One of the 2024 predictions is the emergence of at least one breakout blockchain game that will surpass a million daily active users as Web3 gaming continues to vie for mainstream adoption.
Asset manager VanEck has made 15 forecasts for the crypto industry in 2024. In what it terms a “speculative expedition”, the New York-based firm touches many corners of the cryptoverse with mentions of the highly anticipated Spot Bitcoin ETFs, peak NFT season, and KYC regulations in DeFi.
A Relatively Smooth 4th Bitcoin Halving and a New BTC ATH in Q4
VanEck predicts that the fourth halving of the world’s leading crypto will proceed “without a major fork or missed blocks.” The event, which is expected to take place in April 2024, will be followed by a consolidation period that could range from a few days to several weeks. Post-consolidation Bitcoin is projected to hit $48,000 while at least one publicly traded miner is expected to 10x by the end of the year.
Another Bitcoin-related prediction is that the cryptocurrency’s price could reach a new all-time high (ATH) during the year’s fourth quarter off the “high volatility and the prospect of significant changes” brought on by the November 5 US presidential election.
Binance to Lose Top Position in Spot Trading
On the heels of its $4 billion settlement with US regulators, global crypto exchange Binance is expected to succumb to competition from well-funded rivals OKX, Bybit, Coinbase, and Bitget for the number one centralized exchange by volumes position.
Coinbase’s international futures market could potentially surpass a daily volume of $1 billion, up from about $200 million per day in November 2023.
DeFi Reconciles with Know Your Customer (KYC)
KYC-enabled apps like those using Ethereum Attestation Service or Uniswap Hooks will gain notable traction and could potentially outperform their non-KYC counterparts in terms of user base and fees. According to the firm:
“The additional volume from KYC-gated hooks will significantly bolster protocol fees by allowing new entrants to participate in DeFi without the fear of interacting with OFAC-sanctioned entities.”
Bitcoin Staking, Solana’s Market Cap, and DePin Networks
Another 2024 prediction is the emergence of at least one breakout blockchain game that will surpass a million daily active users as Web3 gaming continues to vie for mainstream adoption. Meanwhile, the decentralized exchange (DEX) market share of spot crypto trading is projected to reach an ATH “as high-throughput chains like Solana improve the on-chain trading experience for users.”
Solana is poised to become a top 3 blockchain by market cap, Total Value Locked (TVL) and active users. The blockchain could then potentially join the spot ETF wars.
Remittances will catalyze a new Bitcoin yield opportunity. “Bitcoin Staking” is expected to stem from the use of the Bitcoin and layer 2 Lightning (LN) network by some remittance service providers.
In another adoption prediction, several decentralized physical infrastructure (DePin) networks will gain traction. Hivemapper, the decentralized mapping protocol working on a community-owned competitor to Google Streetview, will map its “10 millionth unique KM, surpassing 15% of global roads capacity”. This will place the network a speed and cost-of-capital advantage over Google.
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