K33Research: Cryptocurrency spike returns retail to market

K33Research spots spikes in website traffic to crypto exchanges, suggesting retail is gradually returning.

K33Research Senior Analyst Vetle Lunde has seen a sharp increase in website traffic for cryptocurrency exchanges. Thus, 90-day website traffic increased by 45% from August to October.

During that period, the total volume of traffic on crypto exchanges was 550 million, and from December 2023 to February 2024, this figure increased by 45% and amounted to 801 million.

However, the latest values are still below the maximum of the last two years, as the most significant traffic volume was recorded from June to August 2022 at 910 million. During this period, the beginning of a bear market was noted, as well as the collapse of several large cryptocurrency companies.

The latest data shows that “retail is gradually returning to the market,” Lunde points out. The jump is likely due to the recovery of the cryptocurrency market, which began in late 2023 with the rise in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) and the anticipation of the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

In addition, CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko have experienced significant growth. The traffic volume was 311 million from August to October 2023, and from December 2023 to February 2024, it increased by 66% to 519 million.

“Still, both are well behind the summer of 2022.”

Vetle Lunde, K33Research senior analyst

On March 5, BTC updated its historical maximum – the rate exceeded $69,000. Over the past month, Bitcoin has risen in price by about 60%, and its capitalization has surpassed $1.34 trillion, a record figure.

The demand for Bitcoin and the sharp rise in its price are primarily explained by the significant influx of capital into the U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs launched in January. Another growth factor is the halving, which is expected in April.