In This Article
Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization
The total market capitalization of digital assets in 2024 increased by 97.7%, peaking at $3.91 trillion in mid-December. The figure then consolidated around $3.4 trillion.
In the fourth quarter, the capitalization grew by 45.7% ($1.07 trillion). The average trading volume for the last three months of the year was $200.7 billion, which is 128.2% higher than the previous reporting period ($88 billion).
Bitcoin Dominance
The first cryptocurrency strengthened its position relative to other assets, accounting for 53.6% of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization.
In the fourth quarter, Bitcoin increased its dominance by 0.9%. Meanwhile, XRP gained a 2% share, reaching 3.5%. Dogecoin (DOGE) entered the top seven by market capitalization, displacing USDC. Ethereum (ETH) continued to show negative dynamics, reducing its share to 11.8%, the lowest level since April 2021.
Bitcoin vs. TradFi
Bitcoin outperformed all major asset classes both in the fourth quarter and throughout 2024 as a whole.
For most of the year, Bitcoin's returns slightly surpassed those of its competitors; however, after Donald Trump's election victory, it reached a new peak of $108,000, representing a growth of 121.5% since the beginning of the year. Traditional indices, government bonds, and gold performed less effectively. In the fourth quarter, Nasdaq 100 rose by 8%, S&P 500 increased by 3%, and the U.S. dollar index went up by 7%.
AI Tokens
The market capitalization of AI agent tokens surged by 322.2% in the fourth quarter, rising from $4.8 billion to $15.5 billion.
This category of coins emerged in early October following the launch of GOAT. Currently, notable AI agents are only present on Solana and Base, with Base starting to take the lead.
L2 Growth
The number of transactions in the ten largest Ethereum Layer 2 networks nearly quadrupled in 2024 and increased by 48% in the last quarter.
Base led in transfer volume among L2 networks, accounting for 48.3% of the total value. The average daily figure for the network in the fourth quarter was 7.2 million transactions, with Taiko being the second most active network, surpassing Arbitrum.
Spot Trading Volumes
The spot trading volume on centralized exchanges reached $6.45 trillion in the fourth quarter, increasing by 111.7% compared to the previous quarter and marking a new high.
For all of 2024, this figure totaled $17.4 trillion compared to $7.2 trillion in 2023. Binance remains a market leader; however, its share has decreased to 34.7%. The fastest-growing exchange was Upbit, with its volume increasing by 314.8% from $135.5 billion to $561.9 billion on a quarterly basis.
On-chain Trading
In the fourth quarter, Solana became the dominant blockchain for trading volume on DEXs ($220 billion), capturing an average market share of 30%.
The Ethereum network recorded a trading volume of $184 billion, with its dominance ranging from 25% to 28%. Over the annual period, Ethereum managed to surpass Solana with a share of 33.5% compared to Solana's 25.2%.It is worth noting that ForkLog has prepared its traditional New Year's material highlighting key trends and events for 2024.
