Binance Research released its latest research report, summarizing recent trends and developments in the cryptocurrency market. In December 2024, the cryptocurrency market experienced a historic surge, with the market value breaking through a record high of $3.91 trillion, setting a new market peak. This surge was mainly due to the optimistic regulatory environment, the continued entry of institutional investors, and the record high price of Bitcoin. Bitcoin broke through $108,000 in December 2024, setting an all-time high. Factors driving this surge include MicroStrategy's successful inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 Index and the company's continued large-scale purchase of Bitcoin.
However, the market's optimism was dampened in late December when the Federal Reserve announced a 0.25% interest rate cut in December and reduced the number of planned interest rate cuts in 2025 from four to two. This move triggered a sharp market correction, causing the total market value of the cryptocurrency market to evaporate by more than $0.5 trillion in just a few days.
Bitcoin performed well, with its market value increasing by more than 123% at the end of the year
Despite the market turmoil, 2024 is still a remarkable year for Bitcoin. Bitcoin's market value increased by about 123.4% throughout the year, making it the seventh largest asset in the world, surpassing traditional large assets such as Saudi Aramco and silver. Bitcoin's performance in 2024 is one of the most eye-catching among the top ten assets in the world, second only to Nvidia.
Analysts believe that Bitcoin's strong performance is due to a number of factors: including the Bitcoin halving event, spot ETF approval, changes in monetary policy, and the market's expectations for a more friendly regulatory environment. If this trend continues until 2025, Bitcoin's market position is expected to further improve.
USDe surpasses DAI to become the third largest stablecoin
Another outstanding performance comes from Ethena's stablecoin USDe. USDe's market value has grown rapidly in 2024 and has exceeded US$5.9 billion, surpassing DAI to become the third largest stablecoin in the world. USDe's success can be attributed to its high-yield staking mechanism and the move to include sUSDe as a collateral asset in the Aave protocol in November 2024.
Decentralized transaction volume hits a new high, and the DeFi ecosystem continues to expand
In December 2024, the trading volume of decentralized spot and perpetual contracts hit record highs of $326 billion and $356 billion, respectively, showing strong demand for decentralized trading. The trading volume of decentralized perpetual contracts increased by more than 370% year-on-year, with platforms such as Hyperliquid becoming the main driving force.
In addition, the total value locked (TVL) of lending protocols and liquidity staking protocols reached new highs of $55 billion and $71 billion, respectively. The rapid growth of the DeFi (decentralized finance) sector is also closely related to the incoming Trump administration's support for cryptocurrencies. Experts predict that with the arrival of favorable policies, the DeFi ecosystem is expected to usher in a larger-scale expansion.
The rise of AI agents, an emerging force in the crypto market
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are also beginning to emerge in the cryptocurrency market, becoming an emerging investment hotspot. The token market value of several leading AI agent platforms and individual agents has exceeded billions of dollars, and the average daily exposure is close to 100,000 times. Major AI agent platforms include Virtuals and ai16z (the development team of the Eliza framework), which provide users with tools to create and operate their own AI agents.
In terms of individual agents, aixbt has become one of the most well-known agents in the market, providing in-depth analysis of the cryptocurrency market every day. With the continuous advancement of AI technology, more AI agents with diverse functions and wide application scenarios will appear in the crypto market in the future, including entertainment agents and transaction agents.
