Hristina Vasileva
The total market capitalization of all crypto assets broke to a new all-time high of $3.14 trillion. The rally, headed by Bitcoin (BTC), has several other tokens and memes in a price discovery stage.
The crypto market is repricing in real time, reaching a peak of $3.14B. The main driver of the gains remains Bitcoin (BTC), easily recovering to over $91,000. BTC continues to outperform all other assets, but the recent market expansion put several other coins and tokens on track to price discovery.
Blue chip tokens stabilized, although they continue to lag behind the outsized BTC rally. BTC’s dominance is at 60.2%, affecting the overall direction of the market. At this point, influencers are seeing BTC behave as a meme asset supported by true believers.
Funds flow into meme tokens and ignore VC-backed altcoins
All cohorts of holders from previous bull markets are in the money, so there is no selling pressure. BTC open interest remains close to a three-year high, above $28B on the top centralized exchanges, with a slight predominance of long positions.
Despite the expansion of the overall crypto valuation, not all assets are rallying. Some altcoins and tokens have only posted minor gains.
Projects that posted strong performances from previous market cycles have also seen modest gains. Ethereum (ETH) remains under $3,200, not posting the same proportion as BTC’s rally. Solana (SOL) is still below its all-time high, hovering around $215.
The biggest breakouts still come from meme tokens, while older assets from previous bull markets remain locked in their usual range. Even tokens and projects with significant utility and usage have not set off on a parabolic ride. Arbitrum (ARB) remains at $0.60 with modest gains, retaining its long slide trend.
The most recent market expansion underscored the flaw of VC-backed tokens. After months of selling and a constant downward trend, new buyers are extremely skeptical and skip those assets. The underperformance of VC-backed may also be due to the possibility of insiders selling the tokens.
On the other hand, meme tokens with close to random distribution and modest beginnings have the highest demand and hype.
The crypto market as a whole was also not swayed by narratives of utility or building infrastructure. Instead, liquidity seeks out the biggest winners.
The recent market rally arrived after Tether (USDT) injected another 2B tokens, split between the Ethereum and TRON networks. The circulation of 126B USDT is boosting BTC trading pairs, while also flowing into other ecosystems with the highest potential returns.
A total of more than $169B of the crypto market is in the form of stablecoins. Some of those stablecoins are used to buy opportunities and dips. They are also used for lending, yield protocols, and other forms of passive income. USDT, USDC, and FDUSD were the most popular stablecoins in the latest market rally.
Meme token repricing adds to new crypto market valuation
One other factor boosted the growing valuations—meme tokens. Over the past few days, the market rallied and entered a new price tier. After spending weeks between $30B and $50B in valuation, the market broke out to $70B. it did not stop there. Valuation is now at $117B, outcompeting multiple altcoin categories.
Three meme assets are now among the top 15 tokens by market cap: DOGE, SHIB, and, most recently, PEPE. The token moved to a new price tier, more than doubling its price, after gaining a Robinhood US listing and a faster-than-expected Coinbase listing.
Meme tokens remain extremely volatile, but recent interest led to a reevaluation of their impact. Ten tokens are now valued above $1B, becoming competition for older altcoins, L1s, and other narrative assets.
The meme frenzy once again happened in place of an altcoin market. The Altcoin Season index settled at 33 points, showing even top 100 assets failed to outperform BTC. Meme tokens have a bigger upside, especially the ones starting at sub-penny prices. The recent gains may not be sustainable, and not all tokens have enough liquidity. However, memes hinge on communities that retain ownership and create scarcity.
The recent meme token rally brings to mind the rise of NFTs, where exclusive ownership was key to retaining value. In the case of meme tokens, communities and cults are the biggest factors in establishing higher valuations.
