CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 1

Index

Founders’ Note 3 DeFi Analysis 16

- 2020 DeFi Overview
Market Landscape 4 - 2020 DeFi Price Returns
- 2020 Spot Markets Overview - An Introduction To The DeFi Ecosystem
- 2020 Top-5 Crypto Returns - DeFi Main Events in 2020
- 2020 Top-30 Coins Dominance - DeFi Protocols Hacks in 2020
- 2020 Top-5 Stablecoins - Fixed Interest Rate Protocols
- Notable Events Outside of DeFi in 2020 - Algorithmic Stablecoins
Bitcoin Analysis 10 Exchanges 31
- Bitcoin Price vs. Trading Volume - 2020 Top-9 Cryptocurrency Exchanges
- Bitcoin high-cycle 2016-2017 vs. 2020-2021 - 2020 Top-9 Centralized Exchanges (CEX)
- Price Returns Bitcoin vs. Major Asset - 2020 Top-9 Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)
Classes - 2020 Derivatives Exchanges – Bitcoin
- Major Asset Classes 2020 Daily Return Perpetual Swaps Volume
Correlation Matrix with BTC - 2020 Derivatives Exchanges – Bitcoin
- Market Capitalization: Bitcoin vs. Gold vs. Perpetual Swaps Open Interest
Top-5 S&P 500 Stocks

Analysts: Erina Azmi Win Win Lucius Fang Benjamin Charles

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 2
Founders’ Note

There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.
2020 was full of defining events that changed the course of the world. With the COVID-19
pandemic forcing many to digitally adapt, we believe that it is just a matter of time before our
vision of global tokenization takes place. “2020 has been an
2020 has been an exciting year for all of us in crypto. We saw plenty of price actions from Black
exciting year for all
Thursday in March, to the DeFi summer, and finally the strong bull run at the end of the year. of us in crypto”
2021 promises to continue being an exciting year now that Bitcoin has breached its previous all
time high three years ago.

DeFi has emerged as the biggest winner of the crypto sphere in 2020. The market witnessed
a cataclysm of financial innovation enabled by blockchain that gave birth to multiple primitives
such as flash loans, automated market makers, yield farming and algorithmic stablecoins.
Financial experiments have never been conducted with such flexibility and it is simply exhilarating
to be on the front seat of such groundbreaking innovations.

We are also seeing the inflow of institutional money. Having Microstrategy and Square holding
Bitcoin as part of their corporate treasury is likely the start of a larger trend of large companies
(and hopefully governments) buying Bitcoin. With the help of looser monetary policies and
increased accessibility to crypto assets, we are optimistic that there would be more crypto market
developments moving forward.

At CoinGecko we have also seen tremendous growth in 2020 as we start to expand our operations.
We could not have reached here without the support of our users, and for that we will always be
Bobby Ong TM Lee
grateful. Look out for our new products and services in 2021. We hope that you will continue to
COO CEO
support us! CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 3
MARKET LANDSCAPE

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 4

2020 Spot Market Overview
Market capitalization ended the year with all-time high of $732 billion

Market Cap.
Top-30 Market Cap & Spot Trading Volume (Jan – Dec 2020)

Total Volume Traded Total Market Cap Trading Vol.

+308%
Top-30 Coins Market Cap
Trendline (Volume Traded) Trendline (Market Cap) Growth in 2020
$800B $800B
$732B

$700B $700B 2020 has been a great run for the cryptocurrency
markets as market capitalization of the top 30
$600B $600B coins grew 308% (+$552 billion), outperforming
2019’s growth of 62% (+$68 billion).

$500B $500B
For spot trading volume, 2020 saw slower
$400B $400B growth compared to 2019 (126% vs. 627%).

$300B $300B
The endorsements by renowned investors, Paul
Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller and
$200B $200B participation of large public listed companies,
MicroStrategy and Square in purchasing
$179B
Bitcoin boosted crypto market confidence and
$100B $100B pushed market capitalization to its All-Time
High of $732 billion.
$0B $0B
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20 Jan 21

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 5

2020 Top-5 Crypto Returns
Ethereum is the best performer among top-5 cryptocurrencies

Price Return BTC

Top-5 Cryptocurrency Price Returns (Jan – Dec 2020)

ETH XRP DOT LTC

+242%
Top-5 Cryptocurrencies
Average Price Returns in 2020
550%
472%
Price returns 2020
450% (vs. 2019)

350% +303%
303% (+95%)

250% 219%
+472%
214% (-2%)
150%

50% +14%
14% (-45%)

