Public Chains Display Stability Amidst Bitcoin ETF Turbulence in January 2024
February 2024, [email protected]
Data Source: Public Chain Research — Footprint Analytics
January 2024 marked a watershed in the crypto world with the launch of U.S. Bitcoin ETFs. Amidst this backdrop of burgeoning institutional interest, the crypto ecosystem experienced nuanced shifts, with Bitcoin and Ethereum prices displaying remarkable stability despite the heightened excitement. The narrative extended beyond these giants, including the Bitcoin halving and Ethereum Dencun Upgrade, while also spotlighting promising blockchains like Sui, Ronin and Manta Pacific.
Data for this report was obtained from Footprint Analytics’ public chain research page — an easy-to-use dashboard containing the most vital stats and metrics to understand the public chain industry, updated in real-time.
Key Points
Crypto Macro Overview
- Despite the excitement around ETFs, Bitcoin and Ethereum prices remained relatively stable, indicating cautious trading post-launch.
Public Chain Overview
- Bitcoin and Ethereum’s prices remained nearly flat, in contrast to the underperformance of many alternative tokens.
- At January’s end, the public chain sector’s TVL stood at $75.1 billion.
- January saw a notable increase in SUI’s value, with a 94.9% jump from $0.78 to $1.52, coupled with substantial expansion in its DeFi sector, achieving over $500 million in TVL.
Layer 2
- Manta Pacific’s TVL surged by 164.3%, propelling it to become the third-largest Ethereum Layer 2 solution.
- Blast also saw significant growth, with its TVL jumping 20.5% from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion.
Gaming
- January 2024 saw a 54.67% rise in average active users from the 2023 yearly average.
- In trading volume, BNB Chain topped the list followed by Ronin and Ethereum, contributing to 32.8%, 15.9%, and 15.8% of the total 377.3 million volume.
NFT
- Ethereum led the NFT market with a trading volume of $904.9 million, accounting for 89.1% of all transactions, marking its lowest market share since 2021.
- January saw a remarkable increase in Polygon’s trading activity, with its volume reaching $106.0 million, a 97.2% rise from the previous month.
Investment & Funding
- In January, the public chain sector saw six funding events, cumulatively raising $34 million.
- Polymer Labs recently secured $23 million in Series A funding.
What’s New?
- Etherscan Now Supports zkSync Transaction Queries and Services.
- Solana’s monthly transaction volume hits a two-year high.
- Starknet core developers: transactions have already been using STRK as Gas fees.
- Klaytn and Finschia jointly propose a chain merge.
Crypto Macro Overview
The debut of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US in January 2024 marked a pivotal moment for the crypto market, with these ETFs quickly capturing investor attention through daily trading volumes of $2.1 billion. This significant interest reflects a deeper cryptocurrency integration into the traditional financial ecosystem. Despite the excitement around ETFs, Bitcoin and Ethereum prices remained relatively stable, indicating cautious trading post-launch.
Meanwhile, the broader crypto market shifted towards exploring crypto-AI synergies and observing a steady rise in the stablecoin market cap, against a backdrop of the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady. This period signifies a nuanced evolution in the crypto landscape, balancing between institutional embrace, through ETFs, and the ongoing anticipation of macroeconomic and technological developments.
By the end of January, the total market cap of public chain cryptocurrencies reached $1.32 trillion. Leading the charge were Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana, which held market shares of 63.3%, 20.8%, 3.5%, and 3.1%, respectively.
Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced continued growth, although at a slower pace. Bitcoin saw a slight increase of 1.65%, opening at $42,303 and closing at $43,001, whereas Ethereum rose by 2.77%, from an opening price of $2,283 to a closing figure of $2,346. January marked the highest prices for both Bitcoin and Ethereum since 2023, following the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US.
Bitcoin and Ethereum’s prices remained nearly flat, in contrast to the underperformance of many alternative tokens (“altcoins”). Among the Top 10 list by market cap, TRX was an exception, recording a 4.0% gain, while others such as BNB, SOL, ADA, and AVAX saw their prices decline over the month. The initial surge in cryptocurrency prices in December, driven by the enthusiasm surrounding the debut of Bitcoin ETFs, was followed by a subsequent market correction.
At January’s end, the public chain sector’s TVL stood at $75.1 billion, with Ethereum leading at a 73.2% share ($54.9 billion), followed by Tron and BNB Chain with 10.0% ($7.5 billion) and 4.46% ($3.4 billion) market shares, respectively.
In October 2023, Sui launched a $50 million incentive program aimed at drawing developers through grants and attracting investors with user rewards. This initiative significantly boosted DeFi activities within the Sui ecosystem. Consequently, January saw a notable increase in SUI’s value, with a 94.9% jump from $0.78 to $1.52, coupled with substantial expansion in its DeFi sector, achieving over $500 million in TVL.
