November Public Chain Review: Solana Strong Recovery, Blast Rapid Rise, Web3 Game Market Value Soars

Author: stella@footprint.network

The crypto market in November was filled with significant events, from the heated discussions around Bitcoin ETFs to Binance's $4 billion settlement, both receiving considerable attention. While Ethereum continued to dominate TVL and Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum became the focus, we also witnessed Solana's remarkable recovery and the meteoric rise of Blast. These developments collectively fueled investor enthusiasm and heightened expectations for the next bull market in blockchain.

This report's data is sourced from Footprint Analytics' public chain research page. This page provides an easy-to-use dashboard containing the most critical statistics and metrics in the public chain space, updated in real-time.

Key Highlights

Crypto Market Overview

• The market's anticipation of the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF has fueled bullish sentiment, while positive developments in the Middle East conflict have alleviated concerns about broader regional instability.

• The Binance settlement is viewed positively as it reduces systemic risk in the crypto industry and boosts investor confidence.

Public Chain Overview

• The market capitalization of public chain cryptocurrencies reached $1.14 trillion, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB Chain leading the market with shares of 64.7%, 21.6%, and 3.1%, respectively.

• Solana ranked fifth, holding a market share of 1.7% and a TVL of $1.14 billion, which represents a 51.64% increase from October. Coupled with the rise in its token price, Solana continues to show signs of a positive recovery.

Layer 2

• Notably, Blast's rapid rise as a new entrant in the Layer 2 space attracted approximately $700 million in TVL within just 10 days.

Blockchain Gaming

• The total market capitalization of gaming tokens in November saw significant growth, climbing from $49.2 billion on November 1 to $66.1 billion on November 30.

• In terms of trading market share, Solana performed exceptionally well, increasing its market share to 13.6%, far exceeding the 4.2% in October.

• Ronin had an outstanding performance in November, capturing 21.2% of the market's trading volume.

NFT

• In November, Ethereum continued to dominate the NFT market, with a trading volume of $630 million, accounting for 98.5% of the total trading volume, a 50.4% increase from October.

• The number of users on the BNB Chain decreased by 4% compared to October, totaling 17,000, down 73.5% from 63,000 in July.

Investment and Financing Situation

• A total of ten rounds of financing were completed in the public chain sector, raising a cumulative $54.9 million.

• Animoca Brands became the largest validator of TON through an undisclosed investment.

• Sei Network received a strategic investment from Circle Ventures, which will support the launch of native USDC on the network.

Key Developments

• With Bitcoin surpassing $38,000, Solana led Layer 1.

• LayerZero will launch the Layer 2 Public Goods Network (PGN).

• Starknet underwent a version upgrade and migrated its testnet to Sepolia.

• Paradigm stated that Blast's explosive launch "crossed boundaries."

Crypto Market Overview

The financial market's response to multiple potential risks has been relatively mild. The anticipation of the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF has fueled bullish sentiment, while positive developments in the Middle East conflict have alleviated concerns about broader regional instability. Similarly, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) continues to trend downward, increasing market optimism regarding the Federal Reserve's potential interest rate cuts and the possibility of a "soft landing" for the U.S. economy.

As part of a $4 billion settlement with U.S. authorities, Zhao Changpeng (CZ) resigned as CEO of Binance on November 21. This settlement concluded extensive investigations by multiple U.S. regulatory agencies, including the Department of Justice, into Binance's alleged violations of anti-money laundering laws and other regulations. Following the announcement of the Binance settlement, Bitcoin's price briefly dropped to $35,800 but stabilized to the mid-$36,000 range by the following morning. The market generally views this settlement positively, believing it reduces systemic risk in the crypto industry and enhances investor confidence.

Public Chain Overview

As of November 30, the market capitalization of public chain cryptocurrencies reached $1.14 trillion, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB Chain leading the market with shares of 64.7%, 21.6%, and 3.1%, respectively.

Data Source: Total Chain Token Market Cap Share

Bitcoin's price increased by 9.72% in November, closing at $37,848. Ethereum rose by 12.06%, ending the month at $2,028. Meanwhile, BNB's price was more volatile, ultimately declining by 0.36%. Notably, following the settlement with U.S. regulators, BNB's price sharply dropped by 10.02% on November 22, from $253.4 to $228.0.

In November, Avalanche's price surged by 89.12%, closing at $21.37. Solana also demonstrated strong recovery momentum, with its price increasing by 54.19% to $59.21.

Data Source: Chain Market Data

In November, the total TVL of public chains was $68.3 billion. Ethereum maintained its dominance with a market share of 75.6% and a TVL of $50.25 billion. Tron ranked second with a TVL of $7.2 billion, accounting for 10.8% of the market share. BNB Chain ranked third with a market share of 4.4% and a TVL of $2.91 billion.

Solana ranked fifth, holding a market share of 1.7% and a TVL of $1.14 billion, which represents a 51.64% increase from October. Coupled with the rise in its token price, Solana continues to show signs of a positive recovery.

Solana faced a series of challenges due to its association with FTX during the turmoil of FTX. Nevertheless, Solana overcame these difficulties and is experiencing a recovery in 2023. In August, Solana Pay announced integration with Shopify, enabling millions of merchants to use its payment solution. Following that, in September, credit card giant Visa joined in supporting Solana by launching USDC settlement functionality on Solana. Additionally, the Solana Foundation has been working to enhance network stability, improve decentralization, and stimulate innovation through initiatives like the Hyperdrive hackathon and expansion plans in the Asia-Pacific region. These targeted efforts are crucial for building a more robust and diverse Solana ecosystem.

