CoinMetrics released its annual review of blockchain networks, analyzing the performance of top 18 crypto assets across four categories: asset performance, adoption & use cases, economic health, and security & robustness.
Asset Performance Highlights
Price Movements:
- BTC surged 90% while ETH dipped 6%.
- Tezos (XTZ) gained 182% after staking support from Coinbase Pro and Binance.
- Chainlink (LINK) and Basic Attention Token (BAT) rose 513% and 45%, respectively.
- XRP, Stellar (XLM), and Zcash (ZEC) fell 47%, 60%, and 52%.
Market Capitalization:
- Closely tied to price trends, except for stablecoins.
- Tether on Ethereum (USDT_ETH) grew 37x, surpassing USDT_Omni ($2.3B vs. $1.6B).
- Paxos (PAX) and USD Coin (USDC) increased 65% and 100%.
Realized Cap:
- BTC’s realized cap rose 28%; ETH’s dropped 19%.
- MVRV ratio (Market/Realized Value) indicated BTC holders ended 2019 profitable (1.33), while ETH holders lost (0.61).
👉 Explore more on crypto trends
Adoption & Use Cases
Network Activity
Active Addresses:
- USDT_ETH, LINK, and XTZ saw significant growth.
- XLM active addresses fell 66%.
Addresses Holding $10+:
- BTC and ETH led by wide margins (4x and 2x vs. others).
- XTZ and LINK grew over 100%.
Institutional Holdings ($1M+):
- BTC had 11,000+ such addresses; ETH had 1,800.
- LINK and USDT_ETH grew 538% and 5,817%.
Transaction Metrics
30-Day Active Supply:
- BTC and ETH saw declines (9% and 24%), suggesting hodling.
- Stablecoins showed 50–75% active supply, reflecting medium-of-exchange use.
Block Size:
- BSV’s block size grew 14,000% due to data storage (non-monetary use).
Economic Health
Transaction Volume:
- BSV and USDT_ETH surged 20,688% and 59,303%, respectively.
- XRP averaged 1M daily transactions, spiking late 2019.
Annual Issuance:
- LTC and ZEC issuance dropped post-halving.
- No assets increased issuance.
Median Fees:
- BTC and ETH averaged >$0.06 per transaction; others were <$0.01.
👉 Learn about crypto economics
Security & Robustness
Mining Metrics
Hashrate:
- BTC’s hashrate grew 130%; ETH’s declined ahead of PoS transition.
Miner Revenue:
- BTC miners earned $14.2M daily; ETH earned $2.6M.
Fee-to-Revenue Ratio:
- ETH led at 3.2% vs. BTC’s 0.8%.
FAQ
Q: Why did BTC’s MVRV increase in 2019?
A: It signals growing profitability among holders, with prices rising faster than the average cost basis.
Q: What caused BSV’s block size to spike?
A: Non-monetary data storage dominated transactions.
Q: How do stablecoins differ in active supply?
A: Their high turnover (50–75%) reflects transactional use vs. BTC/ETH’s store-of-value behavior.
Q: Which assets saw the most institutional growth?
A: LINK and USDT_ETH expanded holdings by 538% and 5,817%.
Data reflects January–December 2019. Sources: CoinMetrics, OKX Insights.