April Crypto Market Review: Stablecoins Shine, Multiple Indicators Decline

In April, the crypto market exhibited a complex situation. Although the stablecoin market performed well, most market indicators showed a decline. This article will analyze the state of the crypto market over the past month through several key data points.

On-chain transactions

The adjusted on-chain transaction volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum decreased by 30.5% in April, falling to $408 billion. Among them, the adjusted on-chain transaction volume of Bitcoin dropped by 30.85%, while Ethereum's on-chain transaction volume fell by 30.2%.

In contrast, the stablecoin market performed outstandingly. The adjusted on-chain transaction volume of stablecoins in April increased by 23.7%, reaching $1.1 trillion, setting a new historical high. The supply of issued stablecoins also increased, rising by 2.8% to $141.2 billion. Notably, USDT's market share grew to 77.83%, while USDC's market share slightly decreased to 18.1%.

Miner Income and Staking Rewards

In April, Bitcoin miners' revenue declined by 11.3% to $1.78 billion. At the same time, Ethereum staking revenue also further decreased by 16.9%, falling to $257 million.

In terms of the Ethereum network, 54,640 ETH were burned in April, worth approximately $179 million. Since the implementation of EIP-1559 in early August 2021, a total of approximately 4.78 million ETH have been burned, worth about $12.02 billion.

NFT market

In April, the trading volume of the NFT market on the Ethereum chain dropped significantly by 34.5%, falling to about $476 million, indicating a decline in the popularity of the NFT market.

Exchange Performance

The spot trading volume of compliant centralized exchanges (CEX) fell by 38.4% in April, dropping to $888 billion. In terms of market share, a well-known trading platform accounted for 78.7%, an increase compared to previous months. The market shares of other major exchanges are as follows: a US trading platform 10.1%, a European trading platform 3.7%, and a digital asset trading platform 2.2%.

Futures Market

In April, the open interest of Bitcoin futures decreased by 1.6%, while the open interest of Ethereum futures dropped by 17.7%. In terms of trading volume, the trading volume of Bitcoin futures in April fell by 21.38%, reaching $1.59 trillion.

The open interest in Bitcoin futures at a major commodities exchange decreased by 23.7%, falling to $8.9 billion, while the average daily trading volume dropped significantly by 30.1%, down to approximately $4.8 billion.

The average monthly trading volume of Ethereum futures has decreased to $691 billion, a drop of 22.6%.

Options Market

In the crypto market options, the open interest of April Bitcoin options continued to decline, with a decrease of 15.5%, while Ethereum's open interest also decreased, down 7.1%.

However, the trading volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum options reached historical highs again in April. The trading volume of Bitcoin options hit a new high of $47.3 billion, an increase of 1.2%; the trading volume of Ethereum options reached a new high of $26.32 billion, an increase of 25.4%.

Overall, in April, the crypto market showed strong performance in stablecoins, but a general decline in other areas. This complex market environment provides investors and analysts with opportunities for deep reflection, and also demonstrates the high volatility of the crypto market and the differentiated performance among various sub-markets.