The cryptocurrency market cap skyrocketed by 64.5% in Q1 2024, registering a record high of $2.9 trillion on March 13, according to CoinGecko’s in-depth 2024 Q1 Crypto Industry Report. This surge, almost double that of Q4 2023, was driven by the early January approval of US spot Bitcoin ETFs, culminating in a Bitcoin all-time high in March 2024.
The report's highlights include the 68.8% boost of Bitcoin, setting a new peak of $73,098. US Spot Bitcoin ETFs held assets under management over $55.1 billion as of April 2. Ethereum restaking on EigenLayer surged, witnessing a 36% growth to hit 4.3M ETH.
In the centralized exchanges space, Binance rose as the leading platform, ending March 2024 with a 50% market share. Throughout the quarter, a surge in new listings and project launches on Binance coincided with the exchange reaffirming its dominance. The total spot trading volume on centralized exchanges also marked a high of $4.29 trillion in Q1 2024, the most since Q4 2021.
While Ethereum's portion of the DEX trading volume fell under 40% during Q1 2024, it managed to record $70 billion in trades in March 2024 amidst a broad surge in trading activity.
The growth was not limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum, as the top 10 Solana memecoins flourished with an 801.5% growth, adding $8.32 billion in Q1 2024. The booming NFT market also saw a trading volume totaling $4.7 billion across the top 10 marketplaces, with Magic Eden usurping the market share lead.