Bitcoin’s third consecutive month of gains led to the altcoin’s comeback
Bitcoin posted a third straight month of gains in late November, renewing demand for alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) that picked up in early October. Therefore, the total market value of all cryptocurrency projects excluding Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) recently reached a peak seen in August 2022.
While the likelihood of a broad “altseason” is uncertain, various industry sectors are beginning to show initial signs of revival after being dormant during the previous bear market. Cointelegraph Research's Monthly Trends Report for December 2023 provides a comprehensive analysis of these emerging trends.
This month's issue covers a variety of topics including Bitcoin market trends, decentralized finance (DeFi) developments, movements in crypto stocks, venture capital (VC) activities, derivatives, mining sector updates, and real-world asset tokenization.
Download a PDF of the report for free from the Cointelegraph Research Terminal.
Infrastructure and Web3 lead in the flood of crypto VC funding
Amid ongoing global geopolitical uncertainty and higher interest rates in the European Union and the United States, the cryptocurrency VC sector experienced a funding slump in November. Investment flows reached $973 million in 93 different deals, the most significant activity since June 2023, an increase of nearly 40 percent compared to the previous month.
This contrasts sharply with October's performance, where only three deals exceeded $20 million. In November, however, there were five investments, each of which exceeded the threshold of $ 50 million. This increase in capital inflows may be due to a combination of positive news sentiment, the recent uptick in the cryptocurrency market and the temporary halt in interest rate hikes by the United States Federal Reserve.
Infrastructure and Web3 sectors led the way in funding rounds, registering 37 and 30 rounds respectively. Centered Finance (CeFi) received the second-highest investment volume this month, with $216.4 million spread across five deals.
This unexpected increase can be attributed mainly to two important funding arrangements: Blockchain.com received $110 million in Series E funding round, and OSL, a centralized exchange managed by BC Technology Group in Hong Kong, completed $90 million. Following closely behind were the Web3 and Diffie sectors, which collected $160.5 million and $78.4 million, respectively.
Meanwhile, the non-vulnerable token (NFT) sector rounded out the list with a relatively modest three funding rounds, raising $11.5 million.
Bitcoin futures have become increasingly popular on CME.
Venture capital movements and modest rallies in smaller altcoins indicate that capital is shifting to higher-risk assets. This trend is expected to intensify following the potential approval of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. Lead ETF analysts James Seifert and Eric Baluchnas recently raised their estimates for approval to 90 percent on Jan. 10.
This optimism is reflected in the increasing institutional interest in Bitcoin-based exchange-traded products. Evidence of this growing interest can be seen in the Bitcoin futures market on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), where open interest increased by more than 20% in November.
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