Crypto market cap declined 10% in third quarter, CoinGecko says

The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased by 10%, or a total of $119 billion, in the third quarter of the year from the previous quarter, CoinGecko said in its 2023 Q3 Crypto Industry Report.

Spot trading volumes on centralized exchanges declined 20.1% over the period, while the market cap of major stablecoins also dropped significantly.

“USDC saw the largest absolute losses at -$2.26 billion, while BUSD saw the largest percentage decline of -45.3%, with a drop of -$1.87 billion,” CoinGecko said.

“Despite the crypto market’s low momentum in an eventful Q3, we are encouraged by signs that TradFi and DeFi are moving closer,” CoinGecko co-founder Bobby Ong said in a note sent to The Block.

Mid-August liquidations

The report singled out August 17 as the day that “split the relatively slow Q3 into two parts.” That date saw bitcoin’s value plummeting from around $29,000 to approximately $26,000, with the liquidation event causing over $821 million in long positions to be wiped out in 24 hours.

The report also highlighted notable changes in market capitalization rankings. During Q3, Solana advanced from the 10th position to move up to 7th place. TrueUSD also made progress, moving from the 23rd position to the 19th. In contrast, litecoin dropped from the 9th position to the 14th, and BUSD saw a further decline from 18th to the 27th position.

“Despite it being a pretty eventful three months, the crypto market was absent of any momentum,” the report’s analysts concluded.

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