Written by: ChandlerZ, Foresight News
In 2024, the crypto market welcomed a new peak with an unstoppable wave, with Bitcoin as the market's barometer strongly returning to mainstream view, officially breaking through the $100,000 mark, showcasing its unique vitality. This year, the crypto market witnessed Bitcoin's fourth halving, with both mining hash rate and market share reaching all-time highs, the landing of spot ETFs accelerating capital inflow, and the on-chain ecosystem continuously evolving with the rise of DeFi, meme coins, and new public chains. Solana made a strong comeback, while the NFT market entered a phase of de-leveraging, reflecting new dynamics and differentiation characteristics across the entire crypto market from macro patterns to micro data.
At this critical juncture in the current cycle, on-chain data outlines the panorama of a capital influx, diverse ecosystem expansion, and the continuous emergence of structural opportunities in the cryptocurrency market.
This annual summary will take you through the 10 key points of the on-chain world in 2024, analyzing how the crypto market has crossed hills and reached new heights, providing data support and insights for future development.
Bitcoin
1. Bitcoin completed its fourth halving, with mining difficulty and hash rate reaching all-time highs.
On April 20, 2024, Bitcoin successfully welcomed its fourth halving at block height 840,000, reducing the mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Bitcoin's inflation rate dropped to 0.85%, lower than the previous cycle's 1.7%. This change in data is an important node in Bitcoin's supply model, surpassing the stable issuance rate of gold (approximately 2.3%) in terms of scarcity for the first time, undoubtedly marking a milestone in its growth journey.
Meanwhile, the mining difficulty and the average hash rate of Bitcoin miners have also been gradually increasing. As of December 2, the Bitcoin mining difficulty was adjusted up by 1.59% at a block height of 872,928, reaching an all-time high of 103.92 T, and the average hash rate soared to 726.57 EH/s.
Data source: Foresight News, Glassnode
From the first Bitcoin halving to the current fourth halving, each cycle has witnessed a dual leap in price and hash rate, reflecting the gradual maturation of the ecosystem. After the first halving, Bitcoin's hash rate surged by about 54,400 times; the second halving brought an increase of 85 times; while the third halving, despite a decrease in return rate, still achieved a 409% increase. Meanwhile, hash rate has gradually shifted from exponential growth in early cycles to steady expansion on a high base, with the current cycle surpassing 700 EH/s.
Although the growth rate of miners' unit income has slowed due to the halving of Bitcoin rewards, the total income of miners, in absolute terms, continues to expand as Bitcoin prices keep rising. In the previous halving cycle, cumulative miner income exceeded $3 billion, showing a magnitude of growth compared to the previous halving cycle. This performance further indicates that miner groups are participating in network operations with more efficient methods while adapting to cost pressures.
2. Halving effects are evident, and the process of this bull market has not yet reached its end.
The 'halving' has always been a key event in the Bitcoin market, representing a technical node where block rewards decrease, and it is also an important catalyst for market sentiment and capital flow. Historical price trends starting from the halving date indicate that the market performance during different halving cycles varies significantly, reflecting the trajectory of the market's gradual maturity and the complex interplay between supply-demand dynamics and market expectations. In the first halving cycle, the price of Bitcoin increased by 5315%, with a maximum drawdown of 85%; the second halving cycle saw an increase of 1336%, with a maximum drawdown of 83%; while the growth in the third halving cycle slowed to 569%, with a maximum drawdown reduced to 77%.
This gradually smoothing volatility indicates that the expansion of market size and increased capital flow are buffering the diminishing returns effect brought by the halving.
Data source: Foresight News, Glassnode
From the perspective of supply-demand relations, the halving market is not merely driven by reduced supply but is the result of a dynamic balance between supply-demand and market expectations. The early entry and long-term layout of institutional funds have established new price support for the market, while the FOMO sentiment of retail investors has further amplified the price increase.
It is worth noting that this halving cycle is the first to break the historical high (ATH) before the halving. From the overall performance before and after the halving, the current market is still in an upward phase, and future growth may continue to find a new balance point in the supply-demand battle.
3. The magnitude of corrections in this bull market is far smaller than in previous cycles.
A significant feature of this round of the Bitcoin market is that the magnitude of the correction has significantly decreased, demonstrating unprecedented buying power and market resilience. Compared to previous cycles where corrections easily exceeded 30% or even 50%, this round's deepest correction was only around 30%, indirectly confirming the overall improvement in market supply-demand relations, and also showing the dual support of institutional funds and favorable policies. Especially, the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S. and the positive changes in the relevant policy environment have injected long-term funds into the market and boosted investor confidence.
Data source: Foresight News, Glassnode
This phenomenon of shallow corrections can be seen as a sign of the gradual maturation of market structure. With deep participation from institutional investors, the Bitcoin market is transitioning from an early, retail-driven, high-volatility phase to a more stable development dominated by institutional funds. At the same time, the introduction of spot ETFs has also provided a convenient entry channel for long-term funds, reducing the sharp corrections caused by short-term market sentiment fluctuations.
