After a rally in the first quarter of 2024, most altcoins appear to have peaked. They are struggling significantly from their March 2024 highs, with reductions in value ranging between 70% and 90%.

According to the latest data, the total market capitalization for crypto, excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, has receded to December 2023 levels. This regression has effectively nullified all gains accrued year-to-date.

Why Crypto Analysts Believe Meme Coins Can Still Make New Highs

Crypto investor Andrew Kang believes that nearly all altcoins have reached their peak for the current bull cycle. Nonetheless, he retains a positive outlook on meme coins, which could defy the broader market downtrend.

“I believe 98%+ of altcoins topped for the cycle except for maybe a handful of coins that may make some new highs in Q4 2024/Q1 2025. Memes probably constitute a majority of the coins that have a chance of making new highs,” Kang revealed on X (Twitter).

Read more: 7 Hot Meme Coins and Altcoins that are Trending in 2024

In contrast to the faltering performance of most altcoins, meme coins exhibit peculiar resilience. Meme coin expert Murad Mahmudov anticipates that the sector will dominate the next altcoin season.

“People are slowly waking up to the black pill that all altcoins have always been meme coins with a bit of techy obfuscation on top. This will cause tens of thousands of people to (1) Sell tech altcoins for pure memes, (2) Buy pure memes instead of tech altcoins with fresh fiat this cycle,” Mahmudov boldly remarked.

Mahmudov’s analysis suggests a shift in investor sentiment. Institutional investors focus largely on Bitcoin (BTC) and, to a lesser extent, Ethereum (ETH), while retail investors gravitate towards meme coins.

“This is why tech altcoins are underperforming. No one wants them,” Mahmudov noted.

Furthermore, data from the crypto analysis platform DYOR highlights the outperformance of meme coins over the last 90 days during market volatility. With a relative strength of -0.37, meme coins have shown remarkable resilience compared to sectors like Web3 gaming and Layer-2/Layer-3 technologies, which recorded much lower strengths of -1.32 and -1.30, respectively.

Relative strength calculates the performance of a particular sector against the broader market.

Hitesh Malviya, founder of DYOR, provided a critical view of the altcoin ecosystem, particularly those backed by venture capitalists (VCs). He argued that many VC-backed projects, despite their initial promise, often do not survive the long term.

“90% of these so-called projects backed by top-tier VCs are essentially white-collar grifters who promise shiny things, raise funds, run the project for three or four years, and eventually die,” Malviya explained.

This pattern, Malviya warns, usually benefits the founders and VCs financially while leaving retail investors at a loss. Malviya’s remarks highlight the need to focus more on community-aligned altcoins.

Read more: Crypto Scam Projects: How To Spot Fake Tokens

“If we fail at that, the community will keep trading meme coins, which isn’t good for the larger section of the community, as the greed factor is always high and lacks fundamental backing,” Malviya concluded.

XRP transactions on exchanges recorded an uptick on Monday, coming amid elevated fear levels in the market.

Traders show a general lack of conviction as altcoins follow Bitcoin’s lead. Despite the bearish sentiment, data indicates heightened interest in Ripple.

XRP Transactions on Exchanges Increase

Data platform Blockchair reported a series of XRP transactions on exchanges on Monday. In one transaction, over 10 million XRP tokens worth at least $4.2 million moved from Binance to an unknown wallet.

In another transaction, more than 3.6 million XRP tokens worth at least $1.45 million moved from Bitstamp to Binance.

Read more: How To Buy XRP and Everything You Need To Know

When traders move their assets to a wallet, it suggests an intention to HODL. On the other hand, moving crypto between centralized exchanges suggests plans to explore different trading features, lower fees, or a wider variety of trading pairs. It may also be a strategic move to arbitrage between exchanges, as traders exploit price differences to make a profit.

Increased XRP trading activity coincides with changing social sentiment. According to CFGI.io, sentiment has improved from fear to neutral. This indicates that the market is currently neither overly optimistic nor excessively pessimistic.

