Main Takeaways
In this blog series, we offer concise summaries of the Binance Research team’s findings, inviting you to take a deeper dive into the original reports.
This article previews the recent Binance Research report discussing key developments in crypto markets over the past month.
October 2023 was an exceptional month for crypto, with a considerable 19% increase in total market capitalization, largely driven by optimism surrounding spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Thanks to Binance Research, you can take advantage of industry-grade analyses of the processes that shape what the Web3 space will look like tomorrow. By sharing these insights, we hope to empower our community with the latest knowledge from the field of crypto research. For a deeper dive, the full reports are available on the Binance Research website.
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Today’s article explores key Web3 developments in October 2023 to provide an overview of the crypto ecosystem’s current state. We analyze the performance of crypto, DeFi, and NFT markets before previewing the major events to look out for in November 2023.
Crypto Market Performance in October 2023
October 2023 was an exceptional month for crypto, with total market capitalization increasing a considerable 19%. This surge marked the second-highest monthly gain of 2023 and was largely driven by the optimism surrounding expected approvals of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US. Various events propelled such optimism, including an erroneous report of a SEC approval by Cointelegraph, the US court’s reaffirmation of the Grayscale case’s previous ruling, and the reports of Blackrock’s proposed spot Bitcoin ETF being added to a clearing-house eligibility file. Throughout the month, the price of BTC drove past $35K, revitalizing the broader cryptocurrency market.
Monthly change in crypto market capitalization (%)
Source: CoinMarketCap (October 31, 2023)
Monthly price performance of the top 10 coins by market capitalization
Source: CoinMarketCap (October 31, 2023)
All of the top 10 coins by market capitalization ended October with increases in price. Notably, SOL and LINK were the top performers of the month, boasting gains of 78% and 45%, respectively. Propelled forward by the spot ETF narrative, BTC saw a considerable price increase of 28% as the third-highest performer this month.
Decentralized finance (DeFi)
The DeFi market was finally able to break its 2023 downtrend, recording a notable 8.8% increase in total value locked (TVL) over the month. This rise was likely driven by the general optimism in the cryptocurrency market surrounding spot Bitcoin ETFs. DeFi protocols saw notable growth all around, with Tron, Arbitrum, and Solana among the top gainers in TVL, recording increases of 15.04%, 3.70%, and 17.26%, respectively. Additionally, Ethereum Improvement Proposal 7540 (EIP-7540) was introduced in October, which could potentially benefit DeFi protocols on Ethereum.
TVL share of top blockchains
Source: DeFiLlama (October 30, 2023)
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
Monthly trading volume for NFTs
Source: Cryptoslam (October 30, 2023)
The NFT market was also finally able to rebound and break its downtrend for the year, with trading volume reaching $0.31B in October, representing a 6.9% increase for the month. Nansen’s NFT-500 index and the Blue-Chip-10 index recorded declines of 58% and 50% since the start of the year, respectively. While these numbers reflect the tough year that NFTs have had thus far, we are finally starting to see an uptrend, with monthly gains across most NFT categories in October 2023.
Upcoming Events
To help users stay updated on the latest Web3 news, Binance Research has summarized notable events and token unlocks for the month to come. Keep an eye on these upcoming developments in the blockchain space.
Notable events in November 2023
Source: Binance Research
Largest token unlocks in US$ terms
Source: TokenUnlocks, Binance Research
Binance Research
The Binance Research team is committed to delivering objective, independent, and comprehensive analyses of the crypto space. They publish insightful takes on Web3 topics, including but not limited to the crypto ecosystem, blockchain applications, and the latest market developments.
This article is only a snapshot of the full report, which contains further insights and analyses of the most important market charts from the past month. It also features an exploration of Bitcoin’s market dominance, Ethereum layer-2 network Scroll, decentralized exchange Uniswap, and smart contract platform Maker.
To read the full version of this report, click here. Additionally, you can find other in-depth investigations of the latest Web3 developments by visiting the page on the Binance Research website. Take the opportunity to empower yourself with the latest insights from the field of crypto research!
Further Reading
Binance Research: Key Trends in Crypto – October 2023
Binance Research: LSDFi – Liquid Staking Meets DeFi
Binance Research: Key Trends in Crypto – September 2023
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