As the cryptocurrency market continues to grow, the Coinmarketcap (CMC) report for H2 2023 highlights several trends and developments that could shape the industry in the coming months. From potential regulatory breakthroughs to innovative blockchain solutions, the second half of 2023 holds opportunities as well as challenges for crypto natives.
Bitcoin spot ETF has been a major debate in the crypto community. BlackRock, along with other prominent asset managers like Valkyrie, Fidelity, ARK Invest, and 21 Shares, filed for approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF in the U.S. While they are yet to get the breakthrough, if these ETFs receive regulatory approval, they could attract significant institutional investors and could drive Bitcoin’s price beyond its current all-time high.
The emergence of solutions like Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN) presents new opportunities for sharing physical assets or services, such as warehousing and data networks. This concept incentivizes builders and users and allows access through staking, burning, or purchasing tokens/NFTs. The CMC report revealed that Industry players already interacting in this direction include Helium, IoTeX, Arweave, and Filecoin.
Further, as the crypto ecosystem is witnessing a growing focus on making Real World Assets (RWAs) tradeable on-chain, H2 could see more events unfolding in this direction. Credit market protocols like Maple Finance and Goldfinch allow businesses to leverage DeFi for securing financing and loans, the report stated.
In H1 2023, Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs) experienced a surge in activity attributed to the Ethereum Shapella upgrade. Platforms like Lido and Rocket Pool saw substantial growth in their total value locked (TVL) during this period. This trend is expected to continue into H2 2023, with platforms like Pendle, Lybra, and Flashstake gaining momentum in the LSDfi landscape.
Another exceptional concept to look out for is Restaking. This emerged promising in H1 2023 with the introduction of EigenLayer. The middleware platform enables users to earn an additional yield on their staked ETH or liquid staked ETH tokens by restaking them elsewhere. EigenLayer’s Restaking Smart Contracts gained significant demand, and the platform plans to increase its LST restaking capacity. This could lead to a new wave of restaking projects.
zkSync has become a popular Ethereum-based layer-2 solution, competing with existing Ethereum optimistic rollups like Optimism and Arbitrum. As a zero-knowledge rollup (zkRollup) solution, zkSync uses zero-knowledge technology to enhance Ethereum’s throughput and enable new applications. With millions of unique wallets and a considerable TVL, zkSync could take up more share in the market in H2 2023.
Moreso, Modular Blockchains (Celestia) is set to address the blockchain trilemma of decentralization, security, and scalability, by separating blockchains into layers. These layers include execution, settlement, consensus, and data availability. With this, developers can leverage modular data availability and consensus layers for dApps and sidechains. Platforms like Rollkit and Fuel also provide modular execution environments and settlement layers, aiming to improve existing monolithic blockchains.
The FTX Bankruptcy outlook in H2 and beyond is such that it promises customer refunds. This is revealed by the recent signs of progress, where over $7.3 billion in liquid assets was obtained in April 2023. Additionally, as the restructuring continues, creditors have been given a “Customer Bar Date” for a potential refund. Although the path to resolution is still complex, there is hope for resolution in H2 2024, the CMC report stated.
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