Along with it, the investment suggestion remains to hold on amid “very positive” volatility, suggesting the need for caution. Nevertheless, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer suggests the market needs to focus on XRP’s utility rather than its investment potential.

“Still costs $1 to buy enough XRP to make a $1 payment,” Schwartz noted.

The expression came as community members showed concern over how the ongoing market crash would impact the Ripple token. XRP has been subdued below the $0.6 price threshold over the past several months. 

Focus on the Primary Function of Ripple, David Schwartz Says

Ripple CTO suggests that XRP holders can take advantage of the current price to purchase more tokens. He believes this highlights XRP’s primary function as a medium of exchange, facilitating fast and cost-effective cross-border transactions despite the bearish market.

However, some say Schwartz is deviating from his 2017 comment and is trying to manipulate the narrative.

“It can’t be dirt cheap. That does not make any sense. If XRP costs $1, they would need a million XRP, which would cost $1 million. If XRP costs a million dollars, they would need one XRP, which would, again, cost $1 million. Except that, higher prices make payments cheaper. Right now, you can buy a million-dollar house with bitcoins. When bitcoins were $300, it would move the market too much and be too expensive to be practical. So higher prices make payments cheaper,” the Ripple executive said in X post.

Read more: Ripple (XRP) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

Nevertheless, Schwartz shot down the allegation that he was deviating and manipulating, reiterating his stance on XRP’s main purpose. This emphasis suggests the Ripple network’s commitment to promoting XRP for its utility in cross-border payments, not as an investment tool.

During Token2049 in Singapore, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also said the network is now more focused on what utility they are building than on speculative trading.

“Bitcoin ETF volumes have been soaring, we’re due for a halving, and the broader crypto market is following BTC’s lead. As someone who has experienced multiple cycles of ‘crypto is back,’ this bullishness must go hand in hand with real-world utility. That’s the real march of progress,” Garlinghouse explained.

A crypto whale wallet – 0x742, likely liquidated a substantial Ethereum position valued at approximately $21.43 million. This investor deposited 7,240 Ethereum (ETH) into the Kraken crypto exchange at $2,960 per ETH.

The move is intriguing, especially given the proximity to the anticipated launch of Ethereum-based ETFs.

Ethereum Attempts a Price Recovery

According to Spot On Chain, in December 2022, 0x742 had withdrawn 8,240 ETH from Kraken at a much lower price of $1,189. This strategic hold resulted in a profit of roughly $12.83 million, marking a 149% gain over eighteen months.

Apart from the deposit of 7,240 ETH to Kraken, the crypto whale transferred an additional 1,000 ETH to an unidentified wallet.

Read more: Ethereum ETF Explained: What It Is and How It Works

This divestment coincides with a surge of optimism about the pending approval and trading of Ethereum-based ETFs in the US. Analysts such as James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg Intelligence suggest these ETFs might start trading as soon as next week.

Additionally, Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, suggested that ETFs could commence trading within the next two weeks, with a target around July 15. The prediction comes as Bitwise updated its S-1 filing last week.

Geraci explained his reasoning behind the July 15 prediction.

“Most issuers (I believe all but Bitwise) still have to submit amendments on Monday. The final S-1 will then be submitted after that, which needs to happen by Wednesday as I assume issuers don’t want a Friday launch. I think this is unlikely, so I move the timeline to the July 15,” Geraci said.

Notably, crypto whales like 0x742 decided to exit positions ahead of these developments. Investors typically deposit assets into centralized exchanges when they plan to sell and withdraw them to private wallets for long-term holdings.

Therefore, this move might indicate skepticism about Ethereum’s near-term market prospects despite the positive outlook for ETFs. It might also suggest that the crypto whale panic sold after Ethereum hit a low of $2,800 last week.

Ethereum’s price action has been volatile recently, with a notable dip of about 23% from its peak after preliminary ETF approval news. However, it has shown signs of recovery, forming a double bottom pattern, which suggests potential upward movement.

Read more: Ethereum (ETH) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

If Ethereum can break through the resistance at $3,080, it could climb to $3,350. Conversely, failing to break this resistance might lead to price consolidation in the range of $2,876 to $3,080.