As the year 2023 near end, it is time to look ahead and anticipate what the next year will bring for the major crypto ecosystem. We will analyze the current state of the market, the key trends and challenges, and the potential opportunities and risks for 2024.
The Current State of the Market
The year 2023 was a turbulent one for the crypto industry, with several highs and lows. The market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies reached a new all-time high of over $2.5 trillion in November, driven by the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador, the launch of the first futures-based Bitcoin ETF in the US, and the increased institutional and retail interest in crypto assets. However, the market also faced significant headwinds, such as regulatory uncertainty, environmental concerns, cyberattacks, and market manipulation.
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The major crypto ecosystem, which consists of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, performed well overall, with an average return of over 300% in 2023. Bitcoin remained the dominant player, with a market share of over 40% and a price of over $43,000 at the end of the year. Ethereum followed closely behind, with a market share of over 20% and a price of over $2200. The other major players included Binance Coin, Cardano, Solana, Polkadot, XRP, Terra, Avalanche, and Dogecoin.
The Key Trends and Challenges
The year 2024 will likely see the continuation and intensification of some of the key trends and challenges that shaped the crypto industry in 2023. Some of these are:
The adoption of crypto as a mainstream asset class: Crypto will continue to gain acceptance and legitimacy as a form of money, store of value, and investment vehicle. More countries will follow El Salvador’s example and adopt Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as legal tender or reserve assets.
More institutional investors will allocate funds to crypto assets, either directly or through intermediaries such as ETFs or trusts. More retail investors will access crypto through platforms such as PayPal, Robinhood, or Coinbase. More merchants will accept crypto as a payment option, either directly or through intermediaries such as BitPay or Flexa.
The innovation and competition in the crypto space: Crypto will continue to evolve and innovate at a rapid pace, with new projects, protocols, and platforms emerging every day. The major crypto ecosystem will face increasing competition from other ecosystems that offer faster, cheaper, more scalable, more interoperable, more decentralized, or more user-friendly solutions.
Some of these ecosystems include Cosmos, Polygon, Fantom, Algorand, Harmony, Hedera Hashgraph, Near Protocol, and Zilliqa. The major crypto ecosystem will also have to contend with the emergence of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which are digital versions of fiat currencies issued by central banks. Some of the countries that are expected to launch or pilot CBDCs in 2024 include China, Japan, Sweden, France, Canada, and Brazil.
The regulation and governance of the crypto industry: Crypto will continue to face regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty from various authorities around the world. Some of the issues that regulators will have to address include consumer protection, investor protection, taxation, anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CTF), cybersecurity, environmental impact, and monetary policy.
Some of the regulators that will play a key role in shaping the crypto industry in 2024 include the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the European Commission (EC), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The major crypto ecosystem will also have to deal with internal governance issues such as consensus mechanisms.
TRON banked the unbanked mostly in 2023 compared to other Blockchains
The year 2023 was a remarkable one for the global financial inclusion movement. Millions of people who had been excluded from the traditional banking system gained access to digital financial services thanks to a revolutionary project: TRON.
Tron is a blockchain-based platform that aims to create a decentralized internet and a global digital content ecosystem. Tron was founded by Justin Sun, a former chief representative of Ripple in China, and launched its mainnet in June 2018. Tron claims to have over 40 million active users and over 1,800 decentralized applications (DApps) running on its network.
One of the key metrics that investors and traders use to evaluate the value and potential of a cryptocurrency is its market capitalization, or marketcap for short. Marketcap is calculated by multiplying the current price of a coin or token by its total circulating supply. For example, if a coin has a price of $0.1 and a circulating supply of 10 billion, its marketcap is $1 billion.
According to CoinMarketCap, as of December 27, 2023, Tron has a price of $0.1 and a circulating supply of 88.3 billion, which gives it a marketcap of $9.22 billion. This makes Tron the 15th largest cryptocurrency by marketcap, behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Cardano, Solana, XRP, Polkadot, Terra, Avalanche, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Polygon, Chainlink and Stellar.
One of the most innovative features of TRON is its integration with BitTorrent, the world’s largest peer-to-peer file sharing network. BitTorrent users can earn TRX by seeding files, and use TRX to pay for faster downloads, premium content and other services. BitTorrent also provides a massive distribution channel for TRON-based applications and content creators.
But TRON is not only about entertainment and content. It is also about empowering the unbanked and underbanked populations around the world. According to the World Bank, there are still 1.7 billion adults who do not have an account at a financial institution or a mobile money provider. These people face many challenges and risks, such as lack of access to credit, savings, insurance, remittances and other essential financial services.
TRON addresses this problem by providing a low-cost, fast and secure alternative to the traditional banking system. With TRON, anyone can create a digital wallet and start transacting with TRX in minutes. TRX can be used to pay for goods and services, send and receive money across borders, store value and access various decentralized applications on the TRON network.
One of the most popular applications on TRON is JustLend, a decentralized lending platform that allows users to borrow and lend TRX and other TRON-based tokens. JustLend enables users to access credit without intermediaries, collateral or credit scores. Users can also earn interest by supplying liquidity to the platform.
Another popular application on TRON is JustSwap, a decentralized exchange that allows users to swap TRX and other TRON-based tokens instantly and with low fees. JustSwap eliminates the need for centralized exchanges, brokers and market makers, and provides liquidity for the TRON ecosystem.
TRON also supports cross-chain transactions with other major blockchains, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Polkadot. This means that users can easily exchange their TRX for other cryptocurrencies, or vice versa, without leaving the TRON network. This enhances the liquidity, interoperability and usability of TRX and other TRON-based tokens.
Thanks to these features and applications, TRON has become one of the most widely used and adopted blockchains in the world. According to TRON’s official website, as of December 2023, there are over 50 million active users, over 2 billion transactions and over 20 million smart contracts on the TRON network. Moreover, there are over 2000 decentralized applications and over 1000 global partners on the TRON ecosystem.
But more importantly, TRON has made a significant impact on the lives of millions of people who had been excluded from the traditional banking system. By providing them with access to digital financial services, TRON has enabled them to participate in the global economy, improve their livelihoods and achieve their goals.
TRON’s vision is to create a truly decentralized internet that democratizes information, value and power. By doing so, it has also banked the unbanked around the world in 2023.