In its latest report titled “Full-Year 2023 & Themes for 2024,” Binance Research has highlighted key areas of growth and development in the crypto space, outlining eight themes expected to drive significant progress throughout the coming year.
The crypto market witnessed a remarkable turnaround in 2023, boasting a 109% increase in total market cap, driven by substantial gains in Q1 and Q4. Binance attributes this surge to the optimism surrounding Bitcoin ETF approvals and the anticipation of Bitcoin’s upcoming halving. The overall global financial environment, marked by resilient GDP growth and moderated inflation rates, also provided a conducive backdrop for the bullish performance of risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
The report details the success of Layer-1s and Layer-2s in 2023. Bitcoin regained dominance, while L2s experienced a 321.3% increase in total value locked and a 77.2% rise in dominance. Decentralized Finance witnessed robust growth, with TVL rising 38.9% YoY, propelled by the ascent of liquid staking tokens and the adoption of real-world assets.
Despite a rebound in October 2023, the global stablecoin market capitalization saw a 5.2% decline YTD, with Tether’s USDT maintaining 70.6% dominance. Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) rebounded impressively in Q4, with December’s volumes reaching US$1.7B, driven by the success of Bitcoin NFTs.
The report also highlights a resurgence in gaming activity by the year-end, with notable launches from gaming giants anticipated in 2024. SocialFi, exemplified by friend.tech’s success in August 2023 took center stage but has seen a decline in activity since. Meanwhile, Web3 projects attracted a total of 1,173 investments in 2023, accumulating $9.0B in capital. The report emphasizes a positive outlook for the market recovery and substantial capital allocation towards building infrastructure.
Anticipated Crypto Progress Themes
Looking ahead to 2024, Binance Research identifies eight key themes:
- Bitcoin narratives and market dynamics
- Ownership economy applications in decentralized social media and physical network infrastructure
- Increased integration of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in crypto
- Growth in the tokenization of real-world assets (“RWAs”)
- Thriving on-chain liquidity landscape
- Accelerated institutional adoption
- Ongoing emphasis on security
- Importance of account abstraction for user accessibility in blockchain adoption.
These themes are expected to drive significant progress and innovation throughout the year. However, the report concludes with optimism about the market’s performance and the expected future developments.
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