December marked a significant milestone in the cryptocurrency market as exchange trading volume soared past $1 trillion, a feat not achieved in over a year. The surge to $1.1 trillion in trading volume, as reported by The Block’s Data Dashboard, eclipsed the previous high of $1.03 trillion in September 2022. This high represents the most substantial monthly volume since May 2022’s $1.35 trillion.
Per the data, Binance dominated the exchange landscape in December, accounting for 39.3% of the month’s volume, followed by Upbit and OKX. The industry’s buoyancy, particularly in December, a typically slow month, reflects growing optimism. Steven Zheng, The Block’s Director of Research, attributed this surge to anticipation around the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs and a potential bull market resurgence.
Bitcoin’s price mirrored this optimism, rallying to over $45,000, marking a significant uptick. Concurrently, the fervor extended to cryptocurrency options, with Bitcoin options trading volume reaching record highs. Notably, Deribit, a major player in this arena, reported an impending expiry of $7.7B worth of Bitcoin options, with a significant portion expected to expire in the money.
The surge in trading volume and options activity spotlights a broader trend of increasing engagement and investment in the cryptocurrency sector. This has been further evidenced by the NFT industry’s continued growth, with trading volume jumping by 125% in November, according to a report from the decentralized app tracking platform DappRadar. The average value of NFT transactions also saw a significant increase, indicating a shift in user behavior and a potential recovery from earlier market downturns.
Blockchain gaming, another critical sector of the decentralized ecosystem, also showed resilience and growth despite a bearish mood throughout the year. Investments in blockchain gaming projects reached $2.3 billion by October 2023, with a significant portion secured in the third quarter alone.
December 2023 also saw a notable resurgence in Bitcoin’s influence within the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) space. Bitcoin’s Ordinals surged, contributing to approximately 45% of the total volume of NFTs over that week. The data indicated a staggering $1.3 billion in sales within the last 30 days alone, marking remarkable growth and heightened market activity in the NFT space.