4. Bitcoin's market share has risen, reaching a multi-year high.
The Bitcoin Dominance Index (BTC.D) is an important indicator that measures Bitcoin's market value as a proportion of the entire cryptocurrency market. Since September 2022, Bitcoin's market share has shown an overall upward trend, breaking through 60% at one point in 2024, with an annual increase of over 10%, refreshing the high since April 2021. This phenomenon can be traced in Bitcoin's historical cycles, typically marking the concentrated inflow of funds in the early phases of a bull market.
According to past patterns, the initiation phase of a bull market is often accompanied by an increase in Bitcoin's market share, as funds during this phase flow more towards Bitcoin, the core asset of the market, while the performance of other tokens lags. When Bitcoin's market share reaches a peak, market liquidity and investment sentiment often approach a critical point. At this point, investors begin to take profits, leading to a decline in Bitcoin's market share, and funds gradually shift towards altcoins, forming the so-called 'Altcoin Season'.
Data source: Foresight News, CoinMarketCap
However, the rise in Bitcoin's market share this time is different from the past, as deep participation from institutional funds and the approval of spot ETFs have further strengthened Bitcoin's dominant position, significantly increasing its attractiveness compared to other assets. This may imply that the peak of Bitcoin's market share will be more sustainable in the upcoming bull market, while the arrival of an 'Altcoin Season' may be delayed or even weakened, leading to a more concentrated market structure.
Market
5. Accelerated capital inflow: Bitcoin spot ETF net inflows surged, and stablecoin market value rose simultaneously.
On January 11, 2024, the SEC of the United States announced the expedited approval for the listing of Bitcoin spot ETFs, authorizing 11 ETFs to be listed simultaneously. This news quickly ignited market enthusiasm, leading to a massive influx of institutional funds. With the official launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs, currently, various Bitcoin spot ETFs have locked in over 1.316 million BTC, accounting for 6.267% of the total supply, a significantly higher ratio than the 2.522% held by governments and the total holding proportion of private and public companies.
Data source: Foresight News, Glassnode, BitcoinTreasuries
As of the time of writing, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $115.78 billion, with a historical cumulative net inflow of $37.009 billion.
On the other hand, the continued expansion of the stablecoin market, especially the large-scale issuance of Tether, has become another important driver of external capital inflow. In November 2024 alone, Tether accumulated over $13 billion in USDT issuance, reaching the fastest issuance speed since 2021. According to DefiLlama data, the total market value of stablecoins has exceeded $200 billion, currently reported at $204.13 billion, setting a new historical high.
Data source: Foresight News, IntoTheBlock
Among them, USDT's market value has climbed to $14 billion, once again setting a historical record, accounting for 68.96% of the total stablecoin market value. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023 became a turning point in the stablecoin market landscape, leading to a significant shrinkage of USDC's share, while the supply of USDT has steadily increased.
6. Top twenty in growth (within a market value of 200): The rise of new public chains and memes.
In 2024, the performance of meme tokens and new public chains showed a distinct trend. To more accurately depict the developments of the year, we focused on the annual growth rate of the top 200 tokens by market value, which showed that meme tokens and new public chains became the most active sectors in the market. Among them, meme tokens such as Popcat, SPX6900, and Mog Coin saw growth rates exceeding 5000%. From their initial emergence as entertainment and topics of discussion, meme economies have attracted a large number of retail investors through community-driven consensus and brand effects, driving rapid price increases and forming a unique market behavior pattern.
Data source: Foresight News, CoinMarketCap (to be processed into a table)
The new public chain sector is also performing strongly, with projects like Mantra, AIOZ Network, and Sui occupying a place in the market through the dual drivers of technological innovation and ecosystem expansion. These public chains do not rely solely on general technological advantages but focus on unique sector positioning and differentiated development.
For example, Mantra's transformation towards RWA public chains further explores the connection between on-chain asset tokenization and real financial markets; AIOZ Network, centered on AI+DePIN, creates Layer 1 designed specifically for AI applications and decentralized infrastructure; while SUI's innovation is reflected in its SUI Move language, which enhances the development efficiency and security of smart contracts through a new programming language design, while also optimizing user interactions on-chain.
7. The emergence of Meme Launchpad has become the key to the soaring of new tokens.
In its early days, Ethereum became the primary choice for meme tokens due to its mature smart contract standards, and in 2024, the rise of platforms like Pump.fun further propelled this trend.
According to data from The Block, as of September 30 this year, out of 110,180 new tokens tracked on-chain, Solana accounted for 96,010, which is over 87% of all new tokens appearing on DEX. The number of new tokens on the Solana blockchain surged from nearly zero at the beginning of 2024 to consistently exceeding 100,000 per month by mid-year. While Solana is in the lead, Base has also performed well. Since April, these two chains have collectively accounted for over 80% of new token issuance.
Data source: Foresight News, The Block
The design of Pump.fun simplifies the issuance process of meme coins, allowing users to quickly create their own tokens through simple operations. Its unique joint curve pricing mechanism allows token prices to automatically adjust with changes in demand, while the liquidity injection function of smart contracts ensures liquidity for new tokens in the early stages of trading. This innovative model characterized by low entry barriers and high liquidity has greatly stimulated community vitality and concurrently promoted the development of Solana.
