January — Blockchain Industry Report
(January 1st — January 31th, 2019)
This monthly report is published by OK Blockchain Capital.
As the first month of 2019, January is still a dismal month for the crypto market. Bitcoin’s price continued its price fluctuations, as for the analysis of on-chain Bitcoin and Dapp activity, we can see that the average number of Bitcoin address active daily decreased a lot compared to one year ago and the percentage of newly listed DApps on ETH, EOS, and TRX blockchain also changes gradually as time went by.
For more details, please read the following report. If you are interested in the complete report. Please scan the QR code at the end and follow our Wechat official account. OK blockchain capital is committed to exploring the cutting-edge technology of blockchain, setting benchmarks for high-quality analysis, guiding the sound development of the industry. Follow us to get more high-quality articles.
Introduction
- The market was dismal in January. Bitcoin continued its price fluctuations following last month’s decrease, resulting in minor volatility for the entire blockchain digital assets market.
- In order to analyze the industry as fully and deeply as possible, this report will focus on three aspects of market development:
Investment Sentiment Survey： We conducted a survey targeting blockchain digital asset holders. The survey had a total of 14 questions, including their income and position structure this month, projections for the next month and coming half-year, monthly position adjustment plans, favored industry verticals, and their demographic characteristics and investment habits. 147 valid responses were collected.
Blockchain Asset Market Analysis： We statistically analyzed secondary (trading and circulation platforms) and primary (private offerings or public placements) digital asset markets. We divided blockchain digital assets into four basic categories: currencies/payment, base chain/protocols, vertical industry chains/protocols, and vertical applications. The latter two categories were further divided into segments including finance, copyrights, digital identity, deposit notarization, forecasting, games, social media, entertainment, E-commerce, education, and tourism.
Analysis of on-chain Bitcoin and DApp activity： We analyzed on-chain Bitcoin activity and DApp activity for three major public blockchains: EOS, ETH and TRX.
Major Industry Events：Taking stock of major industry events, with key events of the month selected based on impact for focused analysis
- Sources and statistical criteria are indicated for all data shown in this report. We strive to make its content as accurate and open as possible, and welcome criticism in case of any inadequacy.
Contents ：
- Investor Sentiment Survey
- Earnings status this month
- Investors’ projections
- Favored currencies
- Initial investment time and investment allocation
- Investment amounts and ratios
- About the Investors
2. Blockchain Digital Asset Market Analysis
- Overview of markets this month
- Analysis of top 200 blockchain assets
- New listing projects analysis
- Analysis of public offerings completed this month
3. Analysis Of On-chain Bitcoin And Dapp Acitvity
- Bitcoin on-chain activity
- Dapp activity analysis for three major public blockchains
4. Major Industry Events and Analysis
- Important global policy news this month
- Overview of the giants
Chapter 1
Investor Sentiment Survey
- Earnings status this month
- Market projections for 2019
- Favored currencies
- Initial investment time and investment allocation
- Investment amounts and ratios
- About the investors
Nearly 60% of digital asset investors saw no gains in January 2019
- According to the OK Blockchain Capital questionnaire, the income of digital asset investors in January 2019 was dismal. Nearly 60% of investors had essentially flat earnings, small losses and large losses, meaning that more than half saw no gains in January — slightly up from December last year. Large and moderate gains accounted for only 9.49%.
*Notes: “Large gains” refers to market returns ≥ 100%;
“Moderate gains” refers to 30% ≤ market returns ＜100%;
“Small gains” refers to 10% ≤ market returns ＜ 30%;
“Essentially flat” refers to -10% ≤ market returns ＜ 10%;
“Small losses refers to -30% ≤ market returns ＜ -10%;
“Large losses refers to -100% ≤ market returns ＜ -30%
Over 67% of investors believe that only small fluctuations will occur in the overall digital assets market in 2019
- The questionnaire also included a survey of investors’ expectations in 2019. The results showed that more than 67% of investors believed that the overall value of digital assets market will not move greatly in 2019; less than 22% believed that a sharp rise or fall will occur. 10.95% believed that it’s currently difficult to judge.
- According to the survey, 35.77% of investors will keep their positions essentially unchanged in February, based on their expectations of a flat digital asset market in 2019. Another 3.5% will increase their positions slightly.
Gaming replaced decentralized exchanges to become the 4th most favored segment
- The survey revealed the top five blockchain investment verticals in January: cryptos/payment (67.88%), base public chain/protocol (42.34%), platform currencies (31.39%), gaming (24.09%) and decentralized exchanges (21.17%). Gaming replaced decentralized exchanges in fourth place from last month.
More than 70% of digital asset investors are newcomers in 2017/2018; the secondary market is the main trading method
- More than 70% of the respondents are newcomers in 2017 and 2018.
