Bitcoin hits all-time high, crypto market cap at USD $3T

Binance Australia has published the latest report detailing cryptocurrency performance in November, highlighting significant trends and market shifts following the US election.

The report indicated that Bitcoin has hit new all-time highs on five of the last seven days since the US election, and the total cryptocurrency market capitalisation reached USD $3 trillion for the first time since November 2021. This follows a 2.8% rise in the total market cap and a 7.4% increase in Bitcoin during October.

The surge is reportedly driven by a renewed interest from institutional investors, USD $5.5 billion inflows into crypto ETFs, and anticipation surrounding the US presidential election.

Bitcoin's price rose by nearly 20% following the election, reaching above USD $88,000, a milestone achieved on Tuesday, 12 November. Additionally, Ethereum (ETH) prices climbed by 30% during the same period.

Data from DeFiLlama shows that Binance has witnessed two weeks of billion-dollar inflows, with net flows in November amounting to over USD $5 billion. Concurrently, Binance recorded over 13 million app visits in a day following the US election, indicating a high level of user engagement.

Bitcoin's correlation with the S&P 500 index is also nearing record levels, indicating its emerging perception as both a risk-on asset and a hedge against macroeconomic uncertainties.

Historically, Bitcoin's correlation with equities has been minimal, with occasional spikes usually being short-lived due to changes in liquidity or interest rates.

James Quinn-Kumar, Director of Community Engagement for Binance Australia, stated, "Increased inflows and greater user engagement following the US election further emphasises the industry's expanding role as a mainstream financial asset. Crypto investors are clearly positive about the role of crypto as an investment option and a store of wealth. We are seeing this enthusiasm spread beyond just Bitcoin into altcoins and memecoins too."

The report further noted that memecoins enjoyed robust activity in October, with four out of the top five performing tokens being memes. Dogecoin (DOGE), in particular, was the top-performing memecoin, seeing a 33.1% surge following Elon Musk's comments at a Donald Trump rally in New York.

In Australia, the trend mirrored global patterns as the number of DOGE users increased by 2.5 times month over month.

Memecoins' share relative to the top 50 altcoins by market cap has more than doubled, and they have averaged USD $5 billion in daily trading volume since February.

Solana emerged as the leading blockchain for new token launches, driven by the popularity of memecoins and platforms like pump.fun facilitating easier token creation. Solana accounted for 90.6% of all token launches during the week ending October 21, reflecting significant speculative activity.

Mr Quinn-Kumar commented, "The rise of memecoins has been nothing short of spectacular to behold. In many aspects, memecoins embody the fundamental principles of the cryptocurrency industry - fairness, transparency, decentralisation."

"As crypto investing becomes mainstream they present a unique opportunity to bring community to investing and engage the next generation of investors."

He also cautioned against hasty investments, noting, "Crypto as with every other market is cyclical and factors like macroeconomics changes, regulatory development or shifting investor sentiment can prompt new cycles of boom and bust."

"Crypto is also more volatile than traditional markets which is why it is so important investors stay informed of the risks and do not invest beyond their means."