-50%
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20 Jan 21 +219%**
(N/A)
Ethereum had a stellar year with a 472% gain, outperforming the other top-5 cryptocurrencies in 2020. This was
followed by Bitcoin, which rose by 303% breaking past its all time high in December 2020. Polkadot, a newcomer
that launched in August 2020 quickly became a member of the top-5 cryptocurrencies, with a 219% growth. +214%
(+38%)

* Top-5 Cryptocurrencies exclude Tether (USDT) stablecoin as of 1 January 2021 CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 6
** Polkadot (DOT) only started trading on 19 August 2020
2020 Top-30 Coin Dominance
Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin in terms of dominance through 2020
Market Dominance 2020
Top-30 Cryptocurrency Dominance (Jan – Dec 2020) (% change vs 2019)

Dominance

100%
73.7% 1.2%
(+0.9%) (N/A)

90%
11.5% 1.1%
80% (+3.6%) (-0.3%)

70%
2.9% 0.9%
60% (+0.5%) (-1.2%)

50%
1.4% 6.6% *

40% (-3.3%) (-1.6%)

30% Despite Bitcoin’s rally towards the end of 2020, its

dominance only grew marginally by 0.9% to 73.7%.
20%
Ethereum was the true star of 2020 as its market
BTC ETH USDT XRP DOT LTC BCH Others (8-30)* dominance climbed the highest by 3.6% to 11.5%.
10%
XRP was the biggest loser with a 3.3% decline to
1.4%, largely due to the SEC’s charge against Ripple
0% for conducting an unregistered securities offering.
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20 Jan 21 This has resulted in various exchanges delisting XRP
such as Coinbase and Bitstamp.
* Others (8 - 30) refers to top 8 - 30 coins by market capitalization on CoinGecko as of 1 January 2021 CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 7
2020 Top-5 Stablecoins
Top-5 stablecoins recorded a 439% increase to $27 billion in circulation.

+$22.3B
Top-30 Stablecoins Overview (Jan – Dec 2020)

Market Cap. Trading Vol.

Total Volume Traded Total Market Cap
Trendline (Volume Traded) Trendline (Market Cap) Top-5 Stablecoins Market Cap
$30B $350B in 2020
$27.0B

$25B
$300B 2020 Stablecoins Circulation
(vs. 2020 growth)

$250B
$20B $20.9B
USDT +$16.5B (+388%)
$200B
$15B
$150B $3.9B
USDC +$3.4B (+652%)
$10B
$100B

$5B
$5.1B
$50B
$1.2B
DAI +$1.1B (+2,698%)

$0B $0B
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20 Jan 21 $986.4M*
BUSD +$787.9M (+397%)
Stablecoins saw strong growth in 2020. Tether was still the dominant stablecoin with over 76% market
share. DAI had the highest growth way with a 2,698% increase due to the DeFi boom in 2020. Stablecoins
growth in 2020 surpassed previous year’s growth (439% vs. 107%) due to strong demand from traders in $336.9M
adopting stablecoins for trading and cross-border trade settlement. PAX +$111.5M (+50%)

Top-5 stablecoins by market capitalization taken as of 1 January 2021. See https://www.coingecko.com/en/stablecoins CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 8
* Market capitalization for BUSD was tracked by CoinGecko only from 17 April 2020
Notable Events Outside of DeFi in 2020
There’s never a dull moment in crypto markets

COVID-19
Black Thursday
ETH 2.0
Crypto price fell
sharply alongside Phase 0
the world market. BTC Halving Polkadot launched U.S. Election launched

BTC price dropped

briefly to $3,600
12 Mar 11 May 18 Aug 3 Nov 1 Dec

MAR MAY AUG OCT NOV DEC

1 Oct 30 Nov 22 Dec

2020 had been eventful as it started the year with a pandemic that caused crypto BitMEX founder BTC breached XRP sued
prices to plummet during March’s liquidity crunch. On 12 March 2020, Bitcoin fell arrested by US previous ATH by SEC
almost 50% intraday in what is now known as Black Thursday. authorities of $19,665
Bitcoin had its third halving in May and the halving event galvanized Bitcoin's
price to recover throughout the year. By the end of 2020, prices had not just
recovered, but also entered into bull market territory as Bitcoin breached its
2017 All-Time High (ATH).

US authorities have also started focusing their attention on regulating the crypto
industry, with the arrest of Samuel Reed, a BitMEX co-founder and SEC’s DeFi related events are explained further in the DeFi section of this report on pages 22 – 23.
action against Ripple.

