Daniel Walker
In October 2024, the cryptocurrency market experienced a moderate 2.8% rise in its total market cap. While not a massive surge, this growth reflects a seasonal uptrend that has come to define the month.
According to Binance’s latest Monthly Market Insights Report, this increase was largely fueled by key events across the industry. The report highlights strong Bitcoin inflows and a surge in interest surrounding meme coins as primary factors behind October’s performance.
October saw a notable increase in capital flowing into Bitcoin, driven by rising BTC spot ETFs. While this influx supported Bitcoin’s price growth, Binance also pointed to an evolving trend in the crypto’s correlation with the S&P 500. Traditionally, Bitcoin’s price movements have been largely independent of the stock market, with only brief alignments due to events like rate hikes. Yet, the current correlation has been more persistent, suggesting that investors may now see Bitcoin as both a high-return risk asset and a hedge against economic instability. This development positions Bitcoin as a dual-purpose asset.
Meme Coins Take Center Stage in Altcoin Market
A major trend in October was the substantial activity surrounding meme coins. According to Binance’s analysis, four out of the five top-performing altcoins were meme tokens. This year, meme coins have doubled their market share among the top 50 altcoins, climbing from 6% to 12%. On some days, their share exceeded 20%, highlighting their growing appeal.
To provide context, since February, meme coins have recorded an average daily trading volume of approximately $5 billion. Much of this activity has been concentrated on the Solana blockchain, which leads in new token launches thanks to platforms like pump.fun, simplifying token creation. In the week ending October 21, Solana hosted 90.6% of all new token launches, solidifying its top position in the meme coin market.
Application Revenue Dominates Blockchain Earnings
Binance’s report also highlighted a shift in revenue patterns within the crypto space. Among the top 15 revenue-generating blockchain projects, 13 were applications rather than infrastructure networks. This trend suggests that as user adoption continues to grow, the bulk of industry revenue may increasingly go to on-chain applications over infrastructure platforms.
