We’ve now reached the halfway point of 2024 and decentralized markets are truly starting to flourish and recover from the bearish ‘crypto winter’ of 2022.
Bitcoin’s annual halving event took place on April 19th and, while it still hasn’t had the stratospheric impact on the coin’s price as some industry analysts predicted, nevertheless its influence is continuing to ripple through the industry as a whole.
Meanwhile, blockchain developers have been investing time and resources into improving the widespread utility of tech technology, so that it can provide a solution to real-world, practical problems and pain points.
That’s a summary of the crypto industry to date this year, but what are the key trends that will likely generate the most impact during the coming six months? Let’s take a look and find out!
Bitcoin has outperformed stocks
An Ethereum Supremacy?
Despite its vast utility, powering everything from smart contracts to metaverse gaming platforms, Ethereum (ETH) has often played second fiddle to Bitcoin. While BTC has achieved insane record-breaking valuations over the decade and a half that it’s been in existence, ETH has trailed behind, lucky to achieve even a fraction of Bitcoin’s gains. As 2024 continues to unfold, however, some analysts believe we’re on the brink of an Ethereum supremacy.
Since the ‘Shapella’ upgrade (Shanghai hard fork update) on the network back in April, ETH has undergone and sustained substantial development levels. At the close of May 2024, the project was trading at a valuation of $3832 per coin with a total market cap of $460.35 billion, which represented growth of over 101% over 12 months.
This upward trend isn’t likely to stall here, either. As we’ve seen time and time again when Bitcoin flourishes, so does the rest of the market, and now, with more inflows coming into the groundbreaking BTC ETFs, the US SEC has officially granted its approval for spot Ethereum ETFs. All this amounts to a potentially record-breaking year for the Ethereum project, with high potential for bullish momentum throughout the rest of 2024 and beyond.
A New Era for Crypto Gaming
Given the discourse surrounding the rise of the cryptocurrency industry, it’s easy to forget that, in the grand scheme of things, it’s still very much in its emerging stages as a tech sector.
Crypto may not have reached the mass levels of adoption that early enthusiasts hoped for at this current time, but as each year passes more and more people, companies and organizational ecosystems are finding ways to accept and implement it. And one of the core drivers that continues to play a key role in sustaining positive momentum is, of course, crypto and blockchain gaming.
During just a few short years, the crypto gaming markets have swelled to encompass everything from online gambling platforms to NFT-based play to earn games, as well as groundbreaking new gaming projects like Calvaria: Duels of Eternity, with its focus on trading card gameplay. Now, the segment is on the precipice of a new era that’s focused on delivering the highest quality gaming experiences, thanks to the involvement of some notable big tech incumbents.
For reigning video game brands like Ubisoft, the blockchain gaming space presents a tantalizing opportunity for growth and technological innovation. According to CoinGecko, “29 of the world’s 40 biggest game studios are investing in Web3 gaming”, with 7 (including Ubisoft) generating gaming projects in-house.
The French developer recently teased its forthcoming AAA GameFi project, Champion Tactics Grimoria Chronicles during Paris Blockchain Week with the promise that it will be fully playable before the year is out. But Ubisoft’s entry into the GameFi space isn’t the only major project on the cards, with Solana’s vast flagship game Star Atlas being rolled out throughout the remainder of the decade.
However, it’s not just the major players that will be initiating continued growth in this market over the coming months and years. One of the most positive impacts of blockchain tech and cryptocurrency is that it can democratize established industries and systems, making them accessible to all. The same is true of its gaming application, as we can see with the increasing popularity of Web3 platforms like Decentraland and even games like Axie Infinity.
Sky Mavis’ pioneering game has just launched its Homeland feature, which enables players to build their own virtual real estate by gathering resources and creating settlements in a virtual environment. Of course, virtual real estate has been Decentraland’s core USP since its release in February 2020, and it continues to empower individual users to build and own virtual real estate that has real world value.
Memecoins Continue to Disrupt the Space
Love them or hate them, memecoins are showing no sign of decreasing in popularity in 2024. In fact, they’re only growing more popularly with each new month—no doubt due to their novel appeal, which engages new demographics who don’t fit into the allistic crypto enthusiasts’ box.
Indeed, it makes sense for the crypto industry to capitalize on the swelling interest in memecoins, however valueless they can be in the grand scheme of things. As shown below, the total market cap of all meme coins has jumped to over $65 billion. As I wrote earlier, Beercoin, a new Solana meme coin, has attained a market cap of over $300 million.
Meme coins market cap
Currently, the GameStop memecoin (GME) is enjoying a surge, with the Solana-based project up by 300%. New projects in the space, including the Furrever Token, a cat-themed token that’s already surpassed the $1.2 million mark during its final presale phase.
