The artificial intelligence (AI)-related meme tokens have surged to an impressive total market capitalization near $11 billion. Among these highly speculative assets that are navigating both the AI and the memecoin narratives of 2024, three are leading.
On January 2, 2025, Finbold retrieved data from CoinGecko’s consolidated “AI meme coins” market cap. By writing time, the AI meme coins total capitalization was precisely at $10.9 billion, up 25.3% in 24 hours.
Three tokens, however, dominate the category by more than 40%, summing up to a nearly $4.60 billion market cap. These leading AI-related cryptocurrencies are AI16Z, FARTCOIN, and ZEREBRO, with a $2.50 billion, $1.37 billion, and $715 million capitalization, respectively.
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Essentially, the cryptocurrency aggregator defines this category as “Meme coins related or inspired by AI. They either leverage AI-powered agents, are created using AI tools, or derive their concept from AI technologies and trends.”
Top 3 leading AI meme coins
The largest AI meme coin by market cap is ai16z (AI16Z), an AI-managed crypto fund, governed by the ai16zDAO. This project is named after the prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (commonly abbreviated as a16z). Yet, there is reportedly no relation to Andreesen Horowitz, being a satire (or a meme) to generate buzz.
Interestingly, DAO members, who are also token holders, can provide investment suggestions to the AI – a large language model (LLM). As cygaar (@0xcygaar) illustrated in a post on X, the token is linked to the Eliza AI, the AI16z’s backbone.
AI16Z is currently trading at $2.28. According to Ejaaz (@cryptopunk7213), it has added over $1 billion market cap in the last five days alone. The analyst believes that AI16Z and Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUALS) will “be priced as L1s this cycle,” forecasting higher capital inflows.
As reported by Colin Wu, Binance Futures just listed AI16Z, ZEREBRO, and GRIFFAIN for derivatives trading. FARTCOIN, the second-largest AI meme token by market cap, is already trading on the platform since late December.
By press time, FARTCOIN and ZEREBRO were trading at $1.39 and $0.70, respectively.
The memecoin surge in 2024
Notably, this current market trend is an inheritance of the memecoin mania observed last year. According to data DWF Labs shared with Finbold on January 2, the memecoin sector grew from $20 billion to $120 billion in 2024, a 500% increase.
However, meme coins have characteristics that resemble financial bubbles, which traders should be aware of. The “Greater Fool Theory” explains the dynamics seen on these speculative tokens, moved primarily by social hype and buzz without any organic demand.
Traders buy the token with the expectation that a “greater fool” will pay a higher price in the future. Nevertheless, the scheme fades away once there are no “greater fools” to continue fueling the price up, often facing liquidity issues and death spirals.
Finbold has reported cases of massive gains or huge losses involving memecoin trading. A volatility that remains true for the now growing AI meme tokens, requiring extreme caution.
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