Binance Research: Cryptocurrency Market Performance in April

Author: Binance Research Source: Binance official website Translation: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance

Key Points

• This article summarizes a recent report from Binance Research that discusses the main developments in the cryptocurrency market over the past month.

• April was a tough month for cryptocurrencies, with total market capitalization falling 11.3% as momentum from previous months slowed. DeFi and NFT markets also saw declines, with TVL falling 0.7% and monthly trading volume falling 21%.

Today's blog post explores the main developments in Web3 in April 2024, aiming to provide an overview of the current state of the ecosystem. We analyze the performance of the crypto, DeFi, and NFT markets, then preview the main events to watch for in May 2024.

Crypto Market Performance in April 2024

April was a tough month for crypto, with total market capitalization falling by 11.3% as the momentum accumulated in the previous months slipped. Some of the main factors contributing to this reversal include changing expectations of rate cuts, geopolitical risks, and slowing inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs.

However, there were some positive developments throughout the month. On April 30, six different spot cryptocurrency ETFs began trading in Hong Kong after regulatory approval. Additionally, the total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins reached a two-year high. The stablecoin supply of USDT and USDC has been steadily increasing, indicating continued capital inflows into the cryptocurrency market.

Monthly change in cryptocurrency market capitalization (%)

Source: CoinMarketCap (April 30, 2024)

Monthly price performance of the top ten tokens by market capitalization

Source: CoinMarketCap (April 30, 2024)

Among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, most of them are in April All closed the month in negative territory. TON (+1.0%) and BNB (-1.4%) were the only cryptocurrencies to gain or remain relatively flat. TON’s gains can be attributed to its ecosystem gaining traction, with active users and locked value reaching new highs. BNB continued its strong performance over the past few months. ETH and BTC both fell by about 8%, despite Hong Kong approving a spot Bitcoin ETF and a spot Ethereum ETF. XRP and SHIB fell more sharply, by 17.1% and 19.2%, respectively. DOGE, ADA, SOL, and AVAX were the worst performing cryptocurrencies, falling by about 30% each.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

In line with broader market trends, April was a quiet month for the DeFi sector, with TVL falling by 0.7%. Among the top 10 chains, Merlin Chain (Bitcoin layer 2 solution) has the largest growth, with a monthly growth of 1000% and a TVL of over $1 billion. Pendle and Hyperliquid are the outstanding protocols. Pendle's TVL reached $5 billion and the cumulative transaction volume exceeded $15 billion. Hyperliquid's TVL exceeded $435 million, surpassing Aptos, Near and Cardano.

TVL share of top blockchains

Source: DeFiLlama (April 30, 2024)

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)

Monthly NFT trading volume

Source: CryptoSlam (April 30, 2024)

In terms of NFT sales across major chains, Bitcoin led with $567 million, followed by Ethereum ($241 million) and Solana ($153 million). This suggests that collectors have recently shifted their attention to Bitcoin-based NFTs.

Major Events in May 2024