In the last quarter of 2023, the cryptocurrency market saw a significant increase in value, driven by growing optimism for the potential approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. This anticipation led to a bullish sentiment in the market, resulting in a 55% rise that pushed the total market value from $1.1 trillion to $1.6 trillion. During the same period, Bitcoin’s price also skyrocketed from $27,000 to $42,000, showcasing an impressive performance.
General Market Analysis and Growth for 2023
According to data compiled by the crypto data and pricing platform CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency market demonstrated impressive growth throughout 2023, more than doubling the total market value from the beginning of the year at $832 billion. This significant expansion was particularly possible due to Bitcoin’s impressive recovery, which represented a 2.6-fold increase. After the challenges and stagnation of 2022, 2023 emerged as a strong recovery year for the cryptocurrency market.
In 2023, the total value of the cryptocurrency market increased by 108.1%, from $829 billion to $1.72 trillion. The average daily trading volume in the fourth quarter was $75.1 billion, representing a 91.9% increase over the previous quarter. However, the overall daily trading volume still remained 31.6% below the 2022 figures, averaging $58.9 billion.
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a significant increase of 155.2% in 2023, with a 64.3% rise in just the fourth quarter from $26,918 to $42,220. During this period, BTC reached an annual peak of $44,004, which had not been seen since April 2022. Bitcoin’s strong performance is marked by fluctuations across different quarters of the year.
Solana (SOL) recorded an impressive increase of 917.3%, rising from $10 to $101.3 in 2023. SOL, in particular, experienced an aggressive rally in the fourth quarter, climbing to $121.5. The altcoin’s daily trading volume also saw a significant increase, rising from $827 million in the first quarter to $2 billion in the fourth.
In 2023, the NFT trading volume across the top 10 chains reached $11.8 billion, but this figure is less than half of the trading volume recorded in 2022. Ethereum (ETH) still holds a 72.3% share in NFT trading, although this indicates a decline from its 90% dominance in 2022. Bitcoin and Solana stood out, particularly in the fourth quarter of 2023, with increased trading volumes.
Trading Volume of Centralized Crypto Exchanges Increased by 53.1% in the Fourth Quarter of 2023
In 2023, the trading volume of cryptocurrencies reached $36.6 trillion, with a 53.1% increase in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter. This growth can be associated with the bullish market sentiment alongside optimistic expectations for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Despite the major collapse of FTX in 2022 and Binance‘s regulatory challenges in 2023, centralized crypto exchanges (CEX) still dominated the market in terms of trading volume. The CEX/DEX spot ratio remained at 91.4% and the CEX/DEX derivatives ratio at 98.1%.