November 2024 Public Chain Industry Research Report: Bitcoin Hits All-Time High Leading the Market to Rise

In November, the blockchain industry welcomed a "bull market" trend. The price of Bitcoin continues to set new highs, approaching the $100,000 mark, with a market cap surpassing silver and other major traditional assets. Ethereum also achieved a strong recovery, and altcoins saw a significant rebound. Bitcoin Layer 2 maintained strong growth, while Ethereum Layer 2 experienced relatively modest growth amid intensifying competition.

Market Overview

In November, the cryptocurrency market made history, with Bitcoin soaring from $69,386 to $96,427, a rise of 39.0%. Ethereum followed closely, rising 47.8%, climbing from $2,511 to $3,711. Bitcoin's market value surpassed silver and Saudi Aramco, firmly securing the seventh position among global assets after approaching the $100,000 mark on November 23.

The results of the US election have become a catalyst for growth in the crypto market, potentially affecting cryptocurrency legislation and regulation. The market reacted positively, especially reflected in the performance of popular sectors such as memecoins, decentralized artificial intelligence (deAI) projects, and decentralized science (DeSci).

The broader financial markets also performed strongly. The financial sector led the stock market under expectations of U.S. tax reform and deregulation. However, the international markets experienced some volatility, with the Renminbi under pressure amid concerns over potential U.S. tariff increases, while gold prices fell as election-related uncertainties eased.

Layer 1

In November 2024, the total market capitalization of blockchain surged by 41.1% to $2.8 trillion. Bitcoin maintained its dominant position with a 68.1% share, although it decreased from 70.1% in October. Ethereum's market share reached 15.9% (an absolute increase of 0.6%), while Solana surpassed BNB Chain with a share of 4.0%.

Altcoins performed outstandingly, with Stellar (XLM) leading the way with a rise of 466.8%, followed by Hedera (HBAR) rising 269.7%, Cardano (ADA) rising 201.5%, and Polkadot (DOT) rising 130.7%. Stellar's surge reflects the market's focus on its cross-border remittance infrastructure and CBDC capabilities, potentially influenced by expectations of clearer regulatory frameworks following the U.S. elections.

The TVL in the DeFi sector rose by 43.0% to $90.8 billion in November. Ethereum led with a growth of 61.6%, followed by Tron and Solana in second and third place, respectively. Polygon decreased by 5.9% due to capital outflows following the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election. The downward trend of TON since October continues, attributed to waning momentum in Telegram games and meme activities.

The Move technology stack blockchain maintains a strong development momentum. Sui has set new highs in token price and market value, while securing strategic partnerships with well-known financial institutions. Aptos is driving on-chain activity growth through its meme launch platform Emojicoin. Movement is about to launch its mainnet, with impressive testnet data: over 6.6 million accounts and 153 million transactions.

Stablecoins remain an important sector. USDS, as the first major DeFi native stablecoin, has launched on Solana, and reports indicate that a company is about to receive approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) for its stablecoin. As the influence of stablecoins continues to grow, the industry is watching whether some companies will issue their own blockchain.

Bitcoin Layer 2 & Sidechain

In November 2024, Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechains experienced significant growth, with a total TVL reaching $2.4 billion, an increase of 34.6% compared to October. The competition for Bitcoin liquidity among major platforms intensified.

Core has strengthened its market leadership, with TVL rising 55.7% to $890 million, and its market share expanding to 37.4%. This growth is attributed to the Fusion upgrade in November, which introduced dual staking and liquidity Bitcoin staking (LstBTC).

Bitlayer maintains the second position with a TVL of 580 million USD, but its market share has fallen to 24.4%. BSquared continues to grow, with a monthly increase of 53.1% to a TVL of 260 million USD, rising to third place, while Rootstock ranks fourth with a TVL of 240 million USD.

At the BTCfi project level, Pell Network has become a leader with a TVL of $400 million, followed by Avalon Finance (Bitlayer and Core) and DeSyn (Bitlayer) with strong performance across multiple chains, each having over $200 million in TVL.

Ethereum Layer2

In November 2024, the total TVL of Ethereum Layer 2 solutions (normative bridging part) reached 27.5 billion USD, an increase of 2.0% compared to October, continuing to lag behind the growth rate of Bitcoin scaling solutions.

Arbitrum One maintains its leadership position with a TVL of 11.3 billion USD and a market share of 41.0%. Base surpasses Optimism to claim the second position, with a TVL of 5.1 billion USD and a share of 18.6%, thanks to the surge of activity brought by the social meme deployment platform Clanker based on Farcaster and the AI agent creation and deployment platform Virtuals Protocol. Optimism's market share has dropped to 17.3%.

Starknet TVL rose by 5.1%, surpassing Blast to rank fourth, while Blast continued to decline, dropping by 14.5%. The growth of Starknet is attributed to the STRK staking launched on November 26 and a commitment to significantly enhance performance in the next quarter. Meanwhile, World Chain performed exceptionally, with TVL increasing by 131.4% to $570 million.

In November, the Ethereum Foundation strengthened financial transparency by releasing the 2024 report, while outlining core values and funding strategies. The future development of Ethereum includes the implementation of DAS to enhance Layer 2 scalability, as well as infrastructure improvements to support a diverse range of applications, from ENS to consumer payments.

Blockchain Game Public Chain

In November, the number of active blockchain games increased by 4.6% to 1,696, with BNB Chain, Polygon, and Ethereum maintaining market leadership in game distribution, with shares of 20.9%, 15.4%, and 13.4%, respectively.

The user participation pattern has undergone new changes, with opBNB, Ronin, and Nebula (SKALE) leading with an average daily active user (DAU) of 1.8 million, 900,000, and 400,000 respectively. OpBNB's DAU increased by 46.1%, thanks to the promotion of SERAPH: In The Darkness and MEET48, as well as some games migrating from the BNB chain to opBNB. At the same time, Ronin is showing a strong recovery, driven by the launch of the new game Fableborne and the resurgence of Lumiterra.

Games based on Telegram have shown mixed results. Although the TON ecosystem is facing challenges, with DAU down by 41.9% to 116,400, Sui has gone against the trend, with DAU increasing by 23.1% to 233,300, mainly thanks to the success of BIRDS and significant user retention metrics.

Financing Situation

In November 2024, the blockchain sector recorded 12 financing events, totaling $79.8 million, a decrease of 23.3% compared to October, marking the lowest monthly figure since August. Five of the events did not disclose the specific financing amounts.

Zero Gravity Labs (0G Labs) has become the largest financing recipient this month, announcing a $40 million seed round financing and a $250 million token purchase commitment. The company has shifted its positioning from an initial modular blockchain provider to a crypto AI startup, developing a decentralized AI operating system (dAIOS) for building AI applications on-chain.

Several Layer 1 blockchains received funding this month, including Cytonic, Pharos, Talus Network, EtraPay, and Datalayer. Notably, AvaCloud, a managed blockchain service provider built by Ava Labs, acquired EtraPay, gaining a team comprised of renowned privacy technology experts and the innovative cryptocurrency token standard Encrypted ERC (eERC).

The Layer 2 ecosystem continues to maintain investment activity, with six projects receiving a new round of financing, including Bitcoin Layer 2's Bitfinity and Lnfi Network, Ethereum Layer 2's Heurist and Corn, as well as other Layer 2 projects Akave and AgentLayer.