Tag: Coingecko

NFT Wash Trading Volume Surges to $580M Across Top Six Marketplaces

by Blockchain News

In February 2023, the top six nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces experienced a significant surge in NFT wash trading, with a total volume of $580 million, up 126% from the previous month. The six marketplaces included in the report were Magic Eden, OpenSea, Blur, X2Y2, CryptoPunks, and LooksRare. Of these, X2Y2, Blur, and LooksRare played the largest roles in February’s volume for NFT wash trading, with $280 million (49.7%), $150 million (27.7%), and $80 million (15.1%), respectively.

NFT wash trading is the manipulation of trade volume or price through repeated transactions. While this practice is illegal in traditional financial markets, the lack of clear regulations in the crypto space has allowed it to occur in both the broader crypto market and with NFTs.

The CoinGecko report revealed that NFT wash trading made up a combined 23.4% of “unadjusted trading volume” across the industry’s six largest marketplaces. The report also noted that some of these marketplaces have incentivized users to increase trading volume via transaction rewards.

It’s worth noting that NFTs have become increasingly popular in recent years as a new form of digital asset ownership. They can represent anything from artwork to music and even tweets. The unique characteristics of NFTs, such as their limited availability and authenticity, have contributed to their popularity.

However, NFT wash trading has become a major concern for the industry, with many experts warning of its potential impact on the market. Back in January 2023, crypto investor Mark Cuban said that wash trading would cause the next “implosion” in the crypto market. In response to this issue, new artificial intelligence-based technology has surfaced, which aims to troubleshoot issues in the NFT market, including wash trading.

In addition to the rise of NFT wash trading, a recent scam has also surfaced in the NFT market. On March 16, 2023, fake Blur token airdrop websites were discovered, from which $300k was successfully stolen. The incident highlights the need for better regulation and security measures in the NFT market.

In conclusion, while the rise in NFT wash trading volume may be a sign of the market’s recovery, it also highlights the need for increased regulation and security measures to protect investors and prevent fraudulent activities.

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DeFi Funding Skyrockets 190 in 2022

by Blockchain News

The world of digital finance has seen a major shift in investments in recent years, with decentralized finance (DeFi) emerging as a clear winner in 2022. According to a report by CoinGecko, investment in DeFi projects skyrocketed by a staggering 190% in 2022, with digital asset investment firms pouring $2.7 billion into this sector alone. In contrast, investments in centralized finance (CeFi) projects plummeted by 73% over the same time period, with just $4.3 billion invested.

This trend is particularly striking given that overall crypto funding figures fell from $31.92 billion in 2021 to $18.25 billion in 2022, due to the market shifting from bull to bear. Despite this downturn, DeFi investment saw a near three-fold increase, potentially pointing to it as the new high-growth area for the crypto industry. The report also suggests that the decrease in funding towards CeFi could be an indicator that the sector has reached a degree of saturation.

According to CoinGecko’s report, the largest DeFi funding in 2022 came from Luna Foundation Guard’s (LFG) $1 billion sale of LUNA tokens in February. This was followed by Ethereum-native decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap, which raised $164 million, and Ethereum staking protocol Lido Finance, which raised $94 million.

Meanwhile, FTX and FTX US were the largest recipients of CeFi funding, having raised $800 million in January 2022, accounting for 18.6% of CeFi funding in that year alone. However, both crypto exchanges later collapsed and filed for bankruptcy just 10 months later.

The report also noted that blockchain infrastructure and blockchain technology companies raised $2.8 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, making them other areas of significant investment. This trend has remained strong over the last five years, according to CoinGecko.

Henrik Andersson, the chief investment officer of Australia-based asset fund manager Apollo Crypto, says his firm is currently focusing on four specific sectors within crypto. The first is “NFTfi,” a combination of DeFi and NFTs that includes NFT projects using DeFi to implement various trading strategies to earn passive income, or long or short-trade NFT projects, among other things.

Overall, the rise of DeFi investment is a clear indication of the rapidly changing landscape of digital finance. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how DeFi and CeFi continue to compete and evolve, and what other trends and innovations emerge in this exciting and ever-changing industry.

