Binance – Monthly Market Insights, Jan 2024

In January 2024, the crypto market experienced a significant increase in total market capitalization, mainly due to the anticipation surrounding the approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF. Alternative Layer-1 coins like AVAX, SOL, and ADA performed well, with monthly gains of 84%, 71%, and 60% respectively. The volume of stablecoin transfers also saw a notable rise, reaching US$1.2 trillion. Ethereum and Tron remained dominant in this sector, contributing a combined total of US$740.3 billion. Solana, on the other hand, showed impressive growth, increasing from US$86.2 billion to US$297.3 billion, which is a month-on-month growth of 244.9%. Inscriptions, which were first popularized on Bitcoin, have expanded to various EVM-compatible chains, with a total of over 491.9 million inscriptions to date. Polygon leads in transaction activity with 168.3 million inscriptions, followed by Avalanche and BNB Chain with 115.4 million and 95.5 million respectively. The restaking protocol on EigenLayer experienced a surge in Total Value Locked (TVL) of liquid staking tokens (LSTs) after the increase in deposit caps. The TVL of LSTs rose from around US$250 million to US$1.1 billion, indicating a strong demand for restaking as both ETH and LST holders seek yield-generating opportunities. Layer-2 networks that offer native yield, such as Blast and Manta Pacific, have gained traction with an increasing number of depositors and assets bridged into the networks.