2023 saw a strong entry into the cryptocurrency market in the first quarter, with a total market value reaching $1.2 trillion, a 48.9% increase. The prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum rose to approximately $28,000 and $1,800, respectively, with Bitcoin leading the way with an impressive 72% gain in the first quarter.
The average daily trading volume of the cryptocurrency market increased by 30% to $77 billion, influenced by increased market activity and volatility. Bitcoin surpassed traditional asset classes with a 72.4% gain, surpassing NASDAQ and gold. Except for crude oil, other major asset classes ended the quarter on a positive note.
In the spot market, the spot trading volume of the cryptocurrency market reached $2.8 trillion in the first quarter, an 18.1% increase. Regulatory controls on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges led to decentralized exchanges surpassing centralized exchanges, with DEXs growing by 33.4% in the quarter, surpassing the 16.9% growth of CEXs.
In the stablecoin market, there was a 4.5% decrease (6.2 billion dollars) due to Paxos ending its support for Binance USD (BUSD) and a short-term decline in USD Coin (USDC). The largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), maintained and strengthened its position, while USDC and BUSD experienced a decrease in market value.
The DeFi and NFT sectors also experienced significant developments in the first quarter. The DeFi sector reached $29.6 billion, growing by 65.2%. Governance tokens of liquid staking protocols surpassed credit protocols, leading the way with a 210.9% increase in market value, becoming the third-largest category in DeFi. The NFT sector saw a 68% increase in volume compared to the previous quarter, reaching $4.5 billion. The new NFT marketplace, Blur, surpassed OpenSea and became the largest NFT marketplace with a 71.8% market share as of March 2023.