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DeFi Funding Skyrockets 190 in 2022

by Blockchain News

The world of digital finance has seen a major shift in investments in recent years, with decentralized finance (DeFi) emerging as a clear winner in 2022. According to a report by CoinGecko, investment in DeFi projects skyrocketed by a staggering 190% in 2022, with digital asset investment firms pouring $2.7 billion into this sector alone. In contrast, investments in centralized finance (CeFi) projects plummeted by 73% over the same time period, with just $4.3 billion invested.

This trend is particularly striking given that overall crypto funding figures fell from $31.92 billion in 2021 to $18.25 billion in 2022, due to the market shifting from bull to bear. Despite this downturn, DeFi investment saw a near three-fold increase, potentially pointing to it as the new high-growth area for the crypto industry. The report also suggests that the decrease in funding towards CeFi could be an indicator that the sector has reached a degree of saturation.

According to CoinGecko’s report, the largest DeFi funding in 2022 came from Luna Foundation Guard’s (LFG) $1 billion sale of LUNA tokens in February. This was followed by Ethereum-native decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap, which raised $164 million, and Ethereum staking protocol Lido Finance, which raised $94 million.

Meanwhile, FTX and FTX US were the largest recipients of CeFi funding, having raised $800 million in January 2022, accounting for 18.6% of CeFi funding in that year alone. However, both crypto exchanges later collapsed and filed for bankruptcy just 10 months later.

The report also noted that blockchain infrastructure and blockchain technology companies raised $2.8 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, making them other areas of significant investment. This trend has remained strong over the last five years, according to CoinGecko.

Henrik Andersson, the chief investment officer of Australia-based asset fund manager Apollo Crypto, says his firm is currently focusing on four specific sectors within crypto. The first is “NFTfi,” a combination of DeFi and NFTs that includes NFT projects using DeFi to implement various trading strategies to earn passive income, or long or short-trade NFT projects, among other things.

Overall, the rise of DeFi investment is a clear indication of the rapidly changing landscape of digital finance. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how DeFi and CeFi continue to compete and evolve, and what other trends and innovations emerge in this exciting and ever-changing industry.

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DeFi Funding Skyrockets 190 in 2022

by Blockchain News

The world of digital finance has seen a major shift in investments in recent years, with decentralized finance (DeFi) emerging as a clear winner in 2022. According to a report by CoinGecko, investment in DeFi projects skyrocketed by a staggering 190% in 2022, with digital asset investment firms pouring $2.7 billion into this sector alone. In contrast, investments in centralized finance (CeFi) projects plummeted by 73% over the same time period, with just $4.3 billion invested.

This trend is particularly striking given that overall crypto funding figures fell from $31.92 billion in 2021 to $18.25 billion in 2022, due to the market shifting from bull to bear. Despite this downturn, DeFi investment saw a near three-fold increase, potentially pointing to it as the new high-growth area for the crypto industry. The report also suggests that the decrease in funding towards CeFi could be an indicator that the sector has reached a degree of saturation.

According to CoinGecko’s report, the largest DeFi funding in 2022 came from Luna Foundation Guard’s (LFG) $1 billion sale of LUNA tokens in February. This was followed by Ethereum-native decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap, which raised $164 million, and Ethereum staking protocol Lido Finance, which raised $94 million.

Meanwhile, FTX and FTX US were the largest recipients of CeFi funding, having raised $800 million in January 2022, accounting for 18.6% of CeFi funding in that year alone. However, both crypto exchanges later collapsed and filed for bankruptcy just 10 months later.

The report also noted that blockchain infrastructure and blockchain technology companies raised $2.8 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, making them other areas of significant investment. This trend has remained strong over the last five years, according to CoinGecko.

Henrik Andersson, the chief investment officer of Australia-based asset fund manager Apollo Crypto, says his firm is currently focusing on four specific sectors within crypto. The first is “NFTfi,” a combination of DeFi and NFTs that includes NFT projects using DeFi to implement various trading strategies to earn passive income, or long or short-trade NFT projects, among other things.

Overall, the rise of DeFi investment is a clear indication of the rapidly changing landscape of digital finance. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how DeFi and CeFi continue to compete and evolve, and what other trends and innovations emerge in this exciting and ever-changing industry.

