Forget Meme Coins: Tokenized Stocks and RWAs Are Becoming Fastest-Growing Categories

Tokenized stocks emerged as the fastest-growing crypto coin category between January 2024 and May 2026, according to a new CoinGecko report tracking the number of coins listed across major sectors.

The category expanded by a whopping 3,314.3% during the period, after rising from just 14 listed coins to 478.

Crypto’s Fastest-Growing Category

Real World Assets (RWA) followed closely as another major growth area, as it increased by 1,903.1% from 64 coins to 1,282. The sharp rise in both categories highlights growing interest in bringing traditional financial assets onto blockchain networks. CoinGecko said that the shift toward real-world asset tokenization accelerated significantly from late 2024 onward.

Despite these emerging trends, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) remained the largest non-meme crypto category by the end of the study period. The number of DeFi-related coins climbed from 549 in January 2024 to 2,328 by May 2026, which represented growth of 324.0%.

Another major theme during the period was the rapid expansion of AI-related coin listings. CoinGecko found that AI became the second-largest listed category on its platform after surging from 145 coins at the start of 2024 to 1,798 by May 2026, a rise of 1,140.0%.

In the process, AI overtook Gaming (GameFi), which had occupied the second spot for much of 2024. GameFi grew by almost 263% and ended the period with 1,379 listed coins. CoinGecko said the AI category gained momentum in October 2024 alongside the launch of the AI-themed meme coin Goatseus Maximus (GOAT).

Growth continued as artificial intelligence became a mainstream topic, further fueled by the rapid expansion of companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Nvidia. Within crypto, the trend was driven by two key developments: a growing number of AI-branded meme coins and the emergence of on-chain AI agents, which attracted significant speculative attention and developer activity toward the end of 2024.

Meme Coin Trends Evolve

Meme coins followed a different path from the broader crypto market. 3,287 coins were listed on CoinGecko across 10 meme coin categories by May 2026. Dog-themed tokens remained the biggest group with 1,055 coins, after exploding during the 2024 meme coin craze as traders piled into Solana-based dog coins alongside the DOGE and WIF rallies.

AI Meme was another standout. This cohort grew from virtually nothing at the start of 2024 to 499 coins by May 2026 as interest in AI spread across crypto. Boy’s Club ecosystem grew into one of the largest memecoin subcategories in the crypto market and reached 346 coins. Meanwhile, PolitiFi surged ahead of the 2024 US election but stopped growing afterward. Chinese Meme was the newest trend, as it climbed to 117 coins by May 2026.

Despite the rapid growth in meme coin listings, market performance has been far less encouraging. According to CryptoRank, the meme coin sector has struggled to recover since its 2024 peak. Its overall market value has shrunk significantly despite several rebound attempts. While Dogecoin remains the dominant player, most major meme coins continue to trade well below their previous highs.

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