Cryptocurrency total market capitalization ended 2022 with $840b in liquid token value. In 2023, the total market capitalization grew to $1.77t, a healthy one-year climb. Bitcoin at year-end 2022 held around 38.43% market dominance as compared to other cryptocurrencies ranked in the top ten. By year-end 2023, Bitcoin held around 47.8% market dominance. Its highest percentage of top ten liquid crypto tokens was achieved December 6 when it comprised 51.5% as tracked by CoinGecko.
Bitcoin’s dominant run began as sentiment towards the US Bitcoin Spot ETF approval process gained momentum at the end of Q2 2023. BlackRock’s decision to file for a spot BTC ETF in June – their first such filing – reignited the horse race, leading prior issuers Invesco/Galaxy, ArkInvest, Fidelity, VanEck, WisdomTree, Bitwise and others to reapply driving a surge in market interest. Bitcoin returned to yearly highs previously reached in March 2023. By midsummer 2023, many crypto fund managers had spent most of the early part of the year onboarding new service providers notably for banking relationships, digital asset custodians, institutional staking partners, and centralized crypto exchanges. With the implosions of 2022 still fresh on the mind of many fund managers, enhancing operational controls was a priority for firms last year. Fundraising to fund strategies had not resumed and many firms faced a market with lower volume and volatility for much of the year compared to historical standings.
Though criticism and skepticism remain leading into 2024, crypto, most notably Bitcoin, has proved in both spirit and performance, for over a decade, to be a credible alternative to fiat currencies maintaining its store of value trade and offering a revolutionary digitally fixed-supply monetary system. In 2023, this narrative solidified, with geopolitical uncertainty and turmoil in the banking system further highlighting bitcoin’s unique value proposition.
While it’s unreasonable to predict with certainty what will happen to crypto assets in 2024, we can look to the past to prepare for a range of outcomes. Download the report to keep reading.