Arbitrum’s TVL increased by 10.3% from $8.5 billion to $9.3 billion within a month, reinforcing its dominance in the Layer 2 market. Manta Pacific’s TVL surged by 164.3%, propelling it to become the third-largest Ethereum Layer 2 solution. Blast also saw significant growth, with its TVL jumping 20.5% from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion. Meanwhile, Linea’s TVL experienced a remarkable 41.8% increase, moving from $178.5 million to $253.1 million.
In contrast, Optimism’s TVL decreased from $5.4 billion to $4.7 billion, marking a 13.1% decline. Base saw a 6.7% drop, while zkSync Era’s TVL fell by 10.8%.
“TVL” here refers to the cumulative amounts deposited and locked in escrow contracts on Layer 2 solutions.
Layer 2 solutions are diversifying their focus to address specific challenges within the blockchain ecosystem.
Manta Network hosted the groundbreaking New Paradigm event, leading to a significant surge in its online activities. Following this event, the network further boosted its momentum by airdropping 50 million MANTA, contributing to the rapid growth of Manta Pacific’s TVL. This achievement is particularly notable considering the recent launch of its mainnet in September 2023.
Blast announced its testnet launch on January 17, accompanied by a developer competition called Blast BIG BANG to encourage dApp integration on its platform. In addition, Blast has revealed its airdrop distribution plan, with 50% of the shares split equally between developers and users who participate in token staking. Despite the controversy over allegations of using “manipulative marketing strategies” to raise over $1 billion and accusations of plagiarizing Optimism’s work, Blast’s TVL has seen rapid growth.
On another front, Starknet has entered into a partnership with Celestia to bolster data availability for Layer 3 appchains. This collaboration will leverage “Blobstream,” a pivotal Celestia component, to serve as a data availability layer that securely stores data off-chain, providing verifiable proof of existence to ensure integrity and reliability.
Gaming
January 2024 saw a 54.67% rise in average active users from the 2023 yearly average, as reported by Footprint Analytics, with Ronin, Near, and BNB Chain leading in active user base, holding 29.9%, 10.2%, and 9% shares of the total 55.9 million active gamers (wallets) respectively.
In trading volume, BNB Chain topped the list followed by Ronin and Ethereum, contributing to 32.8%, 15.9%, and 15.8% of the total 377.3 million volume.
Ronin experienced significant growth in January, with transaction volume and active users increasing sharply. Transactions on Ronin grew by about 213.41% from December to January， driven by platform enhancements and ecosystem expansion. Ronin has added support for major blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and BNB Chain in its gaming wallet. Promotions, including airdrops from Pixels and Apeiron, have also boosted activity on the platform.
For more data insights, you can get it from the January Web3 gaming report: January’s Web3 Gaming Snapshot: The Market Sees Record Growth.
NFT
In January, Ethereum led the NFT market with a trading volume of $904.9 million, accounting for 89.1% of all transactions, marking its lowest market share since 2021. Conversely, January saw a remarkable increase in Polygon’s trading activity, with its volume reaching $106.0 million, a 97.2% rise from the previous month. This surge boosted Polygon’s market share to 10.4%, nearly doubling from December’s 6.0%.
Ethereum maintained its growth trajectory in unique user count, reaching 163.3K, a 4.9% gain from December, yet its market share dipped to 42.7% from 49.0%. In contrast, Polygon experienced a significant uptick in its user base, surging 50.5% to 170.0K and elevating its market share from 35.5% to 44.5%, securing its largest user base in January. Meanwhile, BNB Chain saw a modest user share rise, moving from 7.5% to 8.6%.
For more insights into the January NFT market, you can check the NFT report from Footprint Analytics: January NFT Updates: Polygon’s Growth, Mooar’s Rise, and TinFun’s Cultural Wave.
Investment & Funding
In January, the public chain sector saw six funding events, cumulatively raising $34 million, not including three instances where the amounts remained undisclosed.
Polymer Labs recently secured $23 million in Series A funding, co-led by Blockchain Capital, Maven 11 Capital, and Distributed Global. This funding is a testament to their commitment to building a more interconnected blockchain ecosystem through their pioneering work on an Ethereum interoperability hub. By leveraging the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC) to focus on Ethereum Layer 2 networks, Polymer Labs aims to enhance security and interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Footprint Analytics is a blockchain data solutions provider. It leverages cutting-edge AI technology to help analysts, builders, and investors turn blockchain data and combine Web2 data into insights with accessible visualization tools and a powerful multi-chain API across 20+ chains for NFTs, GameFi, and DeFi.
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