In the final month of spring, the cryptocurrency market began its recovery following a local correction that started in April 2024. Bitcoin has already recovered approximately 90% of its decline, reaching the $70,000 mark. The recovery of the leading cryptocurrency also supported other coins in the top 100 by market capitalization. Notably, five meme tokens—PEPE, FLOKI, BONK, BONE, and WIF—were among the leaders in May. These "joke" assets traditionally react more sharply to market changes.
Unlike major (fundamental) cryptocurrencies, meme coins do not possess substantial utility or value. Their popularity is driven by the viral spread of humorous content they are associated with. Meme token prices can skyrocket by thousands of percent and just as quickly plummet, making them extremely high-risk assets.
Since the beginning of the year, meme cryptocurrencies have faced increasing interest from traders, which has allowed them to strengthen their market positions. In May 2024, the total market capitalization of the segment increased to $69.54 billion, ranking 11th among all cryptocurrency categories. The daily trading volume rose to $10.11 billion.
Dogecoin (DOGE) continues to maintain its market leadership. In May, the capitalization of this coin grew by 22.9%, reaching $23.59 billion, although trading activity decreased by 12.5%, totaling $1.25 billion per day.
Created as a joke in 2013, this cryptocurrency became the progenitor of all meme tokens. The DOGE token owes its popularity to Elon Musk, who mentioned it several times on Twitter (now X), causing instant price surges. In 2022, DOGE could even be used to purchase a Tesla vehicle. Today, many charitable organizations use the coin to collect donations.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) ranks second in terms of market capitalization. At the end of May, the total supply of the asset was valued at $15.21 billion, an increase of 15.6% from the previous month. Trading activity rose by 41%, reaching $948.44 million.
This meme token was named after the breed of dog depicted in the Dogecoin logo—the Shiba Inu. After the coin's release, the developers sent nearly half of the assets to Vitalik Buterin's wallet, with the remaining 589.26 trillion in free circulation.
Pepe (PEPE) ranks third among meme tokens by market capitalization. In May 2024, the value of all coins in circulation amounted to $6.74 billion, with a cumulative trading volume on exchanges of $1.74 billion.
PEPE also leads the meme token segment in open interest on the futures market, reaching $812 million in May 2024. This cryptocurrency is showing high growth rates, having increased by 144% since the beginning of May (from $0.00000656 to $0.00001601).
The top 5 meme tokens by market capitalization in May 2024 also included:
- Dogwifhat (WIF) — $3.65 billion
- FLOKI (FLOKI) — $2.86 billion
Previously, an infographic on the cryptocurrencies with the highest capitalization in the Andreessen Horowitz portfolio was published.
