#BigTechStablecoin investing.com - The cryptocurrency market continued its rise in the first half of 2024, benefiting from the gains achieved in 2023. The total market capitalization now stands at approximately $2.27 trillion - a strong growth of 37.3% year-to-date.
From a numerical perspective, most of these gains were accumulated in the first quarter with an enormous increase of 60.2%. The second quarter was a bit harsher, as the market gave up some gains and declined by 14.3%.
Compared to the performance of traditional assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum were the best performers, with returns of 48% and 43% respectively year-to-date.
Binance Research analysts noted in their first half report that 'the potential diversification benefits of Bitcoin and its strong performance compared to a purely traditional finance portfolio are clear.'
Layer 1 (L1) started the year strong. Bitcoin continued to gain market dominance after the fourth halving, the launch of the Ronin protocol, and the approval of spot ETFs in the US, which attracted over $14 billion so far. Ethereum saw a surge in re-aggregation and the EIP-4844 update.
Moreover, BNB Chain continued to work on 'OpBNB', 'Greenfield', and Solana shined in the meme coin space and launched blockchain links (flashes).
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Binance Research indicated that 'the first half of 2024 was all about airdrops in the Layer 2 (L2) world, especially for zero-knowledge (zk) projects'. These incentives brought in significant capital inflows, pushing the total value locked (TVL) in L2s to $43 billion - a 90% jump in just six months.
DeFi witnessed a massive influx of capital, leading to a 72.8% increase in TVL year-to-date to $94.1 billion, up from $54.4 billion at the beginning of the year. This inflow benefited nearly every sector of DeFi, leading to the emergence of protocols that make previously inaccessible financial tools available on-chain.
The stablecoin market saw a remarkable recovery, now down only 14.5% from its peak in April 2022, before the Terra USD (UST) collapse. As of June 30, 2024, the market capitalization of stablecoins reached $161 billion, its highest level in two years.
Tether USD continues to lead, but Circle USD Coin and Ethereum USD are gaining ground. 'The stablecoin market is recovering impressively, reaching levels we haven't seen since before the Terra USD collapse,' according to Binance Research.
Elsewhere, the NFT markets experienced a turbulent first half, with sales volumes declining and major projects witnessing floor price drops of over 50%. Blur maintained its dominance, supported by the airdrop of the Blurst token, while Pudgy Penguins achieved some success with their physical games. Bitcoin NFTs also continued to perform well.
Web3 gaming performed strongly in the first quarter, but the second quarter saw a decline in the market capitalization of gaming tokens along with the rest of the alternative cryptocurrency market.
Despite the price decline, user growth metrics were better than ever, with projects like Pixl and Hamster Galaxy attracting large numbers of players with the promise of token airdrops. Binance Research stated: 'User growth in Web3 gaming remains strong, even with fluctuating token prices'.
"Looking ahead to the second half of 2024, there are six particularly interesting key topics, and we expect to see significant progress in these areas throughout the year. These topics cover various narratives and sectors, including the macro environment, the Bitcoin ecosystem, applications of the ownership economy, and real-world assets (RWAs)" , concluded the semi-annual report.
