2024 Q1 Cryptocurrency Industry Report

Source: coingecko, compiled by Golden Finance @哲夜

After a strong performance in the fourth quarter of 2023, the total market value of cryptocurrencies continued to rise in the first quarter of 2024, increasing by 64.5% to a high of $2.9 trillion on March 13.

In absolute terms, the growth this quarter (+$1.1 trillion) was almost twice the growth in the previous quarter (+$0.61 trillion). This was mainly due to the approval of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States in early January, which led to Bitcoin hitting a new high in March.

Our comprehensive first quarter 2024 cryptocurrency industry report covers everything from the cryptocurrency market landscape to analysis of Bitcoin and Ethereum, takes a deep dive into the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystems, and reviews the performance of centralized exchanges (CEX) and decentralized exchanges (DEX).

7 highlights of CoinGecko's first quarter 2024 cryptocurrency industry report:

1. Bitcoin grew by +68.8% in the first quarter of 2024, setting a new all-time high of $73,098.

2. As of April 2, assets under management of U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have exceeded $55.1 billion

3. Ethereum re-collateralization on EigenLayer reached 4.3 million ETH, a quarterly increase of 36%

4. Solana's memecoins rose sharply in the first quarter of 2024, and the market value of the top ten increased by $8.32 billion

5. In the first quarter of 2024, the NFT trading volume of the top ten market trading platforms reached $4.7 billion, Magic Eden currently leads in market share

6. Spot trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEXs) reached $4.29 trillion in Q1 2024, the highest level since Q4 2021

7. Ethereum's share of trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) fell below 40%, while other chains attracted more attention

1. Bitcoin grew +68.8% in Q1 2024, setting a new all-time high of $73,098

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to rise in Q1 2024, rising 68.8% during the period.

After the approval of the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), BTC immediately saw a correction of -16.0% to a quarterly low of $39,505. However, it then rose by 85.0% to a new all-time high of $73,098. Subsequently, it fell back by -18.0% before recovering to $71,247 at the end of the quarter.

As for trading volume, it gradually rose in the first quarter of 2024, reaching an average of $34.1 billion per day. This is an increase of 89.8% compared to $18 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Bitcoin ETFs hold more than $55.1 billion.

2. As of April 2, the assets under management of U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have exceeded $55.1 billion

As of April 2, 2024, the funds held by U.S. spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs have exceeded $551 billion. This happened after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot BTC ETF trading on January 10.

BlackRock's IBIT ETF has accumulated more than $17 billion in Bitcoin and established itself as the second-largest Bitcoin ETF. It also had the most trading volume in the first quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, Grayscale’s converted GBTC ETF had $21.7 billion in assets under management at the end of April 2. It experienced a net outflow of $6.9 billion due to early investor profits and higher fees relative to competitors. Still, it was the largest Bitcoin ETF in the first quarter.

3. Ethereum re-hypothecation on EigenLayer reached 4.3 million ETH, a quarterly increase of 36%

In the first quarter of 2024, Ethereum (ETH) re-hypothecation on EigenLayer began to take off, and the total number of re-hypothecations increased by 36% to 4.3 million.

Most of the re-collateralized Ethereum (52.6%) is held by Liquid Restaking Protocols (LRTs), totaling 2.28 million ETH. EtherFi was the largest LRT protocol in Q1, with a market share of 21.0%. It grew 2,616% throughout the quarter and held 910,000 ETH at the end of March.

4. Solana’s memecoins surged in Q1 2024, with the top ten increasing their market cap by $8.32 billion

In Q1 2024, the top 10 Solana (SOL) memecoins grew 801.5%, adding $83.2 billion. They ended the quarter with a combined market cap of $93.6 billion.

Of the top 10 Solana memecoins, only Bonk (BONK) and Samoyedcoin (SAMO) exist until Q4 2023. BONK has been the number one memecoin on Solana since launching in December 2022, but was overthrown by dogwifhat (WIF) in early March. WIF launched in November 2023. Meanwhile, Book Of Memes (BOME) launched on March 14 and reached a market cap of $1 billion within two days.

5. In the first quarter of 2024, the NFT trading volume of the top 10 market trading platforms reached 4.7 billion US dollars, and Magic Eden is currently leading in market share

In the first quarter of 2024, the NFT trading volume of the top 10 markets reached 4.7 billion US dollars.

Blur remained the leading NFT market in the first quarter, with a trading volume of more than 1.5 billion US dollars. Its market share was 27.6% in the same period, an increase from 24.9% in the fourth quarter of 2023. At the same time, Magic Eden surpassed Blur in trading volume in March due to the introduction of its Diamond reward program and the Ethereum market in cooperation with Yuga Labs. It had a trading volume of over $760 million in March.

OKX dominated Bitcoin NFT trading volume in 2023, but its trading volume fell by 73.3% from $680 million in December 2023 to $180 million in March 2024. Bitcoin NFT trading volume shifted to other platforms such as Magic Eden and UniSat. OKX had a market share of 9.5% in March 2024.

6. Spot trading volume of centralized exchanges (CEX) reached $4.29 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2021

In the first quarter of 2024, the spot trading volume of the top 10 centralized exchanges (CEX) reached $4.29 trillion. This is an increase of 95.3% from the previous quarter. This is the highest quarterly trading volume recorded by the top 10 spot CEXes since December 2021.

Binance remains the largest CEX, with a market share of 50% at the end of March 2024, gradually regaining its dominance throughout the quarter. At the same time, the number of new listings and project launches on exchanges has increased significantly. Meanwhile, MEXC, an exchange known for its large number of small-cap tokens, has seen its market share shrink as traders focus on major tokens such as BTC, ETH, and SOL.

7. Ethereum's share of trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) fell below 40%, while other chains attracted more attention

In the first quarter of 2024, Ethereum's share of trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) fell below 40%. It hit an all-time low in February 2024, accounting for only 30% of the market share. However, despite the decline in market share, it still recorded $70 billion in volume in March 2024, driven by a surge in market-wide trading activity.

On Arbitrum, DEX volume boomed in January and February 2024, boosted by its STIP incentive program. It even managed to surpass Ethereum’s trading volume during the same period. However, once the incentive ended, trading volumes plummeted in March, and the chain ended the month with an 8% market share.