Bitcoin ETF finally listed in January, public chain develops steadily

Author: stella@footprint.network

In January 2024, the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States marked a significant breakthrough in the cryptocurrency space. Against this backdrop, despite the market's enthusiasm, the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum showed notable stability. The development in the public blockchain sector this year is not limited to these two giants, with key events such as the Bitcoin halving and the Ethereum Dencun upgrade, while promising public chain projects like Sui, Ronin, and Manta Pacific are also gaining attention.

The data for this report comes from the public chain research page of Footprint Analytics. This page provides an easy-to-use dashboard that includes the most critical statistics and metrics in the public chain field, updated in real time.

Key Highlights

Cryptocurrency Market Overview

• The broader cryptocurrency market is shifting its focus to exploring the synergy between the crypto industry and AI. In the context of the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain stable interest rates, the steady rise in the market capitalization of stablecoins is notable.

Public Chain Overview

• The prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum remained relatively stable throughout the month, while the performance of other tokens (altcoins) was less impressive.
• By the end of January, the total value locked (TVL) in the public chain sector reached $75.1 billion.
• In January 2024, SUI saw significant growth, jumping from $0.78 to $1.52, an increase of 94.9%. Meanwhile, Sui's DeFi sector also experienced substantial growth, with its TVL exceeding $500 million.

Layer 2

• Manta Pacific's TVL achieved an astonishing growth of 164.3%, quickly rising to become the third-largest Ethereum Layer 2 solution.
• Blast's TVL also saw significant growth, increasing from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion, a rise of 20.5%.

Blockchain Gaming

• In January 2024, the average number of active users (wallets) in the blockchain gaming sector surged by 54.7% compared to the average level for the entire year of 2023.
• In terms of trading volume, BNB Chain, Ronin, and Ethereum ranked at the top, accounting for 32.8%, 15.9%, and 15.8% of the total trading volume of 377 million, respectively.

NFT

• In January, Ethereum led the NFT market with a trading volume of $900 million, capturing a market share of 89.1%, though this is the lowest level since 2021.
• In January, Polygon's trading activity significantly increased, with a trading volume of $110 million, a 97.2% increase from the previous month.

Investment and Financing Situation

• In January, there were six financing events in the public chain sector, raising a total of $34 million.
• Polymer Labs recently successfully raised $23 million in Series A funding.

Key Developments

• Etherscan has supported services such as zkSync transaction queries.
• Solana's monthly trading volume reached its highest level in nearly two years.
• On-chain data shows that the Starknet network now supports paying gas fees with STRK.
• The South Korean public chain project Klaytn and LINE's Finschia jointly proposed an on-chain merger.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview

January 2024 marks a key moment for the cryptocurrency market with the debut of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which quickly attracted investor attention with a daily trading volume of up to $210 million, reflecting a deeper integration of cryptocurrencies into the traditional financial ecosystem. Despite the market's excitement, the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum remained relatively stable, indicating that traders are still cautious following the ETF approval.

At the same time, the broader cryptocurrency market is shifting its focus to exploring the synergy between the crypto industry and AI. Additionally, against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain stable interest rates, the steady rise in stablecoin market capitalization is noteworthy.

The cryptocurrency space is undergoing a subtle evolution, reflected both in the institutional adoption achieved through the approval of Bitcoin ETFs and in the balanced consideration of ongoing expectations regarding macroeconomic and technological developments.

Public Chain Overview

By the end of January, the total market capitalization of public chain cryptocurrencies reached $1.32 trillion, with mainstream public chains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana dominating the market with shares of 63.3%, 20.8%, 3.5%, and 3.1%, respectively.

Data Source: Public Chain Token Market Cap Share - Footprint Analytics

Bitcoin and Ethereum continued to grow in January, although at a slower pace. Bitcoin slightly increased by 1.65%, starting the month at $42,303 and closing at $43,001. Ethereum rose by 2.77%, from $2,283 to $2,346. With the U.S. launching spot Bitcoin ETFs, January became the month with the highest prices for Bitcoin and Ethereum since 2023.

Data Source: Bitcoin and Ethereum Prices - Footprint Analytics

The prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum remained relatively stable throughout the month, while the performance of other tokens was less impressive. Among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, TRX was an exception, with its price rising by 4.0%, while tokens like BNB, SOL, ADA, and AVAX saw price declines in January. Previously, driven by expectations surrounding the Bitcoin ETF approval, cryptocurrency prices experienced a surge in December, but the market subsequently corrected.

Data Source: Public Chain Token Prices and Market Capitalization - Footprint Analytics

By the end of January, the total value locked (TVL) in the public chain sector reached $75.1 billion. Ethereum led with a market share of 73.2%, with a TVL of $54.9 billion. Tron and BNB followed, holding 10.0% and 4.46% of the market share, with corresponding TVLs of $7.5 billion and $3.4 billion.

