5 Biggest Cryptos That Launched in 2024: Where They Stand Now

Key Takeaways

• Hyperliquid’s HYPE coin is the biggest new crypto of 2024, with a market cap of $6.4 billion.
• Both Ethena USDe and Ethena (ENA) are among the top 50 cryptos despite only entering the open market this year. 
• Meanwhile, ONDO and VIRTUAL are among the cryptos that didn’t exist last year and are in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap. 

2024 was yet another good year for crypto. With Bitcoin ETFs coming in at the start of the year and expectations, which may or may not be realized, of Donald Trump’s second term being a golden age for blockchain finance, the overall crypto market cap has more than doubled. 

That said, it hasn’t just been the likes of Bitcoin and Solana that have caused the annual surge. In fact, some cryptos that didn’t even exist at the start of the year have come in and are now in the top 100 cryptos by market capitalization. Let’s take a look at some of them. 

Hyperliquid (HYPE) – $6.4 Billion Market Cap, #24

Hyperliquid’s HYPE came out in late November 2024 and generated a lot of excitement when it had one of the most successful airdrops in crypto history, with billions of dollars worth of HYPE  claimed.

The coin helps power a blockchain designed to facilitate working with Decentralized Finance (DeFi), with a focus on decentralized perpetual exchange services.

It pretty much lived up to its name, entering the top 30 cryptos by market cap within weeks of its launch.

With 270.9 million coins in circulation and a market cap of more than $6 billion on Dec. 20, 2024, we will need to see whether HYPE can be more than, well, just hype in 2025. 

Ethena USDe (USDe) – $5.95 Billion Market Cap, #25

Stablecoins have suffered a moral, if not financial, battering over the last two years, as the quest for regulatory clarity followed the debugging of TerraUSD and the resulting collapse of the LUNA crypto in May 2022. 

However, they are still going strong, and USDe, which describes itself as a “synthetic dollar,” has cemented its place as one of the largest stablecoins in 2024.

It was released in February and claims to be the “first censorship-resistant, scalable, and stable crypto-native solution for money achieved by delta-hedging staked Ethereum collateral.”

Whether that means anything or not, USDe’s impact is undeniable, with more than 5.96 billion coins in circulation as of Dec. 20.

However, we must see if it can reach true parity with the dollar next year. 

Ethena (ENA) – $2.65 Billion Market Cap, #47

Talking of USDe, that stablecoin would not be able to operate as well as it does without Ethena. This Ethereum-based token, which hit the open market in April, serves as the protocol’s utility token, helping keep the crypto going.

While there is something of the algorithmic stablecoin to USDe, which people who remember what happened to TerraUSD would be sensible in remembering, ENA does more than that, giving holders a vote on governance decisions affecting the Ethena platform.

With more than 2.93 billion ENA in circulation, the token had a market cap of $2.65 billion as of Dec. 20.  

Ondo (ONDO) – $2.19 Billion Market Cap, #53

One perhaps more understandable criticism of cryptocurrency is where it fits into the real world. Luckily for crypto enthusiasts looking to counter this argument, Real World Asset (RWA) tokens had a pretty good year in 2024, with more options for people who want to take things that exist outside of the digital world and put them on the blockchain.

Ondo was a crypto that helped lead the way for RWAs when they boomed later in the year.

Released in January and based on Ethereum, ONDO had a circulating supply of 1.38 billion and a market cap of nearly $2.2 billion by Dec. 20.

Virtuals (VIRTUAL) – $2.09 Billion Market Cap, #55

AI is basically the biggest, buzziest tech fad of the last two years, but before venture capitalists got over-excited about artificial intelligence, the Metaverse was the in thing.

Back in 2021 and 2022, you couldn’t move for people telling you how the Metaverse was the future, with massive amounts of money invested and organizations one would not have thought would get involved entering the sector. 

While the Metaverse isn’t quite as popular as it once was, it is still there, and Virtuals wants to combine it with AI. Released in February, VIRTUAL shot up later in the year.

On Dec. 20, it had a circulating supply of about $1 billion and a market cap of $2.09.