The Rise of the Bitcoin ETF and the Rise of DeFi: Crypto’s 2024 Landscape Revealed
In the year As 2023 fades into the background, the new year has ushered in significant developments in the world of cryptocurrency.
On January 10, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), a major milestone in crypto history. After a week of trading, these ETFs outperformed silver exchange-traded products, making Bitcoin (BTC) the second-largest exchange-traded commodity by volume.
The launch of spot bitcoin ETFs has sparked speculation that there could be spot ETFs for other cryptocurrencies. Coupled with the expected April halving of Bitcoin, there is high confidence in various sectors about the potential price increase, which creates optimism about future value growth.
The February issue of Cointelegraph Research's “Investor Insights” monthly trends report provides an in-depth look at the industry's response to the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, covering a variety of sectors including crypto-mining businesses, derivatives markets, decentralized finance. DeFi) sector, and real-world asset tokenization, among others.
The report provides an overview of each segment, including in-depth analysis, future forecasts, and sentiment analysis, providing readers with a comprehensive summary of the current landscape and expectations.
Download a PDF of the report for free from the Cointelegraph Research Terminal
The DeFi market sees strong growth in January, offset by exploitation
January The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector truly reflects the broader cryptocurrency market – dynamic, exciting and unpredictable. $3.3 million in Ether (ETH) was stolen in a shocking security breach affecting the Socket protocol. The Socket Protocol team identified and patched the vulnerability shortly after the incident. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of various analytical firms, about 70% of the stolen funds were recovered within a week, which gives great reassurance to the affected stakeholders.
While the Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi projects and the value of their tokens increased at the beginning of the month, there was a significant slowdown in the latter half. However, Sui and PulseChain showed impressive TVL growth, rising 107% and 189% respectively. The significant increase in the value of PulseChain can be attributed to the expansion of the decentralized exchange of PulseChain, especially emphasized by the transfer of more than 20 million Dai (DAI) stable coins from Ethereum to PulseChain in less than a week.
Meanwhile, Sui's TVL growth is linked to the popularity of two lending protocols, Navi Protocol, which grew by 162 percent, and Scallop, which rose by 229 percent. The launch of Scallop's second phase airdrop and reward program on January 16 contributed to a doubling of the protocol's TVL.
Regulatory challenges have left derivatives trading exposed as a bullish representation.
In the year In 2023, significant differences in regulations across countries and regions, coupled with strong regulatory measures, will significantly limit retail derivatives globally. Centralized exchanges and Diffie projects were forced to cease operations altogether as obtaining commercial licenses for various products became more and more challenging.
Major industry players, including Crypto.com and Binance, have been forced to suspend operations, scale back their service offerings, reduce leverage ratios, limit the types of products available, and limit access to certain users. Despite these challenges, derivatives markets continue to serve as an important indicator in the industry.
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