8. The dying Solana DeFi made a strong comeback in 2024.
From the distribution and dynamic changes of total TVL across ecosystems, it can be seen that Ethereum still occupies a dominant position in 2024, accounting for 64.06%, solidifying its core status as the main DeFi platform. Solana ranks second with an 8.83% share, showing its strong recovery in 2024.
At the same time, the market shares of chains like BSC and Tron remained relatively stable, while emerging chains like Arbitrum and Sui showed rapid growth potential. The area chart shows that Ethereum's share has slightly declined since 2022, contrasting with the rise of other chains, particularly Solana, which began to rebound significantly in 2023. This trend reflects the accelerated maturation of a multi-chain ecosystem and the dynamic changes in the competitive landscape. Although Ethereum still dominates, market resources are gradually being distributed towards a more diverse and specialized chain landscape.
Data source: Foresight News, DeFiLlama
The recovery of Solana is inextricably linked to the prosperity of its ecosystem, especially in 2024, as the rise of Sol series meme tokens has brought significant growth to its on-chain users. The popularity of meme tokens has attracted new users into the Solana network while significantly enhancing on-chain activity and trading volume. These tokens have injected new vitality into the Solana ecosystem, allowing it to quickly recover from a 'sunk ecosystem' state.
According to the latest data, Solana's TVL has reached $21.4 billion, with a total market value exceeding $100.6 billion. According to Blockworks Research statistics, in October this year, Solana's on-chain daily fees remained above Ethereum for several days, with revenue on October 24 even exceeding $10 million. In November, Solana accounted for nearly 50% of all monthly DEX trading volume, significantly higher than Ethereum's approximately 18% share.
9. CEX dominates the market, while DEX shines in long-tail assets and cross-chain trading.
In 2024, the trading volume share of DEX showed significant fluctuations, hovering between 10% and 15%, without significantly breaking through new heights. In February, the DEX/CEX trading volume ratio once dropped to an annual low of 7.88%. Subsequently, with the market recovery and liquidity warming, this ratio gradually rebounded.
In the current market landscape, the dominant position of CEX remains difficult to shake, although DEX has shown clear advantages in long-tail assets and cross-chain trading, its overall share is still limited by challenges related to liquidity, user experience, and compliance. At the same time, the fluctuations in 2024 indicate that the usage rate of DEX is highly correlated with market sentiment, with trading activity increasing when market risk appetite rises.
Data source: Foresight News, The Block
In addition, compared to traditional CEX, the prospects for on-chain derivatives trading are also rapidly opening up. Decentralized trading platforms like Hyperliquid are attracting more and more traders and institutions with liquidity and execution efficiency comparable to centralized exchanges, along with a transparent operational mechanism and innovative token economic model. The success of Hyperliquid indicates that on-chain derivatives trading is continuously narrowing the gap in efficiency and depth with traditional CEX, showcasing the immense growth potential of the on-chain derivatives market through unique incentive models and an open ecosystem.
10. The NFT craze is unlikely to return to its previous highs: a phase of de-leveraging.
The NFT market showed signs of recovery at the end of the year after a long period of stagnation. According to a report by Galaxy Research, NFT trading volume began to gradually rebound since the U.S. presidential election in November, with weekly trading volume reaching $172 million in early December, the highest level since May this year. This recovery was mainly driven by increased activity on top market platforms OpenSea, Blur, and Magic Eden, with Blur and OpenSea respectively accounting for 60% and 27% of the market share in the past 30 days. Meanwhile, blue-chip NFTs represented by the Pudgy Penguins series performed particularly well, with floor prices rising by 206% and 265% respectively.
Data source: Foresight News, The Block
However, despite the increase in trading volume, the market is still in a phase of de-leveraging. Compared to the 2021 NFT craze, the current rebound is more driven by top blue-chip projects and core user groups, rather than large-scale market enthusiasm or speculative behavior. The trading ecology of NFTs is also gradually adjusting, shifting from solely relying on high speculative returns to placing more emphasis on the actual application scenarios of projects and community participation.
Conclusion
Overall, 2024 has welcomed a new peak in the crypto market, showcasing strong resilience and vitality. Bitcoin, as the market's barometer, has attracted deep participation from institutional funds under the push of spot ETFs, further solidifying its status as a core asset with a continuous rise in market share.
The rise of new public chains and meme coins has created unique prosperity in the market's peripheral sectors, showcasing the strong potential of community-driven and innovative economies. Whether in the continuous innovation of DeFi or the accelerated landing of RWA, the diversified development of on-chain ecosystems and the gradual improvement of infrastructure this year have created more possibilities for future market growth.
The market performance in 2024 is not just a cyclical boom but a brewing of a new order. In the upcoming new phase, the crypto industry is likely to further consolidate its important position in the global economic landscape, laying a solid foundation for the future development of digital finance and on-chain economies.
