Crypto Market Recap: Q3 2024

Market Performance

During the third quarter, prices of majors moved in different directions. Overall, the quarter began with a decline and market fluctuation, which lasted almost till the second half of September. In September the growth happened, but not for all tokens: some tokens (e.g. TRX, SUI) almost managed to renew their highs, while others were struggling. Ethereum became one of the major outsiders this quarter, falling to $2,000 and struggling to hold around $2,500. 

For the S&P 500 the third quarter was also volatile, however, an overall trend was positive which allowed the S&P 500 to renew its all-time high several times. Overall macroeconomics turning favorable for risky types of assets as inflation is declining, and so is the Fed's key rate. Both presidential candidates Trump and Harris also often make favorable promises in the economic field, particularly regarding cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin’s Performance

Bitcoin experienced relatively high volatility, with a peak of $68,239 and a low of $53,986. However, by the end of the quarter, Bitcoin gained just +0.76% in 3 months.

Ethereum’s Performance

For Ethereum, however, the result was more frustrating. Despite the Ethereum spot-ETF launch, its price fell below $2,500, reaching a low of around $2,100. Currently, Ethereum is trading at the same levels as back in January 2024.

Altcoins Performance

While tokens like Ethereum declined, others flourished in the third quarter, especially meme coins, which experienced a price rally. The biggest gainers among meme coins were newly created tokens on meme launchpads, such as pump.fun and SunPump.

The meme coin rally can be attributed to a lack of new narratives, low expectations for high-profile project releases, and growing frustration with previous airdrop campaigns. Another important factor is that many utility coins are backed by VC and are currently in the phase of token vesting for private investors and teams. The problem is the high inflation rates: you’re buying a token with low float, which circulating supply will double in the following 12 months after unlocks begin. Many coins of the current cycle are now entering the vesting stage, approximately 12 months after the TGE. For retail investors, there’s no visible growth potential in such tokens, resulting in frustration. Searching for quick and easy returns, many users turned to meme coins trading. Unlike traditional tokens, meme coins are free from venture capital involvement and token unlock schedules. With 100% circulating supply and low market caps at launch, they have the potential for significant growth. 

Meme Launchpads Are The Main Topic of Q3 2024

Meme launchpads were the hottest trend of Q3 2024 and a key factor behind the meme coin rally. Following the success of pump.fun, many other blockchains and meme launchpads sought to replicate its achievements.

SunPump not only generated significant revenue for itself and the Solana blockchain but also boosted other key metrics, such as DEX trading volume. Because of the meme coins boom Solana surpassed Ethereum in DEX trading volume.

However, among all meme launchpads, only SunPump, built on TRON, achieved results comparable to those of pump.fun on Solana.

Meme Coins Rally Boosted On-Chain Activity 

What has enabled TRON to significantly boost its revenue and on-chain activity.

For instance, TRON secured second place in daily average transactions, trailing only Solana, which consistently leads in this metric. Aptos claimed third place with almost the same amount of transactions as TRON, setting a record for daily transactions on August 15, 2024, with an impressive 326.3 million transactions and no technical issues. This surge in activity on Aptos was driven by the launch of the Tapos Cat tap-to-earn game. On the same day, Aptos also achieved a record of 10,734 transactions per second (TPS) on its mainnet.

Thanks to meme coins, Solana and TRON secured the second and third places, respectively, in terms of daily active addresses, trailing only NEAR Protocol, which currently holds the leading position in this metric for 2024.

Outside the Meme Coin Rally, Market Activity Lacks Excitement

August saw a lack of significant project launches, resulting in meme coins dominating the newly launched tokens by market cap.

The spot exchange volume has remained at similar levels to previous months throughout the year. It's worth noting that the trading of meme coins primarily occurs on decentralized exchanges, as most meme coins are not listed on centralized exchanges. 

Top TVL Gainers of Q3 2024

The third quarter was fruitful not only for meme coins and their associated blockchains, such as TRON and Solana, but also for some Bitcoin scaling solutions and Layer 1 blockchains like Sei, Aptos, and Sui.

Among the top 15 projects by TVL growth in Q3 2024, Symbiotic Protocol holds second place, indicating that restaking solutions are still in demand. Polymarket also continues to gain popularity, especially as the presidential election campaign enters a critical phase.

The Bottom Line

Q3 2024 was marked by the dominance of meme coins, which significantly outperformed other categories, driving on-chain activity and boosting the positions of blockchains like TRON and Solana. While the broader market saw mixed results, with some tokens rallying and others falling, the meme coin rally stood out as the main narrative of the quarter.