Binance Research: A quick look at crypto trends and big news in March

Author: Binance Research Team, Translation: Golden Finance xiaozou

Key Points:

• This article explores the past A month of key crypto market developments.

• In February 2024, cryptocurrency development momentum was strong, with the total market value increasing by 40%. With the continued inflow of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the price of Bitcoin gradually approached its historical high. .

• The DeFi market also showed strong performance data, with TVL increasing by 50%. Growth in the NFT market was less dramatic, with monthly trading volume rising 3.3% to $1.23 billion.

This article will discuss the main developments of Web3 in February 2024, giving you a clear understanding of the current ecosystem status. We will first analyze the performance of the cryptocurrency, DeFi and NFT markets, and then predict what important events will occur in March 2024.

1. Cryptocurrency market performance in February 2024

February 2024 was an unusually strong month for the cryptocurrency market, with the total market value increasing by 40%. The U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF, launched in January this year, has been a huge success so far and continues to attract capital into the cryptocurrency market. Analysis of ETF flow data in February showed net capital inflows exceeded $4.9 billion, and Grayscale's capital outflows were significantly reduced compared to January. In the coming weeks, the market is expected to turn its focus to the possible launch of spot ETH ETFs, but whether they will be approved remains to be seen.

The chart below shows the monthly change in cryptocurrency market capitalization (%)

The following figure shows the monthly price performance of the top 10 tokens by market capitalization

All the top ten cryptocurrencies showed significant price growth in February, reflecting the market’s upward trend. DOGE, BTC and ETH lead the way with monthly gains of 46%, 45.5% and 44.5% respectively. Increased speculative desire due to bullish markets is often conducive to the rise of meme coins, with DOGE price performance outstanding, followed by other popular tokens such as SHIB, BONK, PEPE and WIF. Despite this, Bitcoin remains in the spotlight, with a price level of $62,500 at the end of the month, just 10% shy of the all-time high of $69,000 (as of this writing in March, the all-time high will be exceeded and updated at least twice ).

• Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

As the market soars, DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL) also showed significant growth throughout February, finishing with a monthly gain of 50%. Among the top ten blockchains ranked by TVL, Ethereum performed particularly well, with an increase of 57%, while other blockchains experienced more modest increases, ranging from 20% to 30%.

It is worth noting that DeFi derivatives trading volume hit a monthly record high of $208 billion, an increase of 62% from January. The surge in derivatives trading volume not only signals a return to market speculation, but also reflects the growth of DeFi derivatives infrastructure over the past few years. In addition, in February, the liquidity re-hypothecation narrative remained strong, with monthly TVL increases of 1247%, 311%, 229% and 142% for Puffer, Renzo, Ether.fi and KelpDAO respectively.

The chart below shows the TVL shares of major blockchains

• NFT

The picture below shows the monthly NFT Trading volume

Entire 2024 In February of this year, the NFT market was relatively stable, with monthly trading volume increasing by 3.3% compared with January, reaching US$1.23 billion. Pandora is the first NFT series to use the ERC404 standard and seems to be the focus of attention. It was launched on February 2nd and had a transaction volume of $147 million that month, the highest of any NFT series. ERC404 is an unofficial experimental token standard that aims to combine the characteristics of fungible tokens and NFTs.

Concerning NFT sales among the top blockchains, Ethereum grew by 55% in February, while Bitcoin fell by 10%, continuing the slowdown from January. Polygon's trading volume largely reversed the previous month's surge, ending February down 70%.

2. Forecast of upcoming events

In order to help users understand the latest Web3 news, the Binance research team summarized the noteworthy events and token unlocks in the next month. Keep an eye out for what’s coming in the blockchain space.

The picture below shows important events in March 2024

The picture below shows the maximum token unlock in US dollars