Binance Research: Key Trends in Crypto – April 2024
Main Takeaways
This blog previews the recent Binance Research report discussing key developments in crypto markets over the past month.
March 2024 was another positive month for crypto, with total market capitalization increasing 16.3% as BTC breached a new all-time high above $73,000 on two occasions.
The DeFi market also sustained its uptrend, with TVL increasing 14%. Similar trends were seen in the NFT market, with monthly trading volume rising 14.6% to $1.41 billion.
Thanks to Binance Research, you can take advantage of industry-grade analyses of the processes shaping Web3. By sharing these insights, we hope to empower our community with the latest knowledge from the field of crypto research.
Today’s blog explores key Web3 developments in March 2024 to provide an overview of the ecosystem’s current state. We analyze the performance of crypto, DeFi, and NFT markets before previewing major events to look out for in April 2024.
Crypto Market Performance in March 2024
The crypto market continued its uptrend in March, ending the month with a 16.3% increase in total market capitalization. Bitcoin’s price reached a new all-time high, breaching $73,000 twice before sharply retracting, with the lowest point at around $60,000. Though capital inflows to spot BTC ETFs showed a slowdown in the latter half of March, they have still managed to capture over $12 billion in net inflows since they launched in January. As we move forward to April, we are less than 20 days away from the next Bitcoin halving, one of the most anticipated events in the crypto industry. Narratives around Bitcoin will likely continue to capture the market’s focus, with accompanying volatility in price action to be expected.
Monthly change in crypto market capitalization (%)
Source: CoinMarketCap (March 31, 2024)
Monthly price performance of the top 10 coins by market capitalization
Most of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization saw positive price action in March, maintaining the market’s upward momentum from previous months. SHIB, TON, and DOGE led the way with monthly gains of 137.7%, 111.9%, and 70.1%, respectively. Recently, meme coin trading has emerged as a major narrative due to the popularity these tokens have gained across various networks, including Solana and Base. Factors such as price volatility and low unit bias have driven speculation on these coins.
SOL and BNB showed notable gains, closing the month with price increases of 54.7% and 50.4%, respectively. SOL saw impressive performance throughout March, reaching a new all-time high in terms of market capitalization and a record decentralized exchange (DEX) volume of $74.5 billion. Slowing down its recent surge but remaining noteworthy nonetheless, BTC experienced a gain of 13.9%, hitting a new all-time high above $73,000 on two occasions. XRP, ETH, and ADA were on the lower end of price performance for the month, with XRP and ETH increasing 6.1% and 5.0%, respectively, while ADA witnessed a decrease of 1.6%.
Decentralized finance (DeFi)
The DeFi market continued its uptrend in total value locked (TVL), recording a monthly gain of 14% for March 2024. Among the top ten blockchains, Solana and Base stood out with increases of 94% and 143%, respectively. Largely driven by the current frenzy surrounding meme coins, Solana’s DEX volume hit a new record of $60 billion. A similar trend was seen on Base, which also recorded a new high of $7.82 billion in volume. As meme coin trading heats up, the potential of these coins to drive adoption on these networks has become a popular topic of discussion within the community.
TVL share of top blockchains
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
Monthly NFT trading volume
The NFT market also sustained its momentum in March, experiencing an uptick in total sales volume of 14.6% to $1.41 billion. Notably, NFT collections on Bitcoin, such as Ordinals and NodeMonkes, saw a significant surge in sales volume, culminating in monthly increases of 170% and 140%, respectively. These were the top-performing sales collections for the month. Conversely, the buzz around Pandora, the first NFT collection using the ERC-404 standard, slowed down in March, with the collection’s sales volume reducing by 78%. In terms of NFT sales volume across the top chains, Bitcoin led with a sales volume of $514 million, followed by Ethereum with $489 million and Solana with $243 million. All other chains recorded volumes substantially lower than the top three.
Upcoming Events
To help users stay updated on the latest Web3 news, the Binance Research team has summarized notable events and token unlocks for the month to come. Keep an eye on these upcoming developments in the blockchain space.
Notable events in April 2024
Source: Binance Research
Largest token unlocks in US$ terms
Binance Research
The Binance Research team is committed to delivering objective, independent, and comprehensive analyses of the crypto space. We publish insightful takes on Web3 topics, including but not limited to the crypto ecosystem, blockchain applications, and the latest market developments.
This article is only a snapshot of the full report, which contains further analyses of the most important market charts from the past month. It also dives deeper into recent developments surrounding BTC’s price action amid sustained ETF inflows, Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade, Solana DEX volumes, and the Dai Savings Rate.
Read the full version of this Binance Research report here.
Further Reading
Disclaimer: This material is prepared by Binance Research and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast or investment advice and is not a recommendation, offer, or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or cryptocurrencies or to adopt any investment strategy. The use of terminology and the views expressed are intended to promote understanding and the responsible development of the sector and should not be interpreted as definitive legal views or those of Binance. The opinions expressed are as of the date shown above and are the opinions of the writer; they may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources deemed by Binance Research to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive, and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given, and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by Binance. This material may contain ‘forward-looking’ information that is not purely historical in nature. Such information may include, among other things, projections and forecasts. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. This material is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell in any securities, cryptocurrencies, or any investment strategy, nor shall any securities or cryptocurrency be offered or sold to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase, or sale would be unlawful under the laws of such jurisdiction. Investment involves risks.