Crypto market review in October 2024

November 7, 2024

In this post

As every month, the OAK Research team presents an in-depth analysis of the cryptocurrency market through a selection of key metrics. In this October 2024 edition, we examined the performance of major market sectors, the top-performing cryptocurrencies, trading volumes on Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, stablecoin movements, and activity on Ethereum and Solana.

Key Highlights

Bitcoin (BTC) closed October above $70,000, recording an 11% increase, with most altcoins lagging behind.
The winning sectors in October were Memecoins (+18.5%), DeFi (+6.5%), and Layer 1 (+5.6%), while Layer 2, AI, DePIN, and Gaming sectors declined.
Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $5.4 billion in October, with BlackRock’s IBIT taking the lead.
Solana saw record on-chain activity, surpassing Ethereum at times in terms of fees generated.

Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and Memecoins

It took until the final days of October to confirm the “Uptober” theory, allowing Bitcoin (BTC) to close the month above $70,000, marking an 11% gain. Despite this bullish return, most altcoins struggled to keep pace.

In October 2024, only three sectors were positive: Memecoins, Layer 1, and DeFi. Memecoins posted the best performance over the last 30 days (+18.5%), followed by DeFi (+6.5%) and Layer 1 (+5.6%), though they still underperformed compared to Bitcoin. Conversely, sectors like Layer 2, DePIN, AI, and Gaming saw significant declines.

Investors await clear signals to enter these “riskier” sectors, opting instead to focus on more "secure" assets. A closer look reveals the same trend among the top 10 performing cryptocurrencies.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Raydium (RAY) led with a 74.7% increase. This prominent decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana is widely used for trading memecoins. It is followed by two memecoins: MEW (+54.9%) and DOGE (+41.5%). The list also includes Jupiter (JUP), one of Solana’s primary DEXs.

The Layer 1 sector's growth is mainly attributed to Solana's strong performance (+10.3%) along with Aptos (+18.6%) and Sui (+11.1%). In summary, Solana’s success and the popularity of memecoins on its network drive two trends: growth in Solana ecosystem DEXs (Raydium, Jupiter) and expansion of similar blockchains (Aptos, Sui).

For more details, see our Layer 1 Activity Report for October 2024

Stablecoin Supply

In October 2024, the total amount of stablecoins issued (pegged to the US dollar) fell by 0.84%, from $175 billion to $173.5 billion. Tether’s USDT continues to dominate the market with a 72.6% share, followed by Circle’s USDC at 21.2%. This slight decline ends two months of consecutive growth, with an 8% increase in August and 2% in September.

Stablecoins serve as a reference for buying and selling cryptocurrencies on exchanges, making their total capitalization an insightful indicator of investor confidence in the market and their inclination—or hesitation—to take positions. For a clearer view, we focus on the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR), which calculates the ratio between Bitcoin's market cap and that of stablecoins.

The increase in stablecoin circulation since early summer reflects an intent among investors to enter the market. However, the SSR’s decline during this period indicated that investors had not yet acted. Since September 6, the SSR has been rising again, suggesting a wave of investor purchases that could extend into November.

Bitcoin Spot ETF

After a challenging August 2024 for Bitcoin spot ETFs (-$92.2 million in net flows) and a resurgence of interest among U.S. investors in September (over $1 billion in net inflows), October 2024 broke records with $5.4 billion in net inflows. October 29 and 30 were the 4th and 2nd highest-volume days on record for the 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs, totaling over $800 million in buy orders.

BlackRock’s IBIT attracted the majority of inflows (85% of the total, or $4.6 billion), followed by Fidelity’s FBTC (9%, or $496 million), with Bitwise’s BITB rounding out the top three ($137 million). Conversely, Grayscale’s GBTC saw further net outflows in October 2024 (-$20 million), totaling more than $20 billion since launch. Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB posted the worst performance (-$77 million).

For the first time in history, the total assets under management (AUM) in Bitcoin spot ETFs exceeded the symbolic one million BTC mark, representing an 8% increase over October. The AUM in dollars for Bitcoin spot ETFs grew by $12 billion, or 19.8%, reaching $73.27 billion, a $12 billion increase over September.

Ethereum Spot ETFs

Launched in July 2024 in the U.S., Ethereum spot ETFs are now over three months old, though investor interest has been slow to build. Despite meeting expectations with $4.05 billion in volume during the first week, daily volumes have since stabilized between $150 million and $250 million.

The assets under management (AUM) grew by $55.4 million in October 2024, a modest 0.5% increase. Since their launch on July 23, AUM has decreased from $10.3 billion (Grayscale Ethereum Trust) to $9.78 billion, with the number of ETH held dropping from 2.93 million to 2.71 million.

October 2024 saw approximately $74 million in net inflows, led by BlackRock’s ETHA ($120 million) and Fidelity’s FETH ($56 million). Meanwhile, Grayscale’s ETHE continued to experience outflows, with $123 million exiting in October.

Ethereum vs. Solana

Solana’s on-chain activity, largely driven by memecoin trading, is reflected in near-record on-chain metrics. Fees generated on the network rose 214% to reach $73.9 million in October 2024, along with increases in active addresses (+8.3%) and transaction volumes (+28.8%).

On the other hand, Ethereum remains the most profitable blockchain in October 2024, generating $138.6 million in fees (+33% from September), supported by an increase in on-chain activity (+18% in transaction volumes) on its main network and renewed interest in Layer 2 networks.

Notably, Solana surpassed Ethereum several times in October in terms of daily fees generated, especially between October 19 and October 31. This is significant, given that the average transaction fees on Solana (between $0.005 and $0.015) are much lower than those on Ethereum ($2 to $5), with a difference factor of 10 to 30.

Conclusion

October 2024 confirmed several key trends in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin (BTC) remains the dominant asset, showing a significant 11% increase, while most altcoins lag behind. Investor interest is concentrated in a few areas, particularly memecoins, which are thriving on Solana. As a result, the top performances are from cryptos tied to these sectors, including Solana’s SOL, Solana’s DEXs, memecoins, and Dogecoin.

We observe that capital flows entering the market in recent months (symbolized by stablecoins) are starting to position (as seen with the rise in the SSR), while interest in Bitcoin spot ETFs is returning. This alignment of indicators may suggest a positive sentiment among investors, which will need to be monitored in November.