The first half saw significant growth in the general crypto market cap, institutional interest, and network health.
Bitcoin's market cap surged over $1 trillion, especially before and after the April 2024 halving.
Bitcoin's on-chain transaction volume is high, and the network hit a new hash rate high, even with lower miner revenue.
Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake model has been a massive success. The network now boasts over 1 million validators and more than 25% of its supply staked.
The stablecoin market cap reached $145 billion, with USDT and USDC dominating the space.
The crypto market has been highly eventful over most of the year. We saw several ups and downs on Bitcoin throughout most of it, some harsher than others.
We saw further SEC litigation and the launch of the spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have generated more than $15 billion in AUM since their launch.
We saw the stablecoin and derivatives markets skyrocket in terms of market cap and trading volume.
However, the year is only halfway in.
Here's a quick refresher of all the major events and metrics for the first half of the year from Glassnode and CME Group.
Despite starting the second half of the year in less-than-bullish conditions, the crypto market has seen significant growth throughout most of the year.
This growth isn’t just limited to price.
We grew on several other fronts, such as institutional interest, market cap, and overall health.
Glassnode’s report states that the crypto market cap grew to approximately $2.56 trillion, with Bitcoin and Ethereum leading the rest.
Bitcoin, especially, saw most of this growth, with its market cap growing by over $1.13 trillion, a +370% gain between the FTX crash in November 2022 and June 2024.
This shows that Bitcoin has made significant progress in the last year and a half, with most of its growth occurring before and after the April 2024 halving.
Glassnode also notes that Bitcoin currently processes an average of $46.4 billion in daily on-chain volume, which makes it a worthy competitor to other major, centralized service providers like Visa and Mastercard.
Moreover, Glassnode notes that the Bitcoin network is thriving, considering the new hash rate all-time high of over 617 exahashes per second—despite the heavy reduction in miner revenue, the ongoing signs of capitulation, and a new hash price low of $48,000 per exahash per day after the fourth halving.
Ethereum, just like Bitcoin, has also grown steadily in the first half of the year.
The cryptocurrency now has a circulating supply of 119.76 million ETH, with its switch to the Proof of Stake consensus model allowing it to reach a validator count of over one million active validators.
The network also has around $32.2 million worth of ETH locked as staked collateral, representing over 27% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply.
The stablecoin market has also been thriving lately, emerging with a current market cap of $145 billion.
Stablecoins like USDT and USDC also lead the market, holding 74% and 22% dominance, respectively.
The derivatives market for Bitcoin and Ethereum has also grown significantly, with futures markets emerging as leaders in terms of trading volumes.
Moreover, Glassnode's report shows that the open interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum's futures have reached highs of $29.0 billion and $14.7 billion, respectively, driven mainly by institutional interest.
The futures market also has daily contract volumes for Bitcoin and Ethereum of $34.4 billion and $26.7 billion, respectively, which is similar to what we have seen in previous cycles but below the all-time highs seen in early 2021.
Overall, the report concludes that although the market has experienced its fair share of rough weather, metrics like institutional interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum, combined with the stablecoin and derivatives market, growth have proven to be great signs of growth in the market.
Although the crypto market doesn't look much like it at present, the fundamentals seem strong, and the second half of the year might better reflect all of this growth in terms of crypto prices across the market.
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information but will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.