- Over the counter (OTC) transactions increased 7% compared to last month. In the bear market, more investors are moving from secondary markets to OTC trading.
More than 70% of investors have invested less than ￥200,000, and 50% have invested less than 20% of their assets
- The survey indicated that over 66% of investors have invested less than ¥100,000 in blockchain digital assets. 28.47% invested less than ¥20,000, 24.09% invested ¥20,000–50,000, 13.87% invested ¥60,000–100,000, and 10.22% invested ¥1 million and above.
- For over half of investors, blockchain digital assets accounted for less than 20% of all their investments. 27.74% of investors invested less than 5%, 29.93% invested between 5%-19%, and 4.38% invested 100%.
Typical investor portrait: male in the first-tier city, 19–25, with monthly income from 5–20k
- The questionnaire also asked about the investors themselves. The results showed that the typical blockchain investor is a male in a first-tier city (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, or a provincial capital), aged 19–25, with a monthly income of 5–20k.
Chapter 2
Blockchain Digital Asset Market Analysis
- Overview of markets this month
- Analysis of top 200 blockchain assets
- New listing projects analysis
- Analysis of public offerings completed this month
Average global daily market cap & average daily trading volume of blockchain digital assets both increased slightly in January
- Similar to December, in which global blockchain digital asset market value and trading volume were both relatively stable, market value held steady around $120 billion, and average daily trading volume also fluctuated around $15 billion in January. In detail, global market cap averaged $124.485 billion, up 3.52% from December; average daily trading volume was $16.348 billion, up 1.35%.
Unit: $100 million
Source: coinmarketcap
- Among the top 200 digital assets by market value in January, REP saw the largest monthly price increase, at 68.17%. The currency/payment project DENT and the content project VEE also caught our eyes.
Vertical chains & protocols fell the most in market cap among the top 200 digital assets
- Top 200 digital assets averaged 3.05% higher market caps than in December. Currencies/payments, base chains/protocols, vertical chains/protocols, and vertical applications all increased this month. The largest rise was in base chains/protocols, at 16.91%.
Unit: $100 million
Source: OK Blockchain Capital
- Each market segment among the top 200 blockchain assets fell in January, ending the month slightly down.
Platform Tokens, IoT and Finance Led Among Market Verticals
- Further subdivision of the top 200 digital assets by market cap into vertical chains/protocols and vertical application segments shows that platform tokens, IoT and finance led the way in January. Tourism, transport and entertainment had the lowest market caps.
New Listings Were Mainly in Finance, and on the Hitbtc, Bitfinex, and Bithumb Exchanges
- Looking through announcements from 30 trading platforms, including OKEx, Huobi Global, Bitfinex, Bithumb, ZB.com, Upbit, HitBTC, and Bittrex, a total of 62 new trading pairs and 28 new projects were listed this month. The new listings were mainly in base chains/protocols, data services, and finance, and were concentrated on the HitBTC, Bitfinex, and Bithumb exchanges.
Source: Coinmarketcap, feixiaohao; Compiled by OK Blockchain Capital
*Calculation of newly listed projects: Different currency trading pairs of the same project in the same
exchange are counted only once; the same project on different exchanges is counted multiple times.
Highest soft cap in enterprise services sector, and largest number of projects in finance
- OK Blockchain Capital statistics show a total of 153 public offerings around the world in January, down 6.13% from December. Their total soft cap reached $485 million, down 14% from December. Public offerings completed in January mainly involved platform tokens, asset management, and finance. The highest soft cap was in platform tokens.
Chapter 3
Analysis Of On-Chain bitcoin And Dapp Activity
- On-chain Bitcoin activity
- DApp activity on three major public blockchains
On-chain Bitcoin activity and trading volume decreased slightly in January; average daily transaction count increased
The average number Bitcoin address active daily this month was 510,100, down 41.37% from January 2018, and down 2.12% from December.
Bitcoin had a daily average of 297,300 online transactions this month, up 3.94% from January 2018, and up 12.52% from December. The average daily on-chain transaction volume this month totaled US$ 4.069 billion, down 84.95% from January 2018, and down 7.93% from December.
Sources: https://bitinfocharts.com, OK Blockchain Capital
Source: coinmarketcap
DApps declined on ETH in January, EOS averaged the most DApp active users, and TRX had the largest increase
Among the three largest public blockchains, newly listed DApps on ETH continued to shrink this month, while TRX and EOS maintained their upward trends.
EOS had the largest number of average daily active DApp users this month, reaching 63,900 people. TRX had the largest increase in active users, at 198.6%.
Varied performance in total DApp trading volume
The total DApp trading volume of two main public blockchains besides TRX fell sharply this month, with EOS falling more, at 40.13%. Its trading volume however still remained far ahead of ETH and TRX.
