As 2024 gradually comes to a close, the cryptocurrency market is witnessing a gloomy tone as XRP leads the downtrend, losing more than 5% of its value. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar has negatively impacted global currencies and assets like Bitcoin. Other cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin, Solana's SOL, ether, and BNB also suffered losses of up to 2%. Overall market capitalization decreased by 3%, and the CoinDesk 20 index also fell by 3.5%.
The U.S. stock market is also under pressure as investors cut back on their positions ahead of year-end uncertainty. The strength of the dollar, attributed to expected favorable policies from President-elect Donald Trump, makes dollar-denominated assets more attractive compared to cryptocurrencies, diminishing hopes for a strong surge in cryptocurrency investment.
Although BTC prices have dropped nearly 4% this month, some analysts remain optimistic about long-term cryptocurrency policies that could benefit the market, suggesting that institutional adoption may increase as regulations improve. In December, decentralized exchanges (DEX) hit a record with a total trading value of $462 billion, according to DefiLlama, following the $374 billion volume of November. Uniswap is the leading DEX, with transactions worth $106.4 billion, followed by PancakeSwap and Solana's Raydium. Other notable DEXs include Aerodrome and Orca.
Meanwhile, the memecoin market has experienced a significant decline, from a peak of $137 billion in market capitalization on December 9 to $92 billion on December 23, mainly due to listings on trading platforms and the performance of popular tokens like Pepe. Overall, the memecoin market capitalization is down 20% compared to early December.
This is the overall picture of the cryptocurrency market at the end of 2024: a mix of long-term opportunities and short-term challenges facing investors and industry participants. Volatility is inherent to the market; and with strategic orientations, 2025 may bring new hope for the cryptocurrency world.
