Partnered With:

CoinGecko2023 Q1 report: Has the industry picked up?

Read this article in 10 Minutes

CoinGecko's Q1 crypto Industry Report 2023 covers the crypto market landscape, as well as analysis of Bitcoin and Ethereum, delves into the DeFi and NFT ecosystems, and reviews the performance of CEX and DEX.

CoinGecko Q1 2023 Report: Has the industry picked Up?

Original source: CoinGecko

原文编译：深潮 TechFlow

A New Year brings a fresh start, as the cryptocurrency market woke up from its late 2022 dormancy and emerged from a bear market, growing 48.9% from a total market value of $831.8 billion on January 1, 2023, to $1.238 trillion on March 31, 2023.

While the rally was not without its troubles, it reversed losses caused by the FTX crash and brought the market back to its pre-Ethereum merger highs. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are now hovering around $30,000 and $2,000, respectively, with BTC doing particularly well, up nearly 72% this quarter.

CoinGecko's Q1 crypto Industry Report 2023 covers the crypto market landscape, as well as analysis of Bitcoin and Ethereum, delves into decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-homogeneous token (NFT) ecosystems, and reviews the performance of centralized exchanges (CEX) and decentralized exchanges (DEX).

1. The cryptocurrency market has had a strong start to the year, rising 48.9% to a total market cap of $1.2 trillion

The crypto market got off to a strong start in 2023, ending the first quarter with a total crypto market cap of $1.2 trillion. This represents a 48.9 percent increase in absolute terms from the $829 billion performance at the end of 2022, with an absolute return of $406 billion.

At the same time, daily volume also recovered, growing 30% quarter-on-quarter from -33% in Q4 2022 to $77 billion in Q1 2023. Volumes picked up in January 2023, temporarily spiking in early March due to increased volatility caused by the banking crisis, but gradually falling back at the end of March when Binance removed the BTC zero-fee trading incentive.

2. Bitcoin outperformed traditional asset classes, rising 72.4%

Bitcoin was the best performing asset in the first quarter of 2023, growing 72.4% quarter-on-quarter, followed by the Nasdaq (15.7%) and gold (8.4%).

With the exception of crude oil, which fell 6.1%, every major asset class ended the quarter in positive territory. The result is not surprising, as crude oil is one of only two assets to rise in 2022. Crude initially fell to -17.2% as the US inflation report mentioned falling oil demand, coupled with the impact of the US banking crisis, but managed to claw back some losses by the end of March.

The dollar index (DXY), along with other fiat currencies, remained relatively flat over the same period as inflation data came in below expectations.

3. Stablecoins lost $6.2 billion, down 4.5%, with USDC and BUSD the biggest losers

Due to Paxos' spinoff of Binance USD (BUSD) and the decoupling event of USD Coin (USDC) during the SVB crash, the market value of the top 15 stablecoins fell by 4.5% ($6.2 billion).

USDT, the largest stablecoin, further consolidated its position, increasing its market cap by 20.5 percent ($13.6 billion). In contrast, USDC and BUSD lost 26.9 percent and 54.5 percent, respectively, wiping out their 2022 gains.

Meanwhile, True USD (TUSD) made it into the top 5, overtaking FRAX. Binance minted $130 million of TUSD, while Tron minted another $750 million, boosting its market value by 169.3 percent. For stablecoins outside the top five, GUSD and USDP fell 32.0% and 12.3%, respectively.

4. The DeFi ecosystem grew 65.2 per cent to $29.6 billion, with the liquidity pledge sector up 210.9 per cent

In the first quarter of 2023, the market cap of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector surged 65.2%, equivalent to an increase of $29.6 billion, driven by the performance of liquidity pledge governance tokens.

Liquidity Pledge Governance tokens increased their market value by 210.9% in the first quarter as Ethereum Shapella was upgraded. It has now surpassed the loan agreement to become the third largest category in DeFi.

Despite a 44.3% market cap increase in the first quarter of 2023, decentralized Exchange (DEX) governance tokens are still losing market share and are down -5% since January.

5. Blur overtakes OpenSea to become the top NFT market

Non-homogeneous token (NFT) trading volume increased significantly, from $2.1 billion in Q4 2022 to $4.5 billion in Q1 2023, up 68%.

Most of the NFT volume comes from Blur, a new NFT platform launched in October 2022. Within six months, it has replaced former market leader OpenSea, and its market share has grown from 52.8 percent in December 2022 to 71.8 percent in March 2023, currently occupying the top six NFT markets. Meanwhile, OpenSea's market share shrank from 29.3% to 21.7% over the same period.

While most blockchains saw an increase in transaction volume in the first quarter, Solana's ecosystem languished. Magic Eden, the largest marketplace on the chain, saw its transaction volume drop 67.9 percent from $73.9 million in December 2022 to $23.6 million in March 2023. The well-known NFT y00ts and DeGods also migrated to other chains, further hitting Solana.

6. Cryptocurrency physical trading volume rose 18.1 percent to $2.8 trillion in Q1, with DEX's quarterly growth outpacing CEX's

Spot trading on the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges totaled $2.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, up 18.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2022. Monthly trading volumes have been on an upward trend since a low of $0.5 trillion in December 2022. However, monthly trading volumes have yet to reach the average $1tn level last seen in the first half of 2022.

Decentralized exchanges (DEX) are growing almost twice as fast as CEX amid a crackdown by global regulators. In the first quarter of 2023, the DEX grew 33.4%, while the CEX grew 16.9%. Still, the ratio of CEX to DEX trading volume remained above 90% over the same period.

In addition, CoinGecko has a full 44-page version of the report, which is available for interested readers.