CoinMarketCap Releases 2024 H1 Cryptocurrency Market Report

CoinMarketCap (CMC), a global cryptocurrency data platform, has published its market report for the first half of 2024. According to CMC, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization at the end of H1 2024 totaled $2.3 trillion, reflecting a 14.5% decline over the past two quarters. Conversely, the 24-hour average trading volume surged by 223% to $79.4 billion.

The bullish sentiment in the market, driven by events such as the approval of Ethereum ETFs and expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts, sustained despite a reduction in liquidity to levels last seen in September 2023. Notably, Ethereum gas fees fell to their lowest point (2 gweis), and there was minimal inflow into ETF assets, contributing to reduced liquidity.

# Bitcoin and Stablecoins Lead the Bull Run

In the early stages of the bull market, Bitcoin played a leading role. The Bitcoin dominance (BTC.D) indicator, which compares Bitcoin’s market cap to the total cryptocurrency market cap, rose from 38.4% in November 2022 to 54% in June. Stablecoin supply also grew by 19.8% from the start of 2024, signaling the onset of the bullish trend.

The trend of transferring Bitcoin from exchanges to cold wallets, indicative of long-term holding, reappeared, mirroring behavior seen in the 2021 bull market. This bull run also saw a smaller decline compared to previous cycles, with the maximum drop being 22%, compared to over 50% during the 2021 bull market. This is attributed to Bitcoin’s maturation as an asset and the impact of ETF inflows.

Bitcoin reached a record high of $73,000 before the halving, deviating from the previous cycles where new highs typically followed supply shocks. This unprecedented movement was largely driven by institutional inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs.

The current bull market is primarily led by existing cryptocurrency investors and institutions. Institutional funds totaling $17.1 billion poured into the market in H1, with Bitcoin accounting for $16.7 billion of this influx. On the other hand, retail user indicators, such as Google search trends, new cryptocurrency YouTube subscribers, and app store rankings, suggest that retail investors are yet to re-enter the market.

# Q2 Cryptocurrency Market Shows Theme-Driven Volatility and Maturity Signs

During Q2 2024, 89% of cryptocurrencies saw a decline in market capitalization. More than 30 sectors lost 20%-40% of their value, while three sectors recorded positive growth. Following a meme coin-led bull market in March and early April, the market renewed its focus on stablecoins (+8.6%) and AI & big data (+2.5%).

According to CMC data, Tether posted $4.52 billion in profits in Q1 2024, with a team of approximately 50 people generating 80% of Goldman Sachs’ revenue. Tether’s success has spurred new projects to enter the cryptocurrency space amid rising interest rates and increasing institutional funds.

Over the past eight months, the Solana ecosystem saw the launch of 27 new tokens, maintaining its lead in growth charts. Ethereum followed, with 14 new tokens listed, ranking second in growth.

However, in Q2, meme coins and the AI & big data sectors showed signs of slowing down compared to March. Numerous projects preparing to launch in these sectors were canceled, indicating a shift in market interest towards other fields.

# Meme Coins Transform from Joke to Major Trend in Cryptocurrency

Meme coins have become the most popular category in cryptocurrency, surpassing previously dominant sectors like smart contracts, DeFi, and NFTs. In June, meme coins accounted for nearly 23% of CMC pageviews, with over 25 million views.

Interest in the AI sector has waned, declining from its peak in February to a 6.4% share in June. Aside from the meme coin craze, projects related to real-world assets (RWA) and AI decentralized computing gained traction, especially within the Ethereum ecosystem. This trend reflects Ethereum developers’ efforts to integrate blockchain technology with traditional finance and drive innovations applicable to the real world.

# Global Cryptocurrency Ecosystem Diversifies by Country Exposure

The chart illustrates the distribution of CMC webpage user traffic by country, showing changes in user proportions from Q1 to Q2 2024.

Brazil emerged as the second-largest country by user traffic, with approximately 9% market share. Following Brazil were India (7.57%), Indonesia (6.5%), Germany (6.4%), and Russia (6.2%). South Korean traffic also increased to 3.54%.

Bitcoin remained the most popular cryptocurrency across all continents except Africa, where NOT coin searches surpassed Bitcoin, ranking first. NOT coin also gained significant popularity in Europe and Asia, ranking second in search volume.

# Real-World Assets Exhibit Fastest Growth in H1; BlackRock Token Fund Draws Interest

In the real-world asset market, fiat-collateralized stablecoins dominated with 96.6% of total market capitalization, followed by government bonds (1.65%) and commodities (1.21%).

USDT continued its market dominance with a 22.4% increase in market capitalization during H1 2024, maintaining its position as the most traded token. It also accounted for about 70% of the spot trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEX).

USDC rebounded from last year’s decline, recording a 32% growth in market capitalization in H1 2024. This growth was driven by Circle’s aggressive marketing initiatives towards institutional clients and the launch of Coinbase International, boosting USDC trading volumes in non-U.S. markets.

BlackRock’s BUIDL fund led the real-world asset tokenization sector, reaching $500 million in assets under management (AUM) within three months of its launch.

Launched on the Ethereum network in March 2024, the BUIDL fund saw inflows of $453 million within three months, setting a record for the highest AUM among tokenized asset funds. Ondo Finance, a key contributor to the BUIDL fund, managed $195 million of AUM, offering tokenized institutional financial products. Since its release on January 18, 2024, the ONDO token has surged by 634%, playing a leading role in the real-world asset sector.

Currently, the total value locked (TVL) in RWA protocols is $4.39 billion, yet to surpass the previous cycle’s peak of $6.37 billion.