In late 2023, the crypto market entered a bullish trend. Bitcoin reached $47,000, dragging most altcoins along. Experts have unanimously talked about the market’s revival in 2024, focusing on certain segments that could potentially show the most growth during the year.
CP Media decided to review these segments and, based on the main trends of 2024, highlight prospective crypto projects that may be of interest to investors this year.
Note: All materials described below are presented for information purposes only. They are not intended as investment advice. Consult with professionals and do your own research before investing in cryptocurrencies.
* Statistics and prices in the material are as of February 26, 2024.
Level 1 Protocols
At the forefront of the bull market are tokens of Level 1 blockchain networks, which are especially reactive to market changes. Bitcoin is the primary catalyst for the sector’s growth. Experts agree that the upcoming halving and the issuance of spot ETFs in the U.S. will boost the value of BTC in 2024. For example, Messari analysts predicted the growth of BTC up to $600,000.
As for altcoins, the main contenders for active growth in 2024 are:
- Ethereum (ETN). Some analysts believe that Ethereum’s growth rate will surpass that of BTC next year. The key driver for this is the blockchain network upgrade as part of the Dencun hard fork and the L2 infrastructure development.
- Solana (SOL). At the end of 2023, the project’s blockchain network recorded an increase in activity, and SOL crossed the $100 mark. Analysts expect further growth in the asset’s quotations.
- XRP Ledger (XRP). In 2023, Ripple was actively developing its blockchain network and fighting for a native token. XRP rose by 65% in a year. Analysts say that it’s due to the company’s initiatives, the development of the Ripple ecosystem, and its commitment to becoming an alternative to SWIFT that XRP will skyrocket in 2024.
It goes without saying that the quotes of native tokens of BNB Chain (BNB), Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), TRON (TRX), The Open Network (TON) and others will surely rise amid the general growth.
Level 2 Protocols
The rise of Layer 1 protocols will certainly affect L2 solutions as well. TVL of this sector went up by 78% in Q4 2023. From January 1 to February 26, it increased by another 47%, hitting an unprecedented $29.1 billion, L2BEAT reports. Along with that, the capitalization of native tokens of L2 solutions is also on the rise. In particular, it concerns the largest of them: Immutable (IMX), Optimism (OP), Mantle (MNT), Arbitrum (ARB), and Starknet (STRK).
The Polygon (MATIC) project is especially large-scale, and its team has consistently shaped the conditions for aggregating disparate parts of the blockchain ecosystem as Ethereum L2 solutions. The project’s activity and technical initiatives allowed it to rank among the top three in terms of new users last year. It’s worth noting that Polygon developers unite blockchain networks into a single ecosystem using zero-knowledge proof (ZKP).
The ZkSync project and the ecosystem formed on its basis should also be mentioned among L2 solutions. The project doesn’t yet have a native token, but the capitalization of cryptocurrencies included in its ecosystem already exceeds $20.5 million, with TVL reaching $742 million.
Modular Blockchains
The concept of modular blockchains is also attracting a lot of attention, as scaling and optimizing the speed of transaction processing remains an issue for most networks.
Modular blockchains are decentralized networks consisting of separate components, each performing different functions or providing certain services within the network. Modules in such systems can be customized independently of each other. For instance, one module may be responsible for smart contracts, another for a consensus algorithm, and a third for identity management.
As Layer 1 networks are getting more overloaded every year, experts are betting on the active development of modular ecosystems in 2024.
The sector leader is Celestia (TIA). In late 2022, the project raised about $55 million in funding, gaining a unicorn status. In November 2023, the project’s native token was listed on major crypto exchanges. TIA’s quote has surged 759% since launch, with the asset’s price at around $17.4. In 2024, analysts expect new modular blockchain infrastructure projects to enter the market, but TIA, as a pioneer in this sector, will only grow.
AI-Powered Protocols
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has surged significantly in the past year, thanks to the widespread attention to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbots. Many decentralized projects started using AI to develop and improve functionality. Some experts even referred to the synergy of AI and Web3 technologies as the starting point for the development of the entire crypto market. In Q4 2023, the quotations of tokens related to blockchain projects based on AI grew by 185%.
Analysts advise taking a closer look at tokens linked to AI protocols, highlighting the following leaders in the sector:
- Render Network (RNDR). The protocol that provides distributed processing of graphics. Over the year, the asset has risen in value by over 600%, with a market cap exceeding $1.5 billion.
- BitTensor (TAO). The protocol that forms the basis for a decentralized machine learning network. The project’s token was listed only in March last year, climbing in value by 177% in ten months. The capitalization is $1.6 billion.
- Nosana (NOS). The protocol that provides a decentralized computing network for training AI algorithms. On the wave of hype, the NOS token went up in price by 31,200% in a few months.
Analysts recommend paying attention to all projects that rely on the development and implementation of AI technologies, as the quotes of their native tokens are likely to grow throughout 2024.
DeFi Projects
With the bull market in full swing, capital flows into decentralized finance are to be expected. CP Media selected a few DeFi projects that will be interesting to keep an eye on this year:
- Maverick Protocol (MAV). The provider of capital efficiency solutions for liquidity providers in the DeFi ecosystem. The project was listed on exchanges in July 2023. A major airdrop is expected in 2024 in conjunction with Binance’s Web3 wallet.
- Woo Network (WOO). The DeFi ecosystem consisting of two DEXs and a CEX. The project was created in 2019 and set an ATH in 2021 amid the bull market, after which WOO quotes went down, but user activity wasn’t affected. In 2023, the project team acquired a stake from Three Arrows Capital, which was in bankruptcy proceedings, moved the WOOFi exchange from the Near Protocol network to Ethereum, and agreed to partner with the Arbitrum team, liquidity provider Wintermute, and market maker Selini Capital. On the back of the positive news, the WOO token rose 119% over the year. At the beginning of 2024, it was revealed that the company raised $9 million to boost the liquidity of the WOO X exchange, so we can expect continued growth.
- Maple (MPL). The protocol that combines DeFi and TradFi, allowing institutional borrowers to take out loans with insufficient collateral. The MPL token enables holders to participate in management, earn fee income, and insure liquidity pools. The protocol was launched in 2021 and experienced a surge and subsequent drop during the bull market. In 2023, it raised $5 million in a strategic funding round. It reports quarterly and continues to grow strongly. An indicator of interest is fake airdrops conducted by scammers on behalf of the protocol. Be vigilant!
According to CoinMarketCap, there are 668 projects in the DeFi category, while CoinGecko reports 474 projects, with their total capitalization exceeding $95 billion. While many of them look promising, it’s beyond the scope of this material to examine even a small part of them. Therefore, let it be a task for your own research. An effective method for such studies is fundamental analysis, the main stages of which are described in detail in a special material by CP Media.
