Key Takeaways
• This article provides an overview of the recent Binance research report, discussing the main developments in the crypto market over the past month.
• December 2023 ended the year on a positive note, with the crypto market cap rising by more than 15% during the month. The DeFi and NFT markets have also seen significant growth, maintaining an upward trend compared to the previous period.
• Expected developments in January 2024, such as the performance of the U.S. approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs and altcoins, will be key to shaping the trajectory of the crypto industry in the year ahead.
With Binance Research, you can take advantage of industry-level analysis of the Web3 shaping process. By sharing these insights, we hope to provide our community with the latest knowledge in the field of crypto research.
Today's article explores the major developments in Web3 in December 2023 to provide an overview of the current state of the crypto ecosystem. Before previewing the major events to watch in January 2024, we analyzed the performance of the cryptocurrency, DeFi, and NFT markets.
Crypto market performance in December 2023
The crypto market surged in December 2023, ending the year on a very positive note. Total market capitalization increased by 15.2% this month, mainly driven by expectations that a US Bitcoin spot ETF could be approved.
Despite last-minute revisions to several applications, the general consensus in the market is cautious optimism. With the approval deadline approaching in the first two weeks of January, it remains to be seen what the market will do and react.
Cryptocurrency Market Cap Monthly Change (%)
Source: CoinMarketCap (31 December 2023)
The monthly price performance of the top 10 coins by market capitalization
Source: CoinMarketCap (31 December 2023)
Throughout December, the prices of all the top 10 tokens by market capitalization continued to climb, with altcoins once again leading the way. The monthly gains of AVAX, SOL, and ADA were 84.2%, 71.9%, and 60.1%, respectively.
In recent months, Solana's stellar performance and overall improvements to alternative L1 networks have sparked interest in this type of altcoin. Some have called them the "Ethereum killers", and the market focus has shifted to this narrative to some extent. Further factors such as airdrop mining, meme coin frenzy, and bearish sentiment around ETH also contribute to this trend.
BNB broke through the previous stagnant trend and rose by 39.2% to become the fifth-best performing coin for the month. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum ended the month up below 12%. As we head into 2024, whether the "Ethereum killer" narrative will persist will be key.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
In December 2023, the DeFi market grew by 15.2%, maintaining its upward trend since November. All of the top 10 blockchains saw growth in total value (TVL), with Solana seeing the largest increase at 115%. Other gainers included Base and Avalanche, with 53.9% and 60.7%, respectively.
Seamless was Base's first native lending protocol and is now TVL's second-largest protocol on this blockchain. Usage of other lending protocols also rose, with monthly gains of 13.9%, 7.2% and 4.2% for AAVE, JustLend and Compound, respectively.
TVL share of the top blockchains
Source: DeFiLlama (December 31, 2023)
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
The monthly trading volume of NFTs
Source: Cryptoslam (31 December 2023)
In December last year, NFT trading volume set a monthly record for all of 2023, surpassing $1.7 billion, a monthly increase of 77%. The growth was primarily driven by activity on the Bitcoin and Solana networks, which saw a 125.6% and 378.9% increase in USD sales, respectively.
Ordinals continues to build momentum, with BRC-20 NFTs firmly in the top five by 30-day trading volume. New NFT-focused blockchains have already begun to emerge, such as Frame and RARI Chain. As competition between blockchains intensifies, we will see how these developments affect NFT performance in 2024.
Upcoming events
To help users stay up-to-date on the latest Web3 news, Binance Research has rounded up noteworthy events and token unlocks for the coming month. Keep an eye out for upcoming developments in the blockchain space.
Important events for January 2024
Source: Binance Research
The maximum token unlocked in USD
来源：TokenUnlocks，币安研究院
Binance Research Institute
The Binance research team is committed to conducting an objective, independent, and comprehensive analysis of the crypto space. We publish great insights on Web3 topics, including but not limited to the crypto ecosystem, blockchain applications, and the latest market developments.
This article is just a snapshot of the full report, with further analysis of the most important market charts of the past month. It also delves into Solana and stablecoins, the recent inscription frenzy, the restaking market, and native yield-generating blockchains.
Read the full version of this report, please: