Main topics of the post:

  • This blog presents a summary of the recent Binance Research report that discusses key developments in the crypto markets over the past month.

  • In November 2024, the cryptocurrency market cap rose to a record $3.47 trillion. This growth was driven by Bitcoin's remarkable rally to over $100,000 and significant institutional participation across the sector.

  • The announcement of the resignation of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has increased speculation about possible regulatory reforms favorable to digital assets.

Through Binance Research, you can enjoy high-level analysis on the processes shaping Web3. By sharing this information, we hope to provide our community with the latest knowledge on cryptocurrency research.

This blog explores the key Web3 developments in November 2024 to provide a snapshot of the current state of the crypto ecosystem. We analyze the performance of crypto, DeFi, and NFT markets before presenting the key events to watch in December 2024.

Cryptocurrency market performance in November 2024

In November 2024, the cryptocurrency market reached unprecedented heights, with the total market capitalization rising to a record $3.47 trillion. This growth was driven by Bitcoin’s remarkable rally to over $100,000 and significant institutional participation, evidenced by seven consecutive weeks of positive spot ETF inflows totaling over $6.5 billion for the month. The Federal Reserve’s November 7 rate cut to 4.5%-4.75% bolstered confidence in risk assets, while the announcement of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s resignation increased speculation about potential regulatory reforms favorable to digital assets.

BTC and ETH spot ETFs led the charge, breaking inflow records and pushing cumulative net inflows to over $30 billion and $577 million, respectively. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Grayscale’s Ether ETF emerged as market leaders, highlighting institutional interest in cryptocurrencies.

Altcoins also saw a resurgence, with CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index rising from 27 to 70 and total market cap up $470 billion over the previous month. Solana surpassed Ethereum in daily fees, driven by explosive DEX activity that surpassed $120 billion, although controversy dampened the memecoin trading frenzy. Ethereum regained its dominance in stablecoin liquidity, surpassing Tron as the top network for USDT, with a 31.4% increase in supply to $61.8 billion.

Monthly cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by 39.9% in November

Source: CoinGecko as of November 30, 2024 

Monthly price performance of top 10 coins by market capitalization

Source: CoinMarketCap as of November 30, 2024

In November 2024, XRP led the crypto market with an impressive 362.3% gain, fueled by the resignation of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and increased optimism about Ripple’s regulatory prospects. WisdomTree’s introduction of an XRP exchange-traded product (ETP) further solidified investor confidence.

ADA followed closely behind, rising 216%, driven by the Glacier Airdrop’s $NIGHT token allocation to ADA holders and Cardano’s partnership with BitcoinOS to tap into Bitcoin’s liquidity. Speculation about Charles Hoskinson’s discussions with the Trump administration has fueled interest in ADA.

DOGE surged 160.4%, catalyzed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) initiative, with speculations about integration into social media platforms adding to the buzz. SHIB also performed well, rising 70.7%, driven by regulatory optimism and growing memecoin enthusiasm.

ETH gained 45.1%, supported by institutional inflows, a Federal Reserve rate cut and increased adoption of layer-2 solutions that improve scalability. Bitcoin rose 36.9%, driven by robust ETF inflows with a weekly average of $1.8 billion and optimism around regulatory changes following the US presidential election. TON (+33.3%), TRX (+24.7%) and BNB (+10.8%) saw more modest gains but also benefited from regulatory optimism and platform-specific developments. In particular, BNB’s growth was tied to the success of its BNB Greenfield initiative, which attracted major projects such as Limewire.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

In November 2024, DeFi’s Total Value Locked (TVL) increased by 33.7%, reflecting sustained on-chain momentum and anticipating greater regulatory clarity. Solana, Base, and Sui led the way with impressive TVL growth rates of 43.4%, 32.9%, and 54.0%, respectively. Solana reached a record $8.8 billion in TVL, bolstered by institutional and retail capital inflows. Key contributors included liquid staking protocols such as Jito, Sanctum, and Binance Staked Sol (BNSOL), along with liquidity providers Drift and Raydium, which supported the network’s expanding on-chain volumes. The rise of real-world assets (RWA) further fueled growth, with Chainlink seeing developer activity skyrocket by 14,450% as its infrastructure bridged blockchain networks with real-world data.

Base’s DeFi TVL surged to $3.4 billion, up 33.4%, driven by high user participation in lending markets. Uniswap’s TVL surged 55.4% due to its seamless integration with Base and Arbitrum, solidifying its dominance in liquidity provision. The network also set a record with over 9.2 million daily transactions, emphasizing its scalability. Meanwhile, Sui achieved a record $1.6 billion in TVL, driven by strong capital rotation on Sui-based blockchains. Notable protocols included Suilend, with an 86.5% growth in TVL, and projects such as Navi Protocol, Cetus AMM, and Scallop Lend, demonstrating the network’s growing interest in DeFi innovation.

TVL share of major blockchains

Source: DeFiLlama on November 30, 2024

Non-fungible tokens (NFT)

Monthly NFT Trading Volume

In November, the NFT market saw a 57.6% increase in total sales volume, surpassing $0.5 billion for ETH NFTs. However, the number of unique buyers and sellers fell by 24.7%, indicating consolidation between higher-value and lower-volume transactions. Oversaturation persisted, with around 98% of NFT projects launched this year failing to generate profits, highlighting challenges such as profitability and continued market engagement. Ethereum collections saw mixed results, with CryptoPunks leading the way with 141.4% growth, while Doodles bounced back with an impressive 584.0% increase. Innovative projects such as Courtyard.io maintained steady activity with an average of 3,500 daily sales.

Bitcoin NFTs saw a 220% jump in volume, driven by enthusiasm for Ordinals and the BRC-20 protocol, with major collections such as ArtBlock and NodeMonkes posting significant gains. Other blockchains, including Solana (+19.3%), Polygon (+28.6%), and BNB Chain (+48.1%), also saw notable growth. These trends reflect renewed optimism in the crypto market, despite persistent challenges in sustaining broad engagement and profitability.

Upcoming Events and Token Unlocks

To help users stay up to date with the latest Web3 news, the Binance Research team has summarized the notable events and token unlocks for the upcoming month. Keep an eye out for upcoming developments in the blockchain space.

Important events in December 2024

Fonte: Itez, Binance Research

Largest token unlocks in US$

Fonte: CryptoRank, Binance Research

Binance Research

The Binance Research team is committed to providing objective, independent, and comprehensive analysis of the crypto space. We publish insightful takes on Web3 topics including but not limited to the cryptocurrency ecosystem, blockchain applications, and the latest market developments.

This article is just an overview of the full report, which contains analysis of the most important market charts over the past month. The full report also dives into more detail about the record inflows into BTC and ETH ETFs, the return of altcoin season, Solana’s high fees that have outperformed Ethereum for 14 consecutive days, and Ethereum overtaking Tron as the leading network for the USDT stablecoin.

Read the full version of this Binance Research report here. 

Further reading

Disclaimer: This material is prepared by Binance Research and should not be considered as a forecast or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities, bonds, cryptocurrencies, or to adopt any investment strategy. The use of terminology and opinions expressed are intended to promote responsible industry understanding and development and should not be construed as the definitive legal opinion or opinion of Binance. The opinions expressed are as of the date indicated above and are the opinions of the writer, which may change as conditions change. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from various proprietary and non-proprietary sources believed by Binance Research to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive, and their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. As such, there is no guarantee of accuracy or reliability, and Binance is not responsible in any way for errors and omissions (including the liability of any person by reason of negligence). This material may contain “forward-looking” information that is not purely historical in nature. Such information may include, among other things, projections and forecasts. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. The decision to rely on the information contained in this material is the sole responsibility of the reader. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities, bonds, cryptocurrencies or any investment strategy. No securities or cryptocurrencies shall be offered or sold to any person in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the laws of that jurisdiction. Investing involves risk.