Raynor de Best
Content expert covering payments and (crypto)currencies
The cryptocurrency market came under increasing pressure in 2023, as global regulators continued to crack down on digital assets. Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, agreed to pay a four billion U.S. dollar settlement with United States agencies in November 2023. This was one of the biggest corporate fines in U.S. history. Crypto prices rallied, nevertheless, in the following weeks. Bitcoin reached its highest value of all of 2023 in December that year, surpassing 42,000 U.S. dollars. This late rally was also reflected in the overall cryptocurrency market cap, which reached a level in December 2023 that was similar to the market cap before the high-profile crypto issues – the crashes of LUNA and FTX - of 2022. What are the main developments one should keep an eye out right now for cryptocurrencies? This page investigates the overall market for all cryptocurrencies combined, including Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency by country is investigated in "Crypto pulse check – Q4 2022", from February 2023. The 46-page report compares global cryptocurrency markets, on a country-by-country basis.
Cryptocurrency by country is investigated in "Crypto pulse check – Q4 2022", from February 2023. The 46-page report compares global cryptocurrency markets, on a country-by-country basis.
A late crypto bull run in 2023
A sudden crypto price hike occurred at the end of 2023. Whether this will hold in 2024 will depend on the monthly interest rate from the U.S. Fed. This is speculated to decrease in 2024, despite a vow of "higher for longer". In December 2023, the thought of such decreasing interest rates and the potential of a Bitcoin ETF fuelled market sentiment towards riskier assets. A weaker U.S. dollar against other fiat (real-world) currencies may also contribute to this. The price surge from December 2023 may, nevertheless, impact the Q4 financial results of companies like Coinbase or Block — the owner of Square — as their business models focus around cryptocurrency significantly.2024 trends for cryptocurrency
One major development for the new year will be the Bitcoin halving, which is estimated to arrive in April 2024. Bitcoin's supply is finite: BTC has a maximum supply embedded in its design, of which roughly 93 percent had been reached by late 2023. As part of Bitcoin's original design, the blockchain halves mining rewards handed out to the creation of new coins every four years. This to essentially keep the supply of Bitcoins under control. Each previous halving — November 2012, July 2016, May 2020 — injected new value into the oldest-existing cryptocurrency. Some analysts also hope to see more developments surrounding Decentralized Finance (DeFi), as this market had relatively few outspoken use cases by the end of 2023.
