Memecoins and Crypto Stocks Kick Off 2025 with a Bang: A Bullish Breeze Sweeps Through the Markets
The cryptocurrency market made a remarkable start to 2025, showcasing an impressive upward trend. According to recent data, the total market capitalization of artificial intelligence-themed memecoins has surpassed $10 billion, growing by 26.4% in the last 24 hours. This surge was particularly led by the memecoin ai16z.
Ai16z stands out in the memecoin market with a market capitalization of $2.659 billion. This token gained significant attention, recording a 40% price increase by the end of December. Two weeks ago, a whale spent $10 million to purchase 13.16 million ai16z, realizing approximately $6 million in unrealized profit from this investment. While ai16z is trading around the $2 level, the largest memecoins like Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by about 7% to $0.34, Shiba Inu (SHIB) rose by 8% to $0.00002270, and PEPE saw a similar increase to $0.0000208.
Elon Musk's Influence on PEPE
On December 31, Elon Musk changed his profile on the X app, adopting a new nickname "Kekuis Maximus" and loading a profile picture themed around the PEPE meme. This action led to a price increase of up to 12% for the PEPE token. Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, highlighted this situation as an example of the intersection between internet culture and the crypto world.
As PEPE regained popularity due to Musk's influence, the impact of humor and culture within the crypto community on market trends was emphasized once again. This rise of PEPE is seen as a significant development reinforcing the place of memecoins in the crypto world.
New Year Rally in Crypto Stocks
Shares of crypto-focused companies also began the new year on an upward trajectory. MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) stocks gained nearly 4% as Bitcoin rose over 2% to reach $96,500. Ethereum (ETH) also recorded a 3.4% increase.
Bitcoin crossed the $100,000 level for the first time in December before retreating slightly from this milestone. Analysts predict that Bitcoin could double this figure by the end of 2025. Although stocks of Coinbase and MicroStrategy experienced a decline in the last days of 2024, they showed signs of recovery in pre-market trading on the first day of the new year.
The cryptocurrency market gained momentum with expectations of a more favorable regulatory environment following Trump’s election victory, and this positive sentiment is anticipated to continue throughout 2025. Alongside Bitcoin, crypto stocks are likely to perform strongly under this favorable trend.