Bitcoin and NFTs Propel Crypto Market in H1 2023: Report

<p>The digital asset website
tracking the prices and trading volumes of cryptocurrencies, CoinMarketCap, has
released a market analysis report for the first half of 2023. Although the
report shows an increase in the cryptocurrency market capitalization year-to-date,
the market cap for the first and the second quarter barely changed.</p><p>The global cryptocurrency market capitalization reached
USD1.17 trillion at the end of the second quarter, representing an increase of
48% year-to-date. In the first quarter, the market capitalization was boosted by the rise in the price of Bitcoin and the heightened activity in the non-fungible tokens (NFT) market, CoinMarketCap noted.</p><p>Spot Trading Volumes</p><p>Additionally, according to CoinMarketCap, the
trading of digital assets increased in the first quarter of the year but
declined in the subsequent quarter. The total spot trading volume across 20
crypto exchanges peaked in March but had declined 36% quarter-on-quarter to
USD535 billion as of June.</p><p>Across the cryptocurrency sector, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/education-centre/what-are-altcoins-what-investors-need-to-know/" target="_blank" rel="follow">meme
tokens</a> are the most
popular category, having received the most views in April and May. The second
and the third-most viewed assets fall under decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFTs,
respectively. AI and Big Data also received significant views following the
launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, CoinMarketCap explained.</p><p>On top of that, Ethereum, the second-most popular
<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/b/blockchain/">blockchain</a> network, leads in smart contracts. Its popularity was boosted by the
Shapella upgrade, which went live in April. The upgrade enabled
Ethereum’s users to unlock approximately 18 million ether which had been locked
in the network.</p><p>Bitcoin Projected to Surge</p><p>CoinMarketCap also highlighted the events that have
significantly impacted the digital asset space, particularly the recent wave of
applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US. The top asset
management company, BlackRock, Valkyrie, Fidelity, Ark Invest, and 21Shares,
have <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/blackrock-seeks-approval-for-a-spot-bitcoin-etf-in-the-us/" target="_blank" rel="follow">submitted
applications</a> to the SEC
to list spot Bitcoin ETFs.</p><p>According to the report, the investments in the crypto ETFs and exchange-traded funds have reached USD9.5 billion. The figure could reportedly increase if the SEC approves the application for spot Bitcoin ETFs.</p><p>In
a separate report by the analytics platform K33 Research featured by <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-exchange-traded-products-etps-post-record-monthly-investments/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Finance
Magnates</a> yesterday
(Wednesday), the <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-exchange-traded-products-etps-post-record-monthly-investments/" target="_blank" rel="follow">investments
in Bitcoin ETPs</a> increased
by 25,202 Bitcoins to 196,824 Bitcoins in the four weeks ending July 16. An ETP
is a type of security that tracks the price of an underlying asset.</p>

This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.