Cardi B’s WAP memecoin launch stirs controversy as crypto investigators link the wallet address to past scams and rug pull projects.
Following the highs of 2024’s first quarter (Q1), the crypto market faced a retrace during the second one (Q2). Despite this, Memecoins has remained the reigning champion of the market for the last three months. Related Reading: Big Filecoin Rally Ahead: Analyst Predicts 4,000% ‘Uphill Run’ Total Crypto Market Cap Falls 14% In Q2 On Tuesday, CoinGecko released its 2024 Q2 Crypto Industry Report. In the report, the crypto tracking website revealed that the total market capitalization declined last quarter. The total crypto market cap dropped 14.4%, $408.8 billion, in the last three months. The crypto market closed Q2 with a market cap of $2.43 trillion, unable to make new all-time highs (ATH). Comparatively, the total crypto market cap reached $2.9 trillion in March. During Q1, the market soared 64.5%, doubling Q3 2024’s growth. In absolute terms, the growth of this quarter (+$1.1 trillion) was almost double that of the previous quarter (+$0.61 trillion). This was largely driven by the approval of US spot Bitcoin ETFs in early January, sending BTC to a new all-time high in March. Additionally, CoinGecko highlighted that the crypto market cap was outperformed by the S&P 500, which registered a 3.9% increase. As a result, the correlation between the total crypto market cap and the S&P 500 plummeted from 0.84 in Q1 to 0.16 in Q2. In Q2, crypto volatility remained high, with an annualized volatility of 48.2% for the total crypto market cap. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) and the S&P 500 saw 48.2% and 12.7% volatility. Memecoins Continue Leading The Market Despite the market retrace, Memecoins remain the most popular narrative in Q2. According to CoinGecko’s categories web tracking, the sector dominated the chart with a 14.3% market share. Last quarter, Memecoins emerged as the most popular and profitable narrative. The sector delivered massive returns in the first quarter of 2024, with an average return of 1,313% across the top tokens. Tokens like Dogwifhat (WIF) and Book Of Meme (BOME) became market sensations, fueling the memecoin frenzy. These tokens had over 2,000% and 1,000% returns. This quarter, the market saw a Celebrity memecoin frenzy. Public figures like Iggy Azalea, Caitlyn Jenner, and Andrew Tate joined the industry amid controversial launches, hacks, and scam allegations. Moreover, the PolitiFi memecoins surged in popularity. Last week, these tokens outperformed most categories in the crypto market following Donald Trump’s failed assassination attempt. 4 out of the top 15 most popular narratives were memecoin-related, with Solana and Base memecoins registering an 8.44% and 4.61% share. Meanwhile, cat-themed tokens overpowered Q1’s reigning champions in the sector, Dog-inspired tokens. Related Reading: Whale Makes $8 Million With Trump-Inspired Memecoin As PolitiFi Tokens Soar This quarter, the feline-inspired tokens made it to the top 15. The category ran remarkably this cycle, with tokens like Cat in a Dogs World (MEW) and Popcat (POPCAT) surging over 200%. Similarly to Q1, Real World Assets (RWA) and Artificial intelligence (AI) were the second and third most popular sectors. RWA registered an 11.3% market share, while IA tokens saw a 10.9% share of market attention. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Cointelegraph approached professionals across Web3 to get their thoughts on the emergence of celebrity-backed meme tokens in crypto.
Celebrity memecoins have been the talk of the town for the past two weeks. A trend that resurged at the end of May quickly became one of the biggest narratives around the crypto community. Related Reading: GMX Soars 20% Amid Crypto Whale Frenzy, Is It Back In ‘Turbo Mode’? The industry has seen controversies, rug pulls, and Vitalik Buterin’s thoughts on the celebrity token frenzy. In the phenomenon’s most recent development, WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan beefed with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. Celebrity Memecoins A Week Later Despite the trend starting around May 20 with influencer tokens, celebrity tokens didn’t gain mainstream traction until reality TV star and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner launched her JENNER memecoin. Alongside Jenner, rapper Rich the Kid joined the crypto community with RICH. However, both tokens were surrounded by controversy after it was revealed that alleged serial scammer Sahil Arora was involved in the launch. Several other artists and personalities joined the crypto space to launch their memecoins, including Lil Pump, Davido, Trippie Red, and MoneyBagg Yo. Some of these launches appear to be linked to Arora’s scams. A week later, most celebrity memecoins saw a significant price decline or ended up as a rug pull scam. JENNER, which kickstarted the celebrity mania, is currently 81% down from its all-time high (ATH) registered on May 27. The Olympian’s token, described as “the goddess of Solana,” went from trading around $0.04273 to $0.009072. This significant decrease has also cut its market capitalization from its $30 million peak to $7.5 million. Hulk Hogan Wrestles MOTHER And Dumps His Fans On Thursday, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan took X to announce the launch of his Hulkmania (HULK) token. The memecoin skyrocketed 500% within two hours and quickly reached a market cap of $17 million. The launch turned sour when investors found Hogan had sold his HULK bag and deleted his posts mentioning the token. In minutes, the token’s market cap plummeted to $2 million. During the hours that Hogan’s X account promoted the token, the retired wrestler seemingly targeted Azalea and MOTHER. In an X post, Hogan replied to Azalea, saying, “You suck at pumping. $HULK has the real milk.” Additionally, he shared two now-deleted Instagram posts beefing with the Australian rapper. In one of them, Hogan Azalea’s profile picture and captioned it, “Sahil does it best.” Before deleting all his HULK-related posts, Hogan shared an Instagram story claiming that he had been hacked. According to the post, none of the publications came from him and soon would be removed. Later, his X account was wiped completely, and Instagram comments were limited. The crypto community grew concerned as the mention of Arora’s name suggested his involvement in the scam. However, it remains unclear whether Hogan’s website, Instagram, and X account were all hacked or if the retired wrestler’s team was involved. Vitalik Buterin Vs Koala Vitalik? Earlier this week, Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, criticized the ongoing celebrity token phenomenon. On X, Buterin stated he is “quite unhappy” with the crypto space’s celebrity experimentation. Buterin explained his concern regarding the launch of tokens with no purpose other than being a get-rich-quick scheme. Additionally, he suggested some features that celebrity memecoins should have for him “to be more willing to respect it.” The list included a “public-good goal that it’s serving.” To his criticism, Azalea responded by claiming that Buterin “was just hangry.” Moreover, she seemingly named a Koala after Ethereum’s founder. The rapper uploaded a video announcing the donations saved another Koala. Its name? Koala Vitalik. Azalea launched a “MOTHER fund” to help save Koalas infected with chlamydia. For the past week, the rapper has received donations in memecoins and several cryptocurrencies for the Koala cause. Related Reading: Get Ready For Altcoin Explosion: Anlayst Reveals Key Months For Massive Gains Additionally, Azalea is giving her token utility. The rapper launched a Mother merchandise store that accepts MOTHER as payment. Ultimately, the token continued to soar after reaching new ATHs and recently breaking above the $200 million market cap. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com