In 2024, memecoins surged to capture 31% of investor mindshare, marking a fourfold increase from the previous year, driven by cultural virality over traditional fundamentals. Solana saw nearly 5 million new memecoins deployed, generating over $335 million in fees, while the sector delivered an average yearly return of 201%. In contrast, AI-related narratives, despite their growing popularity, lagged behind with a negative performance of 11.6%, primarily due to Worldcoin's significant drawdown.
