According to the latest report from Bitfinex, artificial intelligence and meme coins have seen a strong surge following the rise of Bitcoin. The “Bitfinex Alpha” report indicates that the “altcoin season” continues, with meme coins and AI coins playing a leading role in this increase. Accordingly, an index created by CoinGecko that includes meme coins and AI coins has risen by 32% and 38% respectively in the last seven days.
The Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrencies
The report suggests that the intersection of artificial intelligence and crypto assets has garnered significant interest, particularly at the ETH Denver conference. Both fields have become significant areas of interest among investors and developers. The number of new AI projects, which was at 180 in November, has significantly increased to over 250.
As investment capital flows into the sector, strong interest accompanies this growth, pointing to potential synergies between AI technologies and blockchain-based digital assets. Central exchanges have increased altcoin volumes by listing an increasing number of AI projects. The CoinGecko AI index currently has a market value of 28 billion dollars and is expected to outpace other trending categories like meme coins in a second major run in the coming months.
Shift Towards Cat and Dog-Themed Cryptocurrencies
On the other hand, cat-themed coins have attracted attention with a collective gain of 64% over the past week, reaching a market value of over 750 million dollars. Although more modest compared to meme and dog-themed coins, this trend indicates a significant shift towards crypto meme/animal-focused coins.
Speculation around meme tokens has expanded to include tokens on the Solana network, and Solana tokens on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have reached over 19 billion dollars in trading volume since the beginning of the month.
This market surge has also led to an increase in transaction fees on Ethereum, reaching nearly the highest levels in two years. With over 190 million dollars in fees collected throughout the week, Ethereum’s fee revenue is on track to exceed 10 billion dollars annually for the first time since the beginning of 2022, reflecting the increased trading and speculation in the crypto market.