By Prem Reginald
Translation: Blockchain in Vernacular
Inspired by Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, the cryptocurrency market in 2024 showed a vertical growth trend. As a platform for decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts, the demand for L1 solutions has risen sharply, and major L1 blockchains have been competing fiercely for the top position. However, they face strong challenges from Layer 2 (L2) solutions, which are committed to increasing transaction speeds at extremely low costs, thereby competing with mature blockchains such as Ethereum.
1. Which Layer 1 Tokens perform best?
Among the best performing tokens, Mantra (OM) achieved unprecedented growth, surging 7,035.2% in value. This surge was partly due to Mantra’s partnership with UAE-based digital bank Zand. Zand tokenizes real-world assets (RWA) by complying with the regulations of Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). In addition, the demand for RWA products continues to grow, and traditional financial institutions are also introducing money funds and bonds to the blockchain.
2. Other Tokens with Excellent Performance
AIOZ Network (AIOZ) is another standout performer, up 427.6% year-to-date (YTD). The platform's decentralized content distribution network has seen growing adoption driven by continued ecosystem optimization. Rounding out the top three is Sui (SUI), which has grown 388.2% YTD, benefiting from rapid development within its ecosystem, including the launch of innovative dApps that leverage its high scalability and developer-friendly features.
Other notable performers include:
Bellscoin (BELLS): +252.2%
Zano (ZANO): up 159%
Toncoin (TON): up 136.2%, successfully hosting dApps and launching “click-to-earn” games through integration with Telegram.
3. The growth of Layer 1Token in the top ten by market value is relatively moderate
Despite the amazing performance of small and medium-sized Layer 1 tokens, larger market capitalization tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are still solid investment options.
Bitcoin (BTC) achieved an annual growth of 112.9%.
Ethereum (ETH) grew 34.9%, but underperformed similar tokens. With the rise of new Layer 2 and other blockchains, Ethereum's dominance has declined year by year, despite the launch of a spot Ethereum ETF in the United States. However, Ethereum still outperformed the S&P 500, which rose 24.8% in 2024.
Solana (SOL): Rising from the Ashes
Solana (SOL) has emerged from the shadow of FTX's bankruptcy in 2022 and is up 134.3% year to date. Most of its gains occurred in 2023, when the price surged from $15 to $120, driven by the memecoin craze. This trend has also extended to other blockchains, such as Tron Network (TRX), which is up 85.5% this year.
Meanwhile, Toncoin (TON) recorded a staggering 136.2% growth, mainly due to its ability to host dApps on the popular social messaging app Telegram. The “click-to-earn” gaming model became extremely popular on Telegram, further fueling its growth.
Sui: The most eye-catching performance
Sui has performed the best this year, up 338.2%. This increase is mainly due to increased investor interest, growth in on-chain activity, and increased utility through significant dApp expansion. In addition, Circle's USDC has been integrated into the network, and a trend of funds moving from Ethereum to Sui has been observed.
4. The biggest drop
On the other hand, some tokens have fallen as much as -96% so far this year.
Entangle (NGL) was the worst performer, down -95.3% YTD.
It was followed by Kujira (KUJI) and Trias Lab (TRIAS), which fell -86.7% and -83.4%, respectively.
NGL was issued in March 2024 at a high valuation and has since moved lower. Kujira’s performance was affected by the team’s high-risk leveraged liquidity positions, which backfired during market volatility.
5. How will the Layer 1 Token issued in 2024 perform?
The various Layer 1 cryptocurrencies launched in 2024 have had mixed performances, reflecting the challenges of standing out in a highly competitive market.
Aleo (ALEO) was launched in September and is down -58.1% since its launch.
Saga (SAGA), which launched in April, faces similar woes and is down -69.9% year to date.
Omni Network (OMNI), which also launched in April, fell -68.8%.
Zeta Chain (ZETA) was launched in February and is down -57.3% year to date.
Router Protocol (ROUTE) and other new projects performance
Router Protocol (ROUTE), which launched in July, has seen a 24.8% price drop, while Ice Open Network (ICE) has seen a relatively small drop of 34.5% since becoming active in January. Meanwhile, Kaia (KAIA), which entered the market as late as the end of October, has achieved a small positive growth of 5.2%. These performances reflect the volatility of new Layer 1 projects and the importance of continued innovation and user adoption to gain market recognition.
6. Top 10 Layer 1 Projects by Price Performance
Note: YTD is the abbreviation of Year-to-Date, which means "this year to date". It is usually used to describe the performance of an indicator (such as earnings, rise or fall, or performance) in the period from the beginning of the year (usually January 1) to the current date.
7. Conclusion
In 2024, the Layer 1 blockchain space showed a diverse performance. Mantra led the way with a year-to-date (YTD) gain of 7035%, thanks to its strategic partnerships and cutting-edge blockchain application cases. Old players such as Bitcoin, Solana and Toncoin performed steadily, proving that they still have strong vitality in the ever-changing market. At the same time, newly issued tokens face huge challenges and often struggle due to high valuations.
As competition between Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions intensifies, a focus on scalability, usability, and compliance will determine the next wave of winners, especially in this rapidly changing crypto market.
Note: This study analyzes the price gains of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap in the Layer 1 category of Coingecko. The YTD gains in the data cover the performance from January 1 to November 18, 2024. These data reflect a cross-section of the market and reflect the differences in performance of each coin in the broader market environment.