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Global Efforts to Classify Cryptocurrencies

by Blockchain News

A significant cryptocurrency data aggregator known as CoinGecko and a cryptocurrency investment company known as 21Shares have teamed forces to develop a universal standard for categorizing the many different types of crypto assets.

The Global Crypto Classification Standard study was published on February 8 by CoinGecko and 21Shares. It outlines a standardized technique that can be used to classify cryptocurrency assets. The purpose of this work is to assist investors and regulators in gaining a better understanding of the particulars of each asset class in the cryptocurrency business, including the possibility for failures such as those that the sector experienced in 2022.

“In contrast to conventional financial assets, the nature of crypto assets may have a wide range of variations, both in terms of the asset itself and the protocol that underpins it,”

At the time this article was written, the website of CoinGecko listed more than 12,000 distinct cryptocurrencies, and each coin has its own set of traits and features that marked it apart from the others. The classification method used by CoinGecko and 21Shares is based on three main layers of categorization, which differentiate these hundreds of assets according to stack, market sectors, industries, and taxonomy.

The first level, known as the “crypto stack,” organizes crypto assets into categories such as centralized apps, decentralized applications, interoperable blockchains, and smart contract platforms, amongst others. The technique does not refer to the underlying token at any point in the first two tiers; rather, it exclusively discusses networks and protocols.

The second level is referred to as “market mapping by sectors and industries,” and it further divides cryptocurrencies into categories such as infrastructure, metaverse, and decentralized finance (DeFi), in addition to groups such as payment platform, lending, and developer tooling, amongst other categories. The technique makes an effort to classify the assets according to the category that is the most relevant to their use in situations when certain standards may be applied to more than one industry.

Based on the cryptocurrency taxonomy approach that was suggested by crypto analyst Chris Burniske in 2019, the third level was referred to as the “taxonomy of crypto assets.” Within this level, crypto assets were categorized according to related asset “superclasses.” The methodology developed by Burniske is based on a study written by Robert Greer in 1997 titled “What is an Asset Class Anyway?” Putting crypto assets into their respective superclasses, such as capital assets, assets that can be consumed or transformed, and assets that may be stored as value.

Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin (BTC), Monero (XMR), and Zcash (ZEC) are some of the examples that may be found in the category of store of value assets (DOGE). This particular kind of crypto asset “cannot be consumed,” and it also does not provide any form of revenue. “However, it does have worth; it is a store of value asset,” is how the proposed categorization standard puts it.

The attempt by CoinGecko and 21Shares to bring about a worldwide crypto categorization standard is only one of the numerous efforts being made all around the world to classify cryptocurrencies. The Australian Department of the Treasury issued a consultation paper on “token mapping” on February 3, with the goal of developing its own taxonomy of crypto assets. Prior to this, Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority was also soliciting comment on its categorization of crypto assets as securities, investment instruments, or financial instruments in July of 2022. This was done in order to make an informed decision.

According to Gonzalez, “while the categorization of digital assets is quite prevalent, many classification attempts are one-dimensional and mislead conventional investors by combining crypto assets, the investable tokens, directly with the protocols that are behind them.”

The executive also expressed optimism that the newly suggested standard would be able to appeal to retail and institutional investors, as well as governments all over the globe, as a result of 21Shares’ work with CoinGecko, a leading independent cryptocurrency statistics website.

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Bitcoin, DeFi Space See Positive Momentums, NFT Market Declines in Q3

by Blockchain News

The latest data shows that although cryptocurrencies witnessed a massive market crash experienced in Q2 2022, the digital assets made some relative recovery in Q3 amid the ongoing bearing market conditions, according to the third-quarter report published by data platform CoinGecko.

Per CoinGecko, the report highlighted that such recovery is manifested based on the fact that the cryptocurrency market increased its market cap from a low of $903 billion in July to reach up to $1.2 trillion in August.

While Bitcoin struggled in Q3, it managed to outperform other commodities such as gold, oil and other traditional assets, except for the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback’s value against major currencies. However, from Year to date (YTD) perspective, Bitcoin still experienced the largest loss of -58% compared to all other asset classes. In other words, the cryptocurrency plunged more than 58% year-to-date and is now hovering around $19,113.66 per coin, according to data from CoinGecko. Bitcoin continues to trade mostly in lockstep with US equities but largely recovered compared to the equities market in Q3.

