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A survey conducted by CoinGecko revealed that the PolitiFi Coins category, the so-called “political cryptocurrencies” grew by 782.4% this year. The analysis considered the period from January 1 to August 25 of this year.
According to CoinGecko, the sector’s performance has far outpaced that of meme coins as a whole, which saw 90.2% growth over the same period.
However, political cryptocurrencies still represent a small portion of the meme coin category, to which they belong. The study found that, as of August 25, the PolitiFi sector had just 1.5% of the meme coin market share.
In terms of market capitalization, political cryptocurrencies registered a value of US$680.8 million on that date, while the general category of meme coins reached 45.6 billion USD.
What is the PolitiFi category
The report clarifies that so-called “PolitiFi coins” represent a subgroup of the meme coins category. They are generally inspired by political figures and events.
Many are satirical, and are not tied to any specific politician (although some are). As with meme coins in general, political cryptocurrencies are purely speculative.
Why this sector is growing
The study associates this boom in PolitiFi tokens with this year’s presidential election scenario in the United States.
One example cited in the CoinGecko study refers to the tokens BODEN (inspired by US President Joe Biden) and KAMA (which references Kamala Harris’ candidacy for US President).
When Biden announced that he would no longer run for election, and Harris would instead, BODEN fell 57.4%, while the KAMA token grew 59.6%.
The biggest political cryptocurrencies
According to the CoinGecko report, also taking August 25 as a reference, the largest Politi coin was PEOPLE, a token from the ConstitutionDAO project, with US$385.6 million in market capitalization.
Interestingly, this political cryptocurrency has been discontinued and contributors have been reimbursed. But it still leads the PolitiFi coin scene.
The second on the list is MAGA (TRUMP), with a market cap of 178.9 million USD on August 25. However, despite currently occupying the second place among political cryptocurrencies, this token has declined significantly in the last few months evaluated. In June, its market capitalization was 789.8 million USD.
MAGA Hat (MAGA) is the third largest PolitiFi coin, with a market value of 35.5 million USD in August. This is similarly lower than the 232.4 million USD it had in May.
What to expect after the US elections
Another analysis of this category of cryptocurrencies, by Jurica Dujmović, editor at Weiss Ratings, assessed the long-term viability of political meme coins.
While its current popularity is undeniable, it takes more than that to move beyond a mere novelty and ensure sustainability.
According to Dujmović, the trend around political meme coins has so far been concentrated mainly in the United States. However, this movement has the potential to expand globally in the future.
He stated, however, that this depends on several factors, such as: the regulation of cryptocurrencies in other countries, how massively (or not) these economies adopt these digital assets and how their political systems are organized.
“Less polarized political systems may not provide fertile ground for movements of this kind,” Dujmović noted.
