Crypto market review in November 2024

Key Highlights

• Donald Trump’s election in the United States propelled the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin (BTC) rising 37%.
• MicroStrategy acquired 134,480 BTC ($12 billion), triggering a domino effect among institutional investors.
• Spot ETFs recorded record inflows: $6.4 billion for BTC and $1 billion for ETH.
• DOGE and XRP returned to levels unseen in three years; XRP surpassed SOL in market capitalization and briefly overtook Tether's USDT, claiming the third spot in the crypto rankings.
• "Dinocoins" outperformed the broader crypto market, while indicators for an altcoin season are turning green.

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A Bullish Political Context

Before diving into specific cryptocurrency market insights, it is crucial to understand the macroeconomic backdrop. On November 6, 2024, Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, becoming the 47th president. This outcome dispelled the uncertainty that had been weighing on risk financial markets for months.

During his campaign, Donald Trump highlighted Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency industry as priorities. He pledged to create a robust digital economy where Bitcoin plays a central role, while also promising regulatory easing and rejecting the strict policies enacted against cryptocurrencies from 2021 to 2023.

Within days of the election, Gary Gensler announced his resignation-as promised by Trump-from his position as chair of the SEC, the U.S. financial market regulatory authority. Trump also appointed Howard Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce and Scott Bessent as Secretary of the Treasury, both considered crypto-friendly figures.

Finally, discussions between Trump and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong underline a willingness to revise restrictive regulations affecting the industry. Trump’s election thus signals a potential regulatory relaxation, favoring the growth of digital assets.

Explore our analysis on Bitcoin in 2025: The Institutional Adoption Cycle

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Market Overview

Bitcoin Rising, Dominance Declining

Following Donald Trump’s election on November 6, Bitcoin (BTC) began a bullish rally, climbing from around $70,000 to nearly $100,000. BTC closed November at $96,400, marking an exceptional 37.15% increase.

However, unlike previous months, intriguing signals suggest a potential altcoin season. Bitcoin dominance has started to decline (down approximately 5% in November, from 60.2% to 57.2%), indicating a possible trend reversal from the pattern observed since December 2022.

Moreover, key market sectors outperformed BTC for the first time in months, with gains of:

• 87% for memecoins,
• 65% for AI,
• 63% for layer 2 blockchains,
• 60% for DeFi,
• 46% for layer 1 blockchains.

The Return of “Dinocoins”

November 2024’s top-performing cryptocurrencies were the so-called "dinocoins." This term refers to cryptocurrencies that have been in the market for multiple cycles and maintain significant capitalization, despite occasionally exhibiting low activity.

Among them, notable performers include Stellar's XLM (+481%), Hedera's HBAR (+374%), Algorand's ALGO (+332%), XRP (+324%), Cardano's ADA (+218%), DOGE (+180%), and Tezos's XTZ (+168%).

Additionally, VIRTUAL, from Virtuals Protocol, entered the top 100 cryptocurrencies (+242.7% in November). Unlike other dinocoins, this protocol is a pioneer in the emerging AI Agents narrative.

For more insights, check out our monthly crypto market review for October 2024

Where Are We in the Cycle?

For the first time since March 2024, the cryptocurrency market has experienced significant activity during November. Here is a summary of the key movements observed in the rankings of cryptocurrencies:

• SOL from Solana: New all-time high at $265.
• XRP: Gained +324%, adding $100 billion to its market capitalization, briefly surpassing Tether's USDT to become the 3rd largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
• ADA from Cardano: Returned to $1, allowing Cardano to reenter the top 10.
• DOGE: Rose to $0.45, a level not seen since 2021.
• XLM from Stellar: Climbed back into the top 15 cryptocurrencies, while TON and TRX exited the top 10.
• IOTA and EOS: Posted gains exceeding 100%, continuing the dinocoin trend.

Currently, several indicators suggest that an altcoin season could begin in the coming weeks.

• Bitcoin Dominance: A trend reversal in Bitcoin's dominance is underway. It decreased from 60.2% to 57.2% in November, with levels around 54% being monitored for clear confirmation.
• Liquidity Rotation: Capital previously concentrated in Bitcoin is now flowing toward the most capitalized altcoins (high caps). This phenomenon is common in bullish cycles and often marks the transition between the first phase (Bitcoin dominance) and the second phase (liquidity flowing into altcoins).

Thus, we could be at the beginning of the second phase of the cryptocurrency market's bullish cycle. This phase has started with liquidity rotating into "high caps" (highly capitalized cryptocurrencies), which could soon lead to outperformance by Ether (ETH).

Historically, cryptocurrency bull cycles often conclude with a euphoric phase, where investors take on higher risks by moving into "low caps" (the least capitalized cryptocurrencies).

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On-Chain Metrics

To understand price movements, it is sometimes helpful to analyze on-chain metrics.

BTC Supply on Exchanges

In November 2024, the amount of BTC available on cryptocurrency exchanges hit a five-year low, at around 2.5 million units.

This phenomenon could indicate a potential “supply shock”: a situation where the BTC supply is too limited to meet the growing demand from investors, potentially driving prices higher.

Investor Behavior

In terms of investor behavior, a divergence between retail investors and institutional investors has been observed. As is often the case when BTC surpasses its previous all-time high (in this case, the $70,000 level), retail investors are taking profits to shift their focus to altcoins.

This is confirmed by analyzing Long-Term Holders (LTH), a cohort of investors holding assets for over 155 days. In November 2024, they sold approximately 912,000 BTC throughout the rally up to $99,000.

Meanwhile, these sales were absorbed by significant purchases from institutional actors. MicroStrategy acquired 134,480 BTC (equivalent to $12 billion), a strategy followed by many other companies since Donald Trump's election. Additionally, Bitcoin spot ETFs also recorded $6.5 billion in inflows.

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Bitcoin Spot ETFs

After an exceptional October 2024, with $5.4 billion in net inflows, Bitcoin spot ETFs experienced an even more impressive November, with $6.4 billion in net inflows.

As usual, BlackRock's IBIT captured the majority of incoming capital ($5.6 billion), followed by Fidelity's FBTC ($962 million) and Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF ($211 million).

Unsurprisingly, the outcome of the U.S. elections acted as a catalyst for this enthusiasm, with the week following the elections alone accounting for $4.7 billion in inflows. As for assets under management, the total rose by 39%, increasing from $72 billion to over $100 billion.

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Conclusion

November 2024 confirmed the predictions made in October's market review, namely that Bitcoin's dominance would soon begin to decline, paving the way for altcoins. We are entering a phase where multiple asset categories are performing simultaneously (memecoins early in the month, dinocoins later), a trend that could continue for a few more weeks.

Donald Trump's election acted as a catalyst for risk financial markets, particularly cryptocurrencies. The pro-crypto stance of the future U.S. president suggests a more favorable regulatory environment for the industry and is already driving significant changes in certain protocols.

In December 2024, it will be interesting to observe Bitcoin's (BTC) price behavior and the reaction of other cryptocurrencies, as well as BTC's dominance, to confirm whether we are entering a full-fledged altcoin season.