Crypto Q2 Market Outlook was Murkier, But Positive Signs Ahead: CoinGecko COO

Crypto industry, particularly after the long-anticipated fourth halving in April, had a roller-coaster ride in Q2 2024. Total crypto market cap dropped 14.4%, the largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin fell 11.9% and BTC mining hash rate saw a steep decline of 18.8%. However, according to CoinGecko’s 2024 Q2 Crypto Industry Report, these dull moments “doesn’t mean it wasn’t an eventful quarter.”

CoinGecko, the crypto ranking portal, noted that Q2 proved to be “pretty choppy for Bitcoin and the crypto market.” Although, crypto’s Q1 performance was exuberance, thanks to the approval of the US spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.

The overall crypto market cap oscillated between $2.30 trillion – $2.90 trillion, but wasn’t able to make new all-time highs. However, the S&P “continued its upward climb” with 3.9% gains.

The price of Bitcoin, on the other hand, slumped during the second-quarter, trading between the $58,000 – $72,000 levels. The trading volume also showed 21.6% plunge compared to Q1.

Additionally, the hash rate for Bitcoin mining hit all-time-high, before dropping 18.8% in Q2. But, this did not affect miners such as BitDigital, Hive, Hut 8 and others from looking to expand into AI.

CoinGecko’s Q2 2024 Crypto Report Also Showed “Positive Signs”

Interestingly, meme coins, AI and real-world assets (RWA) account for 77.5% of web traffic in Q2, the report added. Out of the most popular crypto narratives, meme coins took the lead with 14.34%, followed by RWA accounting for 11.30% and AI with 10.09%.

Meanwhile, Solana, Ethereum, Base and TON blockchain ecosystems made it into the top 15 crypto narratives.

Bobby Ong, COO and co-founder of CoinGecko noted that Q2 crypto market outlook was “murkier,” however, had positive signs too.

“While the outlook for the second half of 2024 is murkier, we see positive signs including improving macroeconomic conditions, and teams continuing to build regardless of prices.”

Further, during the Q2 of 2024, spot trading volume on centralized exchanges declined 12.2%, hitting $3.40 trillion. The Q1 recorded volume of $3.80 trillion. Conversely, decentralized exchanges showed a surge of 15.7% in trading volume when compared to Q1, hitting $370.6 billion from $320.3 billion.

When it comes to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), there was a 31.8% slump in trading volume from 2024 Q1, CoinGecko added.