CMC Report: Crypto Market Cap Grows 48% YoY, But Q2 Lacks Excitement

Key Points:

• Crypto Market Cap Grows 48% YoY, but Q2 Lacks Excitement, as per CMC report.
• Bitcoin Dominates, but VR/AR and AI/Big Data Sectors Show Remarkable Growth.
• BlackRock’s Bitcoin Spot ETF Filing Could Unlock Institutional Demand.

The crypto market cap grew 48% YoY, but Q2 lacked excitement. Bitcoin dominates, but VR/AR and AI/Big Data sectors had remarkable growth. BlackRock filed for Bitcoin spot ETF, CMC report.

The first half of 2023 has been a mixed bag for the cryptocurrency world. According to a recent report by CMC, the global crypto market cap reached $1.17 trillion at the end of Q2, marking a 48% YTD increase. However, Q2 lacked the strong market narratives that Q1 had, failing to produce any similarly groundbreaking developments.

Instead, Q2 witnessed different trends like the “memecoin season” and the rise of BRC20 tokens, which, though noteworthy, did not match the level of excitement generated in the previous quarter.

Despite the challenging market, some sectors have shown remarkable growth in market cap year-to-date. VR/AR (704%) and AI & Big Data (323%) have been leading the narrative in the market, while bluechip DeFi projects and infrastructure are making a strong comeback. Notably, the Memes sector added over 260 new coins YTD, marking it the most active sector in terms of new listings.

The report also showed a notable improvement in market sentiment, as the CMC Crypto Fear and Greed Index concluded H1 around 52 (Neutral), up from approximately 30 (Fear) at the start of the year. However, the Total Spot Trade Volume of the Top 20 Crypto Exchanges peaked in March and declined by around 36% quarter-on-quarter, reaching a near-dormant state by the end of June at c. 523 billion per month.

In terms of the top cryptocurrencies viewed across all regions in H1 2023, Bitcoin (BTC) remains the most-viewed cryptocurrency, a similar trend from Q4 2022. This is also reflected in Bitcoin’s dominance (BTC.D) over altcoins, with BTC.D increasing from 40.09% at the start of the year to 50.39% at the end of H1 2023, a 25% increase.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) remains a popular memecoin across all regions, alongside Baby Doge Coin (BabyDoge) in South America, Asia, and Africa. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) remains a popular coin of interest in most regions except Asia and Africa, while Ethereum scaling solutions like Polygon (MATIC) and Arbitrum (ARB) gained attention in South America and Others region respectively.

Despite the lackluster Q2, the crypto world is still full of potential, as evidenced by the recent filing by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, for a Bitcoin spot ETF. If approved, this could unlock substantial institutional investor demand by offering regulated products for asset allocation, potentially pushing Bitcoin’s price significantly beyond its All-Time High level.

Besides, the U.S. continues to dominate in terms of the distribution of cryptocurrency users worldwide. 17.4% of traffic in H1 2023 came from users in the United States, with 7.90%, 7.40%, 6.98%, 6.75%, and 6% of users in India, Turkey, Germany, Brazil, and Vietnam, respectively.

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