By
Mayowa Adebajo
April 30th, 2024
According to the CoinMarketCap report, the global crypto market demonstrated continued growth in the second quarter of the year, with the total market capitalization reaching $1.17 trillion.
CoinMarketCap, one of the biggest crypto statistics providers, has published its much-anticipated H1 2023 crypto market report. This in-depth examination of the industry offers significant insights into market performance, upcoming trends, and the general evolution of the cryptocurrency business in the first half of this year.
CoinMarketCap Report: Top Growing Crypto Sectors
Amidst a challenging market, where volatility and uncertainty have been prevalent, certain sectors within the crypto industry have shown remarkable growth in terms of market capitalization Year-to-Date (YTD).
According to the CoinMarketCap report, the VR/AR sector has witnessed an impressive growth of 704% in market cap. Similarly, Artificial Intelligence & Big Data sector has experienced significant growth, with a market cap increase of 323%.
Alongside these sectors, bluechip projects in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space and Infrastructure have made a strong comeback. DeFi, which encompasses various financial applications built on blockchain technology, has witnessed renewed interest. Among these are lending and borrowing which surged by 149%, derivatives at 75%, storage with a record 86% growth, and interoperability which topped its growth at 58%.
In terms of new listings, the Memes sector has been the most active, with over 260 new coins added year-to-date. Following the Memes sector, AI & Big Data is the second most active sector in terms of new listings, with an additional 61 coins added. DeFi ranked third in terms of new listings and has added 47 new projects to its ecosystem.
H1 Best Performing Coins
H1 2023 has seen several tokens and projects within the crypto industry experience significant gains. Here are some of the top gainers during this period: Pendle (PENDLE), an Arbitrum ecosystem token that went live on Binance Launchpool and expanded to the BNB Chain.
Radiant Capital (RDNT) is another token in the Arbitrum ecosystem that deployed on the BNB Chain and has plans to expand to Ethereum. The project aims to provide decentralized insurance solutions for the crypto space.
Velodrome Finance (VELO), an Optimism ecosystem token, launched V2 on June 23, solidifying its position as a top gainer in H1 2023. Dione Protocol (DIONE), which recently launched its Odyssey Testnet beta is also another top gainer. Other top gainers include Conflux (CFX), Injective (INJ), and two AI-related tokens, SingularityNET (AGIX) and Render (RNDR).
Notable Events
In June 2023, BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK), the world’s largest asset management, applied for a Bitcoin spot ETF, approval with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This application along with other industry pioneers such as Valkyrie, Fidelity Investments, and ARK Invest pursuing similar approval has heightened anticipation for the SEC’s approval.
Meanwhile, the global crypto market has already seen the success of crypto ETFs and Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs), with approximately $9.5 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).
CoinMarketCap Report: Comparison between Q1 and Q2
According to the CoinMarketCap report, the global crypto market demonstrated continued growth in the second quarter of the year, with the total market capitalization reaching $1.17 trillion. It represents a 48% YTD increase. However, Q2 appeared relatively stagnant compared to Q1, with similar total market cap figures, giving the impression of a somewhat lost quarter in the crypto world.
Q1 showcased significant developments that drove market excitement, including the doubling of Bitcoin’s price, the emergence of Layer 2 scaling solutions like Arbitrum, and an active NFT market fueled by product upgrades and token issuances like Blur.
In contrast, Q2 lacked similarly groundbreaking events, instead witnessing trends like the “memecoin season” and the rise of BRC20 tokens, which, though noteworthy, did not generate the same level of enthusiasm as the previous quarter.