem gained traction, further buoyed by an announcement from Binance on March 4 2024, that it will be listing Myro on its futures trading platform alongside Pepe and a spot listing for WIF, a fellow Solana memecoin.
Myro rallied on the news as investors expected a spot listing for the project to follow, enjoying a similar growth trend as other meme coin projects that have been listed on the exchange. Myro reached a quarterly high of just above $0.40 on March 9, 2024. It closed for trading on March 31, 2024, at $0.34 per coin and entered the top 300 positions on CoinGecko by marketcap, and is the fourth biggest gainer of Q1 with over 1,400% value increase.
Mantra (OM) – 1,074%
Occupying the fifth position in the top Q1 gainers list is Mantra (OM). The RWA (Real-World Asset) project enjoyed quite a positive opening to the new year, enjoying token price growth of up 1,074% and breaking into the top 200 positions with a quarterly high of $0.83 per coin. Mantra opened for trading in the new year at just above $0.05. It grew over the first two months of the year, with the price reaching as high as $0.30 on February 10, 2023.
Mantra’s growth in value is partly attributed to the rise of interest around the RWA space. On March 19, 2024, Mantra announced via its X page that it had raised $11 million in a fresh funding round led by Shorooq Investors. According to the project, the new funding will enable its expansion to the Middle East and Asia. Mantra’s value responded positively to the news and the token rose to its quarterly high on the same day. It continued to trade above $0.50 for the rest of the month, closing out at $0.69 on March 31, 2024.
Mantra is building a Layer 1 blockchain network focused on tokenization of real-world assets. It claims to offer users a regulatory-compliant network for token issuance and other RWA-related transactions. Mantra leverages the Cosmos multi-chain and IBC technology to develop an infrastructure that enables tokenization and interoperability with other networks and protocols like decentralized exchanges, offering developers and institutions a user-friendly and cost-effective solution. The network is governed by Mantra token holders via the MantraDAO. In the first quarter, Mantra launched its ambassador program as part of its marketing plan and also a projected 50 million Mantra token airdrop to the community. Other notable events from the project during this time include the incentivized testnet program and listing on trading platforms.
Delysium (AGI) – 708%
Delysium (AGI) is the highest gainer in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) category and the sixth biggest gainer amongst assets in the top 300 ranks. The AI project closed for the first quarter with over 700% value increase and recorded a quarterly high of $0.67 on March 10, 2024.
Its growth stems from an increase in interest around AI-themed projects as investors look for decentralized alternatives to mainstream AI efforts. Following Nvidia’s financial report and multiple positive news from mainstream AI projects, the category grew by over 70% in cumulative market cap and Delysium was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this growth.
Delysium opened for the year at above $0.05 and endured a quiet first month. However, it started to pick up in the following month as the AI narrative gained steam once again. AGI crossed the $0.10 mark on February 19 and continued its upward trend as the project’s overall activity grew. AGI was also added to Binance Future’s listing competition, fueling investors’ speculation for more Binance listings in the near future.
Delysium is building a basket of AI-powered applications including Lucy, dubbed the first AI-powered web3 operating system. According to the project, Lucy will be able to answer users’ questions about the crypto world and help them utilize all kinds of permissionless on-chain products through natural language. Delysium will also allow users to create their ‘AI-twin’. This according to the project will enable users to connect with their AI-twin more efficiently and participate in all kinds of experiences in a Virtual Society. At time of writing, these products are still in development, although users can already start using Lucy to create crypto workflows.
Floki (FLOKI) – 598%
Floki’s array of new developments and expansions resulted in an impressive price growth in the first quarter of the year. Floki ended the first quarter of the year as a top 100 asset by marketcap on CoinGecko, trading above $0.00024 on March 31 with a 598% growth in value. It is the seventh largest gainer of the first quarter.
Floki originally started as a meme coin project, but has since expanded into numerous sectors including DeFi, GameFi, and RWA. A significant contributor to its rise is TokenFi, a tokenization platform controlled by FlokiDAO. Floki holders enjoy certain benefits alongside holders of the project’s native token (TOKEN), as they can stake FLOKI to earn more TOKEN.
Floki has also continued its token burn program, according to the project, hundreds of thousands of Floki tokens are removed from the supply regularly. On March 22, 2024, the project released its roadmap for the rest of the year. Its plans for the year include intensified efforts in its RWA and DeFi projects, along with a dive into the banking sector with Floki-powered bank accounts that lets users create digital bank accounts and fund them with FLOKI tokens.
The Floki community has responded positively to these developments. Floki traded just above $0.00003 on the first day of the year and hovered around this level throughout January and the first few weeks of February. Activities around the project increased in March, including the roadmap release, the development of its Metaverse game – Valhalla, and a flurry of partnerships and exchange listings. On March 12, 2024, it recorded its quarterly high at $0.00029 per coin as it crossed the $2 billion mark to become the fourth largest meme coin project by market cap.
Pepe (PEPE) – 529%
PEPE gained popularity within the crypto space since its launch in mid April 2023, reaching new heights in Q1 2024 with an impressive 529% price growth despite a generally quiet quarter in terms of activity. The frog-themed coin has maintained its position as a top meme coin, reaching a quarterly and all-time high of $0.000106 on March 14, 2024. Pepe’s growth is thanks to the meme coin trend, a category in which it has established dominance. It opened for trading on the first day of the year at $0.00000129 and traded within that level for the majority of the first quarter.
The meme coin wave and a generally positive sentiment across the crypto space catalyzed its upward trend in the month of March as it moved from its opening price of $0.0000027 on March 1 to an all-time high just two weeks later. Pepe closed for trading on March 31, 2024 at $0.000008. It is the eighth-largest gainer amongst the top 300 crypto assets in the first quarter of 2024.
Besides the meme coin wave that has led to the rise of other coins on this list, other significant events that could have contributed to the recorded growth include the Pepe art contest, listing on trading applications like Robinhood, promotion programs by platforms like Binance, and the project’s charity programs.
Nosana (NOS) – 529%
Nosana (NOS) protocol fits into two narratives that have gained prominence in the first quarter of the year – DePIN and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The project enjoyed significant growth in market size as investors channeled their attention to these categories. NOS opened for trading on January 1, 2024, at $0.73 and continued an upward trend for the majority of the first quarter. Following a growing recognition of the project as an active project in the DePIN and AI sector, the growth intensified as the price rallied through February. The attention on the Solana ecosystem alongside tokenomics strategies, like a high APR staking program for NOS, also contributed significantly to this growth. NOS reached an all-time high of $7.83 on March 6, 2024. The project has seen relative growth in other metrics during this time, including social activities.
Nosana is a GPU rental platform. According to the project, it provides a platform for users to commit their idle GPU power to a public rental facility. This enables crypto-native and mainstream projects in the content production, videography, and AI sectors to access unlimited computing power while paying a relatively lesser fee. The project maintains that it is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of managing access to computing resources. Users who contribute the GPU to the platform will receive rewards in NOS tokens, and payments for GPU rentals are also made in NOS. Nosana ended the first quarter of the year with a net 529% value growth, breaking into the top 300 ranks. It is the ninth-biggest gainer amongst the top 300 crypto assets on CoinGecko based on market capitalization.
AIOZ Network (AIOZ) – 480%
AIOZ Network ended the first quarter of the year as one of the biggest gainers in the DePIN category. The decentralized storage solution recorded its quarterly high on March 26, 2024, trading just above $1. The project opened for the year at $0.14 per coin and traded for the majority of the quarter between $0.12 and $0.32. It saw a rise in interest in the month of March following a busy month for the project and growing attention for projects in the DePIN space.
AIOZ is a decentralized storage infrastructure. According to the project, its solution enables other projects and individuals to access a more private and robust network for data storage. It also maintains that this solution is more cost-effective, scalable, and secure than the centralized alternatives. The AIOZ token is the utility and payment token of the platform.
AOIZ also announced a handful of partnerships with cryptocurrency projects that are using its decentralized storage technology and also mainstream firms collaborating with the project. The partnership with Alibaba Cloud on 22 March is potentially a major catalyst in its run-up to a new quarterly high. The numerous partnerships, marketing programs, and also the Node V3 upgrade set the project up for a quite rewarding first quarter. Thanks to a 480% price growth, it ranks as the tenth biggest gainer amongst the top 300 crypto assets and climbed to the top 200 positions.
Final Thoughts and Methodology
The general positive price growth in the first quarter of the year is a response to Bitcoin’s strides since the last quarter of the previous year. Some other events have drawn the attention of mainstream and crypto investors. Popular memecoins have continued to soar in market size, appearing consistently in the top gainers’ list for Q1 2024. Other categories of note include DePIN, AI, and RWA.
This article looks at crypto assets in the top 300 category at the end of the first quarter of 2024 based on CoinGecko data. Assets that fall outside of the top 300 are omitted, even if they post a higher percentage gain. This article is meant for informational purposes only and should not be taken as financial advice or endorsement of any of the listed projects.
Josiah is a tech evangelist passionate about helping the world understand Blockchain, Crypto, NFT, DeFi, Tokenization, Fintech, and Web3 concepts. His hobbies are listening to music and playing football. Follow the author on Twitter @TechWriting001
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