Data Source: Chain TVL Ranking

In Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem, liquid staking, DEX, and lending protocols are the main active categories, accounting for 38.0%, 14.3%, and 12.6% of the market share, respectively. Lido and MakerDAO are the most prominent projects, holding 37.6% and 10.9% of the market share, respectively.

Data Source: Ethereum Chain Stats

On the BNB Chain, DEX and lending protocols dominate, holding 52.3% and 23.8% of the market share, respectively. PancakeSwap and Venus are the leading projects on this chain, holding 46.8% and 23.3% of the market share, respectively.

Data Source: BNB Chain Stats

Layer 2

As of the end of November, Arbitrum stood out in the Ethereum Layer 2 space, holding a TVL of $7.14 billion and a market share of 55.97%. Optimism ranked second with a TVL of $3.36 billion, accounting for 26.33% of the market share. Other chains with market shares below 6% formed the second tier, with Blast accounting for 5.85%, Base for 4.02%, and zkSync Era for 3.84%. Notably, Blast's rapid rise as a new entrant in the Layer 2 space attracted approximately $700 million in TVL within just 10 days. (Here, "TVL" refers to the cumulative amount stored and locked in Layer 2 smart contracts.)

In terms of user engagement, zkSync Era leads with 2.77 million transactions and 2.31 million unique users. These users are defined as those who interacted with Ethereum and linked funds to Layer 2. The surge in user activity can be attributed to the early airdrop activities conducted by zkSync Era, attracting a large number of users. Since then, zkSync Era has become the most active platform. Starknet is a close competitor in terms of transaction volume, reaching 1.78 million transactions.

Data Source: Layer 2 Overview

The beta version of Blast was launched on November 21, creating a buzz on social media. One reason for Blast's popularity is its positioning as the first Ethereum Layer 2 solution with a native yield model. Led by Tieshun Roquerre, co-founder of the leading NFT marketplace Blur, Blast quickly garnered $745 million in TVL by the end of November.

Blur's dominance in the NFT market provided strong support for Blast's rapid popularity. Additionally, the background of the Blast development team, which includes members from MakerDAO, MIT, Yale University, and Seoul National University, along with a $20 million funding round led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto, further strengthened Blast's rapid rise. Despite generating buzz on social media, Blast has faced scrutiny due to its multi-signature contracts, withdrawal restrictions, and referral rules.

Blockchain Gaming

In November, the total market capitalization of gaming tokens saw significant growth, climbing from $49.2 billion on November 1 to $66.1 billion on November 30, reflecting substantial development in the Web3 gaming industry during the month. Meanwhile, the number of active wallets also grew by 18.7% in November, increasing from 1.1 million on November 1 to 1.3 million on November 30, aligning with the rapid growth trend of gaming token market capitalization.

In terms of the number of games, established public chains BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Polygon remain in the lead, with 964, 781, and 479 games, respectively.

Over the past five months, the overall trading volume in the gaming industry has continued to decline. Specifically, trading activity on the Wax blockchain has been particularly affected, with Alien Worlds experiencing a significant decrease in trading frequency. Compared to October, trading volume decreased by as much as 89 million transactions.

Data Source: Monthly Txns Shared

In terms of trading market share, Solana performed exceptionally well, increasing its market share to 13.6%, far exceeding the 4.2% in October. Additionally, Ronin had an outstanding performance in November, capturing 21.2% of the market's trading volume.

Data Source: Monthly Volume Shared

For more in-depth insights into the Web3 gaming industry dynamics and data performance in November, you can refer to the related report “November Web3 Gaming Industry Overview: Market Recovery, Future Trends”.

NFT

In November, Ethereum continued to dominate the NFT market, with a trading volume of $630 million, accounting for 98.5% of the total trading volume, a 50.4% increase from October.

Data Source: Monthly Volume by Chain

In November, the number of users on Ethereum (wallets) increased by 7.6%, reaching 140,000. In contrast, the number of users on the BNB Chain decreased by 4% compared to October, totaling 17,000, down 73.5% from 63,000 in July. Meanwhile, the number of users on Polygon saw a significant decline of 35.3%, totaling 92,000.

Data Source: Monthly Unique Users by Chain

For more in-depth insights into the NFT industry dynamics and data performance in November, you can refer to the related report “November NFT Dynamics: Trading Volume Growth, Strengthened Position of Blur”.

Investment and Financing Situation

In November, a series of investments highlighted the growing interest of capital in the blockchain infrastructure sector. A total of ten rounds of financing were completed in the public chain sector, raising a cumulative $54.9 million. This wave of capital has flowed into a diverse range of innovative projects, including Layer 1 public chain projects such as The Open Network (TON), Sei, Klever (which received $20 million in investment), Saga ($5 million), and Waterfall Network ($2 million), as well as Layer 2 solutions like Blast ($20 million), Kinto ($5 million), Glacier Network ($2.9 million), Layer N, and INTMAX. Notably, TON, Sei, Layer N, and INTMAX did not disclose their financing amounts.

Animoca Brands became the largest validator of TON through an undisclosed investment, aiming to strengthen TON's GameFi sector. This collaboration will support TON Play, a project that enables game development and integration with Telegram, as well as provide funding, research, and analysis for applications within the TON ecosystem.

Sei Network received a strategic investment from Circle Ventures, the issuer of USDC, which will support the launch of native USDC on the network. This move is part of USDC's expansion strategy, which has already included other networks like NEAR and Optimism since August, with Sei being the latest blockchain to adopt it.

Kinto is an Ethereum Layer 2 network utilizing the OP technology stack. It announced the raising of $5 million in financing. The platform features built-in customer identity verification (KYC) protocols to ensure full compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. Kinto aims to link financial institutions and tangible assets with DeFi infrastructure, with its mainnet set to launch in the first quarter of 2024.