Bybit: The volume of meme tokens in institutional portfolios has grown by 125% since the beginning of the year

What’s new? Analysts at the crypto exchange Bybit have noted the growing popularity of meme tokens among both institutional and retail investors in their market report from January through May. The report is based on data on the volume of assets of this type in their users’ portfolios. For example, meme token accumulation volumes among institutional investors rose by 226% from February to March.

The exchange’s report

What else is known? As a result of such a jump, the value of meme tokens in the portfolios of institutional investors reached $204 million, and in April rose to $293,7 million. However, then, as analysts note, institutions went into an aggressive sell-off mode amid deteriorating market sentiment, and by the end of May, the figure fell to $139 million. Despite the sell-off, the figure is still 125% above the mark at the beginning of the year.

As for retail investors, their stocks rose sharply at the peak of the meme token frenzy in early April, with a 478% increase since February. Then they also sold off some of their holdings, reducing their value from $567 million to $371 million.

According to a snapshot of user assets as of May 1, DOGE remains the most preferred meme token for both institutional and retail investors. Dogecoin has a 36,17% share of institutional investors’ total meme token investments, while retail investors have the figure at 24,58%.

“DOGE has certainly found its way into the long-term HODL stacks of both cohorts, reflecting its iconic status and strong performance over time,” the analysts write.

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Both groups also favor meme tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain, with retail investors holding 20,95% in PEPE and 14,61% in SHIB, compared to 22,23% in PEPE and 10,39% in SHIB in institutional meme token portfolios. Institutions also took notice of BONK: its share in meme token portfolios amounted to 10%.

At the same time, there is a significant difference in investment strategies. Retail investors allocate 4% of their portfolios to meme tokens, while the share of such assets of institutions is only 2,5%. Nevertheless, both groups mainly invest in well-known and older meme tokens.