Unit: US$ 100 millions
Sources: https://spider.store, OK Blockchain Capital
Chapter 4
Major Industry Events And Analysis
- Important global policy news this month
- Overview of the giants
Important global policy news this month
A Timeline of Important Events
Overview of the giants
Compiled from open-source information
Hot Topics This Month
Blockchain Finance Industry
Outlook and Trends Report released
On the afternoon of December 29, OK Blockchain Capital and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Digital Economy and Blockchain Research Center jointly held a seminar on the Fintech industry at the CAS Zhongguancun campus.
At the seminar, the Blockchain Finance Industry Outlook and Trends Report, based on three months of study, industry research, and visits, was officially released. It focuses on application progress and blockchain prospects in four areas: insurance, supply chain finance, payment, and credit reference. It answers:
What are the development needs of traditional financial services?
What needs can blockchain technology meet?
What are the current blockchain & finance applications, and how far have they developed?
The Report also analyzes 19 blockchain + finance application cases including Ripple, China Minsheng Bank L/C, HKEx Private Equity Transaction Verification System, China Supply Chain Cloud, SAS of Ping An Bank, Mutual Insurance, Shuidi, GXChain, and LinkEye, exploring their business models in depth. The Report comes to the following conclusions:
- Blockchain can improve supply chain financing in three ways. Blockchain shared ledgers reduce the costs of investigating transaction authenticity with multiple supply chain parties. Automatic execution of smart contracts reduces operational risks associated with complex collaborative processes; and credit certificates can act as a settlement tool between multiple levels of suppliers.
- Blockchain can improve insurance in two main ways. Blockchain-based information sharing and notarization platforms can improve operational transparency and promote industry data analysis collaboration. Improvements are mainly possible in the synergy between reinsurers and direct insurance companies, as well as for mutual insurance products. Insurance policy digitization and on-chain policy pledges can help integrate and standardize the industry. Blockchain traceability, meanwhile, can help with agricultural and natural disaster insurance.
- Blockchain improvements in the credit reference industry focus on building independent and reliable credit data sharing and trading platforms. Blockchain technology, together with trusted computing, can realize comprehensive privacy protection and ensure authorized use of user data.
Industry Giant Bakkt Receives a Large New Capital Infusion,
while Postponing BTC Futures Trading
The Bitcoin futures trading platform Bakkt recently completed a new round of financing, drawing industry attention. Investors included Intercontinental Exchange, the Microsoft venture capital department M12, Boston Consulting Group, Galaxy Digital, Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures, and Naspers, South Africa’s media giant and Tencent’s largest shareholder, with a total of $182.5 million raised.
Bakkt is attracting attention for two reasons:
- Better compliance
Bakkt belongs to the Intercontinental Exchange Group (ICE). ICE is one of the top international financial institutions, and it owns more than 10 well-known exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange and London International Financial Futures Exchange. It is therefore known as a solid player on the crypto market. ICE is expanding into cryptocurrency trading through Bakkt to attract more traditional financial investors. Bakkt is regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not by the SEC.
- Physical delivery
In contrast to the cash settlement of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), Bakkt will offer one-day physical settlement of Bitcoin futures contracts. In detail, a user can buy a futures contract on Bakkt, then get spot Bitcoin on the second day. This innovation will increase Bitcoin liquidity, and also smooth out the frequent bubbles in Bitcoin futures trading volume.
The large capital infusion will accelerate the implementation of Bakkt. However, on December 31, 2018, it announced that it would postpone its original plan for January 24, 2019. According to CCN, apart from the effects of the year-end holiday on the working schedule of the CFTC, the US government’s “back and forth” attitude towards crypto assets may be another factor.
According to news reports, Bakkt focuses on promoting the transfer of digital assets between consumers and businesses. Another concern is that Starbucks, which appeared on the original investor list, did not invest in the end, revealing that the retail giant still has concerns about digital currency payments at the consumer level.
Private Token Grin
Officially Launched
At 22:00 on January 15 (UTC +8), the genesis block of Grin was mined following nearly two years of preparation, marking the successful launch of Grin, a token project which claims to adhere most closely to the spirit of Bitcoin.
An official statement summarizes Grin’s strengths as follows:
- Privacy protection. It ensures transaction anonymity and retains an ability for on-demand information disclosure.
- Space reduction. Its transaction records only take up 100 bytes, much less than with other blockchains.
- Decentralization. Grin uses graphics-friendly mining algorithms, further decentralizing mining.
Unlike Bitcoin, the total quantity of Grin is not fixed. A fixed number of Grin are issued every year. The linear release method gradually decreases its inflation rate over time until it approaches zero. Its inflation graph is shown below.
Grin’s team is also quite unusual in the blockchain industry. They didn’t raise placement funds or pre-mine, rather adopting a completely community-based operation model. The developers have launched “developer funds” through the community and raised funds through donations.
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*Credits to Henry Chou & Zhou Zihan for their superb research!