Data Source: Public Chain TVL - Footprint Analytics

In October 2023, Sui launched a $50 million incentive program aimed at attracting developers through funding rewards (grants) and setting user rewards to attract investors. This strategy significantly boosted DeFi activity within the Sui ecosystem. As a result, in January 2024, SUI experienced significant growth, jumping from $0.78 to $1.52, an increase of 94.9%. Meanwhile, Sui's DeFi sector also saw substantial growth, with its TVL exceeding $500 million.

Layer 2

Arbitrum saw its TVL grow by 10.3% in a month, rising from $8.5 billion to $9.3 billion, further solidifying its leading position in the Layer 2 market. Meanwhile, Manta Pacific achieved an astonishing growth of 164.3% in its TVL, quickly rising to become the third-largest Ethereum Layer 2 solution. On the other hand, Blast also saw significant growth in its TVL, increasing from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion, a rise of 20.5%. Notably, Linea experienced a 41.8% growth in its TVL, rising from $180 million to $250 million.

In contrast, Optimism saw its TVL drop from $5.4 billion to $4.7 billion, a decline of 13.1%. Base also performed poorly, down 6.7%, while zkSync Era saw its TVL decline by 10.8%.

Data Source: Layer 2 Overview - Footprint Analytics

(Note: "TVL" here refers to the cumulative amount stored and locked in Layer 2 smart contracts.)

Layer 2 solutions are striving for diversified development to address competition and challenges within the blockchain ecosystem.

Manta Network successfully held the New Paradigm event, greatly boosting its online activity growth. Subsequently, the network further strengthened this momentum by airdropping 50 million MANTA tokens, injecting strong impetus into the rapid growth of Manta Pacific TVL. Considering that its mainnet only officially launched in September 2023, this achievement is particularly noteworthy.

On January 17, Blast announced the launch of its testnet and simultaneously kicked off a developer competition called "Blast BIG BANG," aimed at incentivizing more dApps to launch on its platform. In addition, Blast announced an airdrop allocation plan, distributing shares to dApp developers and users participating in token staking. Despite recent controversies regarding its "raising over $1 billion through manipulative marketing strategies" and "allegations of copying Optimism's code," Blast has still achieved rapid growth in its TVL.

On the other hand, Starknet has established a partnership with Celestia to jointly enhance data availability for Layer 3 application chains. The two parties will utilize Celestia's core component "Blobstream" to build a data availability layer, ensuring secure off-chain data storage and providing verifiable existence proofs to ensure data integrity and reliability.

Blockchain Gaming

In January 2024, according to Footprint Analytics, the average number of active users (wallets) in the blockchain gaming sector surged by 54.7% compared to the average level for the entire year of 2023, with the growth trend beginning to show in November 2023. Ronin, Near, and BNB Chain became the blockchain platforms with the most active users, accounting for 29.9%, 10.2%, and 9% of the total, respectively.

Data Source: Active Gamers Shared by Chain - Footprint Analytics

In terms of trading volume, BNB Chain, Ronin, and Ethereum ranked at the top, accounting for 32.8%, 15.9%, and 15.8% of the total trading volume of 377 million, respectively.

In January, Ronin experienced a sharp increase in trading volume and active users, with trading volume surging by 213.41% compared to December. This growth was attributed to continuous improvements to the platform and the expansion of its ecosystem. Ronin added support for mainstream blockchains such as Ethereum, Polygon, and BNB Chain to its gaming wallets, and also activated platform activity through airdrop events for projects like Pixels and Apeiron.

You can read the monthly report on blockchain gaming from Footprint Analytics for more data insights: "January Web3 Gaming Industry Overview: Market Achieves Unprecedented Growth."

NFT

In January, Ethereum led the NFT market with a trading volume of $900 million, capturing a market share of 89.1%, though this is the lowest level since 2021. In contrast, trading activity on Polygon significantly increased in January, with a trading volume of $110 million, a 97.2% increase from the previous month. This significant growth raised Polygon market share to 10.4%, nearly double December's 6.0%.

Data Source: Monthly Volume by Chain - Footprint Analytics

The number of unique users on Ethereum continued to grow, reaching 163,000, a 4.9% increase from December, but its share of total users dropped from 49.0% to 42.7%. In contrast, Polygon saw a significant increase in its user base, surging from 50.5% to 170,000, while its share rose from 35.5% to 44.5%, successfully capturing the largest user base in January. Meanwhile, BNB saw a slight increase in its user share, rising from 7.5% to 8.6%.

Data Source: Monthly Unique Users by Chain - Footprint Analytics

For more insights into the NFT industry in January, you can read the NFT monthly report from Footprint Analytics: "January NFT Market Dynamics: Polygon Grows, Mooar Rises, TinFun Sparks Cultural Wave."

Investment and Financing Situation

In January, there were six financing events in the public chain sector, raising a total of $34 million, with three other events' financing amounts yet to be disclosed.

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Financing situation in the public chain sector in January 2024

Polymer Labs recently successfully raised $23 million in Series A funding, led jointly by Blockchain Capital, Maven 11 Capital, and Distributed Global. Polymer Labs plans to use this funding to focus on Ethereum Layer 2 networks through the application of Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocols, further enhancing security and interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem.