After a relatively cool 2022, things started to warm up in 2023, and as 2024 leads into the Bitcoin halving event, it is safe to say things are beginning to boil. Many investors are reaping huge rewards from trading a single crypto token as more tokens are launched.
If you’re unsure of what’s going on, this article hand-picks a few notable token trends that are currently hot in crypto.
These are:
Bitcoin’s Bull Run
For the first time since 2021, Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto market rose above 50% in 2023 across every crypto token site. This caused its value to surge 150% coming into 2024 when the price was at $44,000 as of January 2024. Since then, the coin has launched a bull run that saw its price rise to $66,728, as per CoinMarketCap data.
As you might expect, everybody, ranging from individual traders to institutional investors, has been looking to get in on the action. This surge in demand has also contributed to the recent gains. However, it all started when established financial stalwarts and brokerages got serious about Bitcoin ETFs. So, when the US SEC approved the spot ETFs in January 2024, it marked a turning point for investors who have been on the fence about Bitcoin being a secure and legitimate asset class.
Furthermore, in the hopes of reaping financial gains, market players have noticed the gains obtained after previous halving events in 2016 and 2020. As such, in anticipation of the Bitcoin halving event likely to occur on April 19 or 20, there have been major buzzes about Bitcoin. Bitcoin has been the hottest thing in crypto for a long time, and it doesn’t appear like its hegemony will be broken anytime soon.
The Intersection Between AI, Web3 and Crypto
Bitcoin’s bull run has expectedly had a major effect on the entire crypto industry. Amidst the multiple crypto asset classes enjoying widespread attention, tokens related to AI ventures appear to be hotter than many would have anticipated. For instance, Scotty the AI, one of the trending new crypto projects using advanced AI technology for security and other purposes, has raised over $8 million during the presale phase alone.
Like Scotty the AI, there are many more AI tokens with wide applications in decentralized machine learning, decentralized web platforms, and even blockchain protocols. For context, the combined market value of AI tokens has risen from $2.7 billion in 2023 to a whopping $26 billion in 2024.
As companies prepare for the next generation of the internet, web3 is also coming into that mix. The synergies between these three are opening up new opportunities for innovation that’ll lead to data integrity and trust, privacy and user control, and many more.
Real-World Asset Tokenization
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) clearly rode on the impact of the previous bull run. However, the bubble also exploded, especially when the bear market emerged. Now that the crypto market is on the bull run, NFTs have slowly resurfaced as one of the emerging trends. However, this time, they aren’t just another token class riding on a wave.
They are now representing a shift from the misconception that NFTs are just about art. The definition of NFTs didn’t imply this from the outset anyway, but the popularity of many art-related NFT projects propagated that narrative. However, there has now been a growing popularization of plenty of other NFT projects that aren’t necessarily art-related.
Sorare, a company producing NFT sports cards for fantasy sports, is one such company. As you might imagine, fantasy sports enthusiasts have been all over the project as they enjoy a combination of the excitement of trading these scarce items for gains and the addictive nature of the sport itself. Likewise, financial institutions like Citigroup are also experimenting with the tokenization of financial assets on a private blockchain.
These real-world assets range from tangible assets like physical properties and infrastructure to intangible assets like intellectual properties and many more. Many projects are fully invested in converting the rights to a portion of these assets to digital tokens, and they are all the rave right now.
Central Bank Digital Currency Adoption
Following the resilience and development of cryptocurrencies in the past decade, we are now beginning to see banking systems across the world developing their digital currency. While government agencies are also looking to get a piece of the crypto pie, an argument can also be made about the fact that these institutions are looking to protect their citizens by offering them the benefits of crypto without the risks. This narrative is based on the premise that the central banks would be managing these virtual currencies as opposed to leaving them entirely to the market forces.
CBDCs are already live and operational in countries like Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Nigeria. Additionally, over 132 countries are currently developing or testing their own versions. China is one of the most notable countries, as the Asian country is developing the e-CNY (digital Yuan) and testing it in 260 million wallets across 25 cities. The project is currently the largest CBDC trial in the world.
Decentralized Finance
As was the intention behind crypto’s emergence, cryptocurrencies are reshaping the financial system as we know it. A concept that was once a vivid description of a distant future is fast becoming one of the hottest phenomena in the present.
For example, Compound, a very popular DeFi project, is functioning as a blockchain version of the money market by allowing individuals to invest their crypto savings and earn interest on their savings. Not only that, it also allows them to take out loans against collateral, all without the need for an intermediary, as with the traditional banking system. Compound is one of many popular DeFi projects, and others like Aave and Uniswap are also making headlines for the right reasons.
In response, there has been some growing investor interest, especially in line with the current growing bull run. Many investors are still averse to investing directly in cryptocurrencies, and these DeFi projects provide an alternative route to getting some skin in the game.
Conclusion
Due to the groundbreaking technology behind them, blockchain and cryptocurrencies provide opportunities for multiple outcomes. So, something new is definitely going to be hot in that space for as long as we can foresee.
But for now, Bitcoin maintains its hegemony while emerging AI tokens begin to gain traction. With different categories of coins flooding the market, central banks set out to protect citizens by rolling out CBDCs. Furthermore, the potential to tokenize real-world assets is currently showing that NFTs have far-reaching applications other than art. Finally, DeFi projects aim for the jugular of traditional financial systems by offering an alternative financial system requiring no intermediaries.
Crypto is hot right now!
