In the past few weeks, the value of the cryptocurrency market has stayed above $2 trillion, primarily driven by Bitcoin (BTC), which holds a dominance of approximately 55.65%. As we approach the upcoming fourth Bitcoin halving within the next few days, crypto markets are anticipated to experience heightened volatility. Additionally, there’s an expectation that investors seeking stability will start moving into stablecoins and eventually join the crypto sector during the following months.
Closer Look at CoinGecko’s Q1 Crypto Report
In the first quarter of 2024, the majority of crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, experienced a bullish surge. This information comes from the Q1 2024 Crypto Report by CoinGecko, which tracks over 13,000 digital assets. The significant industry development during this period was the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US.
The report indicated that these funds, including the iShares Bitcoin Trust by BlackRock and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, amassed approximately $55 billion in the initial quarter, contributing significantly to the total valuation which peaked at an impressive $2.9 trillion in March but has since settled around $2.4 trillion.
As of April 2, 2024, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC) (NYSE Arca: GBTC) had experienced a net withdrawal of approximately $6.9 billion, leaving it with around $21 billion in total assets under management. Surprisingly, GBTC continues to be the front-runner among US-listed Bitcoin spot ETFs, despite its higher fees and early investor departures.
During Q1, the report highlighted Ethereum and its staking sector as a key area of interest. Notably, approximately 52% of the total restated Ether tokens, amounting to 2.28 million units, were facilitated by Liquid Staking Protocols (LRTs). Among these, EtherFi protocol held the largest stake, managing around 21%.
In Q1, the Solana (SOL) network experienced significant expansion, primarily driven by meme coin mania. The combined value of the top 10 Solana meme coins reached approximately $9.36 billion by its conclusion.
Despite holding meme coin prominence initially, Solana’s ecosystem has faced challenges in recent times due to network congestion causing transaction backlogs. Nevertheless, according to Coinspeaker, Solana’s team is actively developing a remedy for this issue.
Trading Volumes
During Q1 2023, Magic Eden held a significant lead in the NFT trading market, accounting for approximately one quarter (27%) of the total volume. At the same time, an impressive $4.29 trillion worth of cryptocurrency was traded on centralized exchanges – marking a new high since Q4 2021.
In recent times, the trading volume for Ethereum on significant decentralized exchanges has decreased to less than 40%, as other competing layer-1 chains such as Solana (SOL) and Toncoin (TON) have gained more attention.
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2024-04-17 16:12