DeFi Rebounds

Data from CoinGecko has also disclosed that the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) market recovered by 31% in the third quarter, from $54.66 billion it was on July 1 to stand at $63.02 billion as of August 23 2022. It’s no news that the DeFi space has been facing it rough as data showed that the DeFi ecosystem lost 68.13% representing $155.79 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) in the second quarter of 2022.

The rally can be traced to the crypto market’s slow but steady recovery, which is led by Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain. Even though Ether (ETH) has plunged 33% to $1,330 from its quarterly high in mid-August, it is still up by 26% compared to Q2. The Ethereum blockchain accounts for $35.44 billion, or 56.24% of the TVL seen in the crypto space today.

Besides DEXs (decentralized exchanges) maintaining their status as the largest component of DeFi, they gained a significant rise in market share, increasing 36.8% to $10.9 billion, according to the data. This has been driven by the uptick in trading volume, majorly propelled by the Merge narrative, and with the continued popularity of the liquid staking sector. In 3Q, the liquid staking landscape almost tripled its market cap to $1.54 billion, and Lido, the market cap leader in that category, rose 264% to $1.60 within that period.

NFT Winter

Based on data from CoinGecko, sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) dropped significantly in the third quarter, as crypto investors struggle with the ongoing “crypto winter” and the demands for the highly speculative digital assets show little sign of returning. The NFT market witnessed a heavy hit in the past quarter, as it experienced a -77% plunge in total trading volume across the top 5 NFT marketplaces, OpenSea, Magic Eden, LooksRare, X2Y2, and CryptoPunks.

MagicEden was the only NFT marketplace that witnessed growth in September, doubling its MoM volume and dominance while the rest of its competitors continued to dip. With its recent expansion into the Ethereum blockchain and the launch of its headline-grabbing y00ts NFT collections, MagicEden gained significant dominance (from 9% → 22%) in 3Q. The Solana-based NFT marketplace appears to be eating OpenSea’s market share, which now stands at 60% from 90% in Q3. But it remains to be seen if MagicEden can sustain the momentum.

Stablecoin movements

Lastly, in the last Q3, the stablecoin economy’s market valuation dropped by 3% from $156.7 billion to $152 billion. The major 5 stablecoins are Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), Dai (DAI) and Frax (FRAX), as they have continued maintaining their positions, having no new entrants nor changes to their order.

However, data showed interesting movements in market cap within the top 5, with USDC dropping 16% or $9 billion after the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash. BUSD’s market cap grew the most, increasing by 18% or $3 billion because of inflows from USDC, triggered by Binance’s announcement on BUSD auto-conversion. USDT also witnessed a slight increase, possibly having absorbed some of the selloffs of USDC.

As of September, USDT crossed above $68 billion, USDC dropped to $49.39 billion, while Binance USD (BUSD) increased its market cap to $21.63 billion.

Image source: Shutterstock

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CoinGecko Study Shows Countries Most Interested in Crypto Since Market Crash

by Blockchain News

A new research survey published by crypto price tracker CoinGecko on Tuesday revealed the countries most curious about cryptocurrency since the crypto market crash.

The research examined Google Trends data of search terms frequently used by people interested in cryptocurrency.

CoinGecko then combined such terms to give each English-speaking country a ‘total search score’ to identify which nations have been the most interested in cryptocurrency since the market crash in April this year.

The study ranks Nigeria as the most curious nation about cryptocurrency since April this year. According to the CoinGecko study, Nigeria garnered a total search score of 371, and that made it at the top of the list of nations with the most interest in digital assets.

Coupled with its huge population, Nigeria garnered the highest search levels for the phrases like ‘cryptocurrency’, ‘invest in crypto’ and ‘buy crypto’ worldwide. Furthermore, the population of Nigeria’s search for the cryptocurrency ‘Solana’ emerged as the third highest in the world.

CoinGecko survey then ranked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the second country with the most interest in cryptocurrency since the market crash in April this year. The Arab nation in Asia garnered a total search score of 270. The UAE has the second-highest proportion of its population searching for both the phrases ‘cryptocurrency’ and ‘invest in crypto’. And that placed it second in the ranking, according to CoinGecko.

