Binance's new December report highlights the bullish and notable trends in the cryptocurrency space as we enter a new year.

The cryptocurrency market closed in 2024 with a record performance. Bitcoin (Bitcoin) broke through the $100K barrier, driven by regulatory optimism, bullish sentiment, institutional adoption, and technological innovation.

Binance monthly market research report for December a report He highlighted some of the growing trends the company is witnessing in 2024, as well as in December. Stablecoins like Ethena's USDe (US dollars) has gained traction in decentralized finance, while artificial intelligence has become a major transformative force.

Bitcoin has become the seventh largest global asset by market capitalization

Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $108,000 in 2024, concluding the year with 123.4% year-to-date growth. This achievement makes Bitcoin the seventh largest global asset by market capitalization, surpassing Saudi Aramco and silver.

Among the top 10 global assets, only Nvidia outperformed Bitcoin during the year.

Several factors fueled Bitcoin's rise, including the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, which attracted institutional investors, and anticipation of the upcoming Bitcoin halving. Shifts in monetary policy, including modest interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, also contributed to its growth.

However, late December saw a market correction after the Federal Reserve scaled back its planned interest rate cuts for 2025. Despite this pullback, the Binance report underscored Bitcoin's growing legitimacy as a global asset.

USDe erupts in Athens

Stablecoins – Cryptocurrencies Designed to maintain Constant value – continues to expand in 2024.

Ethena's USDe has emerged as a major player, becoming the third largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of $5.9 billion. According to the report, its growth is linked to the high returns it offers to users and its integration into decentralized finance platforms.

Stablecoins like USDe are often used as a bridge between traditional currencies and cryptocurrencies. They provide stability in the volatile cryptocurrency market and are essential for trading, lending, and other financial activities Decentralized finance.

Artificial intelligence agents are gaining more attention

AI factors are becoming increasingly important in the cryptocurrency landscape, according to Binance. Unlike traditional robots, these autonomous programs can plan and execute tasks and adapt to goals without human intervention.

They are also capable of iteration, self-reflection, and collaboration, making them more versatile in their functionality and applications.

The AI ​​agent narrative gained momentum with the advent of the Truth Terminal and Goat symbol earlier this year, sparking interest in its potential applications. Since then, the ecosystem has expanded significantly, with projects launching new platforms and tools to support agent development.

Virtuals is the largest launch platform for AI agents, allowing users to create their own agents and code them with useful tokens. Other platforms such as Zerebro's ZerePy and ai16z Provide similar frameworks.

Notably, ai16z, a decentralized hedge fund, developed... The ELISA framework is open sourcewhich has over 6,900 stars on GitHub and supports multiple AI agents.