Cryptocurrency analysis platform CoinGecko attracted attention with its latest report. CoinGecko discussed the most profitable trends in 2024 and analyzed the returns on crypto investments. While some trends that have been in the sector for many years continue to earn, new trends have dominated the rates of return. So which are these trends? And perhaps the most important one: Which ones earned how much?

1- Memecoins (1313%)

A must-have for the crypto industry memecoin‘s made a good entry into 2024 and gave the signals of a rise. Memecoins, especially those produced on the Solana network, have taken this trend to the upper levels while adding fame to its reputation. Memecoins, which took the wind behind them with the bull run of Bitcoin (BTC), became the most profitable trend according to CoinGecko data. The memecoin category, which has made a total return of 1313 percent since the beginning of 2024, seems to continue to occupy the agenda.

Brett (BRETT), which shone the memecoin trend in March, has become more prominent in recent days with an increase of 400 percent, Book of Meme (BOME) 1900 percent and cat in a dogs world (MEW) 730 percent.

2- RWA (286%)

Real World Assets (RWA) The category has recently taken the market by storm with the statements of the CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company. With BlackRock highlighting the RWA trend, cryptocurrencies in this area took flight. According to the CoinGecko report, the RWA category ranked second with a return of 286 percent.

MANTRA (OM) and TokenFi (TOKEN), two of the largest RWA tokens, were the projects that rose the most with 1074.4 percent and 419.7 percent respectively, while XDC Network (XDC) was the only token that fell 15.6 percent.

3- Artificial intelligence (222%)

One of the most stable trends of recent times artificial intelligence (AI) not only in the crypto market but also in the stock markets. The AI space, which has become more in demand with NVIDIA’s positive earnings reports, has come to the fore with the sharp rise of cryptocurrencies in this area. In line with CoinGecko’s data, the AI category ranked third with a return of 222 percent.

AIOZ Network (AIOZ) gained 480.2 percent and Fetch.ai (FET) 378.3 percent, more than any other major AI project.

4- DeFi (99%)

One of the most popular trends of an era decentralized finance (DeFi)Although it did not have a good start to 2024, it managed to recover afterwards. DeFi, which was relatively in the background as other trends were stronger, was reminded of itself with the rise of cryptocurrencies in this area. The DeFi category ranked fourth on the list with a return of 99 percent.

The decentralized finance protocol Uniswap (UNI) achieved a return of 190 percent and Ribbon Finance (RBN) a massive 430 percent.

5- DePIN (81%)

Enabling blockchain networks to transform into physical infrastructures DePINis seen among the promising trends of 2024. The Internet of Things (IoT), one of the most popular categories of an era, is resurfacing today with DePIN. The slow adoption of cryptocurrencies in this field gave hope to DePIN. The DePIN category ranked fifth on the list with a return rate of 81 percent.

The best performers among DePIN tokens were Arweave (AR), up 292.5 percent, Livepeer (LPT), up 133.7 percent, and Theta Network (THETA), up 124.5 percent. On the other hand, Helium (HNT) was the only major DePIN token to experience a 10.5% decline in the first quarter.

6- Layer-1 (70%)

Tier-1 projects, which have a very large share in the cryptocurrency market, also shone during this bullish period. Tier-1s, with their already high market capitalization, were a safe haven for crypto investors, even though they brought lower rates of return compared to other projects.

The Tier-1 category, which has delivered a 70 percent rate of return since the beginning of 2024, ranked sixth on the list.

The best-performing major Tier-1 projects were Toncoin (TON) at 131.2 percent and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with a return of 130.5 percent.

7- Gaming (64%)

The crypto market periodically manifests itself gaming category ranked seventh on the list with a 64 percent return rate. The airdrop phenomenon, which is closely followed by users on social media, has introduced the field of gaming to a wider audience. The fact that various projects rewarded game enthusiasts by conducting airdrops created a great echo in the sector.

In Gaming, the biggest winners were Echelon Prime (PRIME) with 124.0 percent, Gala (GALA) with 123.0 percent and Ronin (RON) with 112.3 percent QTD.

8- Layer-2 (39%)

Although Tier-2s, which have become popular since last year, have not yet achieved a bull run, some projects in this category have attracted attention with their significant increases.

Tier-2s, which performed mediocre compared to other categories, offered a 39 percent return opportunity, ranking eighth on the list.

Among the major Tier-2 projects, established Ethereum L2s performed the worst: Arbitrum (ARB) returned 5.6 percent, Polygon (MATIC) 1.2 percent and Optimism (OP) closed the quarter with a slight decline of 1.2 percent. On the other hand, Stacks (STX) and Mantle (MNT) recorded relatively strong returns of 142.5 percent and 95.8 percent QTD, respectively.