The research placed Singapore third. The Southeast Asian country has the third-highest level of searches for the term ‘buy crypto’ and is the nation searching for the cryptocurrency ‘Ethereum’ the most worldwide. The survey gave Singapore a total search score of 261.

The United Kingdom was ranked fifth overall. The research gave the UK a total search score of 198.

According to the study, the UK has the sixth-highest number of searches for the phrase ‘buy crypto’ and the third-highest number of searches for ‘invest in crypto’. The study also identified Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon as all trending cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom.

Besides that, CoinGecko research placed the United States as the twelfth country most interested in cryptocurrency. The survey identified that the US has the tenth-highest search levels for the term ‘buy crypto’ and is the sixth country most interested in the cryptocurrency ‘Solana’. The country had a total search score of 157. Just like the UK, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Polygon are all trending cryptocurrencies in the US right now, according to the study.

Developing countries offer fertile ground for crypto adoption

The most interesting thing in the new CoinGecko study is the emergence of developing nations (Nigeria, the United Araba Emirates, Singapore, Georgia, and Lebanon) in the list of countries with the most curiosity about cryptocurrency in the world.

The study demonstrates that people and businesses in developing nations like Nigeria, the United Araba Emirates, and Lebanon, among others, are gaining increasing interest in investing and trading cryptocurrencies. Such interests show that crypto adoption is significantly increasing in developing nations.

In developed countries, cryptocurrencies are viewed by many in the financial world with suspicion and as a speculative and highly volatile fad that can only end badly. Regulators in the US and Europe have issued stern warnings about the dangers of trading cryptocurrencies.

But in developing nations, there are signals that cryptocurrency is quietly developing deeper roots. Especially in nations that have a history of financial instability or where there are high barriers to accessing traditional financial products such as bank accounts. Cryptocurrency use is rapidly becoming a daily habit of life in such countries.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Bitcoin briefly dethroned by unknown altcoin due to CoinGecko glitch

by Cointelegraph

CoinGecko, one of the largest cryptocurrency tracking websites in the world, has suffered a major glitch on Friday morning, with Bitcoin (BTC) mistakenly losing its position as the largest digital currency by market capitalization to a lesser-known altcoin.

The list of top-valued cryptocurrencies on CoinGecko briefly went somewhat irrelevant, with the BTC market cap temporarily falling behind a token known as Relevant (REL).

As of 07:20 am UTC, REL was mistakenly placed at the top of the most-valued cryptocurrencies on CoinGecko, with the market cap going insane at $6.5 septillion, or way more than all other assets in the world combined.

Source: CoinGecko

The glitch also affected the total crypto market capitalization on CoinGecko, with the market cap temporarily growing as big as $7 septillion. The issue was quickly fixed as the website data appeared to be back to normal as of 8:20 am UTC.

CoinGecko co-founder and CEO Bobby Ong told Cointelegraph that the website’s errors were due to a major glitch, stating:

“We are facing an internal glitch over here affecting the market cap of some coins and are fixing this issue now. Things are stabilizing so hopefully no more cases like this happening again.”

According to CoinGecko’s major competitor website, CoinMarketCap, the REL token subsequently surged following the glitch, with the price surging to $0.9, or over 20% over the past 24 hours at the time of writing. The coin’s fully diluted market cap is now worth $24.7 million, ranked the 5,378th token by market cap, according to the website.

The REL token was launched by crypto developer Slava Balasanov in 2018. After hitting the all-time high above $8 in April 202, the REL token subsequently plummeted below $1 in a couple of months.

Some enthusiasts in the crypto community chuckled about CoinGecko’s latest glitch as it came shortly after CoinMarketCap’s owner Binance announced a $200 million investment in Forbes on Thursday.

Related: CoinMarketCap removes allegedly fake SHIB wormhole addresses

CoinGecko is not alone in facing glitches like this though. CoinMarketCap experienced a similar issue one year ago, with Wrapped Bitcoin suddenly gaining quadrillions of dollars in value, briefly and mistakenly becoming the website’s most-valued cryptocurrency in January 2021.