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 9

BITCOIN ANALYSIS

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 10

BTC Price vs. Trading Volume
Bitcoin registered new All-Time High towards end of 2020

BTC Price
Bitcoin Price and Spot Trading Volume (Jan – Dec 2020)

Trading Volume BTC Price

Trading Vol.
+303%
BTC Price growth in 2020
$35,000 $300B

BTC recorded a new ATH on

8th January 2021 at $41,940 $29,022 Almost 3 years later, Bitcoin finally topped its
$30,000 2017 all-time high and continued to record new
$250B
ATH almost every day towards the end of the
year. Bitcoin closed the year at $29,022, 48%
$25,000 higher than its 2017 ATH.
$200B
2020 had a rough start as COVID-19 crashed the
$20,000 market on March 12th and caused Bitcoin to
drop almost 50% intraday.
$150B
$15,000
However, the pandemic has created economic
uncertainty and this may driven investors to
$100B
diversify holdings. Bitcoin is widely considered
$10,000 one of the assets that may hedge against
$7,195 falling the falling US dollar and inflation.
$50B
$5,000
Institutions adoption of Bitcoin has bolstered
market sentiment, causing Bitcoin to end the
year with a 303% return.
$0 $0B
Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 11

Bitcoin price cycle 2016-2017 vs. 2020-2021
Will the 2020-2021 cycle mimic the 2016-2017 trajectory?
Bitcoin
Price Returns Price
Bitcoin CycleHigh-Cycle
during 2016-2017 2016-2017
vs. 2020-2021
vs. 2020-2021 In 2016-17, Bitcoin price had an explosive
growth and peaked at 4,527% return.

Bitcoin Price Return 2016-2017 2020-2021 While in 2020-21, Bitcoin has risen more than
4,900% double in the first year against the last cycle
4,527% (303% vs. 130%).
1st Jan 2021
1st Jan 2017 How will things look this cycle?

3,900%

Bitcoin is on an upward trajectory now, and

there are three potential drivers:
2,900%
1. Accessibility - Buying and selling
1st January 2020 cryptocurrencies is much easier now with
1st January 2016 PayPal and Revolut offering cryptocurrency
services.
1,900%
2. Stimulus & Inflation - Due to the COVID-
19 pandemic, most central banks have
adopted a loose monetary policy, sparking
0,900% concerns of future inflation.
303%
130%
3. Institutional adoption – Large public
listed companies such as MicroStrategy
and Square have started holding Bitcoin as
-0,100% part of their corporate treasury.
0 365 730
Days Elapsed
CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 12
Price Returns Bitcoin vs. Major Asset Classes
Bitcoin showed resilience and had been the best performing asset class in 2020
Bitcoin vs. Major Asset Classes in 2020

Price Return Largest Daily Largest Daily Return from

2020 Returns
Drop 3 Date
Drop 2020 Bottom
400% BTC Price
BTC Price 3303% -35% 17-Mar-20 473%

Nasdaq Composite Nasdaq Composite 43% -9% 20-Mar-20 87%

Gold Gold 22% -5% 18-Mar-20 28%

300%
S&P 500 16% -10% 20-Mar-20 63%
S&P 500
TLT (US Treasuries) 15% -7% 9-Jan-20 15%
TLT (U.S Treasuries)
200% US Dollar Index (DXY) -7% -2% 31-Dec-20 0%

U.S. Dollar Index Crude Oil -23% -45% 21-Apr-20 385%

Crude Oil
100% BTC had triple-digit returns (303%) and outperformed all major
asset classes by a large margin in 2020.

0% BTC had the second steepest drawdown (-35%) during March’s

liquidity crunch.

However, thanks to institutions’ adoption and Federal Reserve’s

-100% aggressive stimulus strategies, Bitcoin ended the year with a
Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 473% return from its lowest point.

Return from 2020 Bottom refers to the price return from the lowest price in 2020 to the closing price on 31 December 2020 CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 13
Major Asset Classes 2020 Daily Return Correlation Matrix
Bitcoin exhibited as the store of wealth and portfolio hedge in 2020
2020 Daily Return Correlation Matrix

Bitcoin Gold Crude Oil TLT (US Treasuries) Nasdaq Composite S&P 500 US Dollar Index (DXY)

Bitcoin 1

Gold 0.20 1

Crude Oil 0.07 0.15 1

TLT (US Treasuries) -0.04 0.36 -0.04 1

Nasdaq Composite -0.09 0.24 0.30 0.18 1

S&P 500 -0.10 0.19 0.30 0.15 0.95 1

US Dollar Index (DXY) -0.12 -0.09 0.06 -0.20 -0.06 -0.05 1

Bitcoin and U.S. stocks have a negative

correlation which suggests that they are Given the negative correlation between BTC and
Bitcoin and Gold exhibited a positive correlation
decoupling throughout 2020. The increasing the U.S Dollar Index over a 12-month period, BTC
throughout 2020, indicating their status as safe
demand from new Bitcoin institutional investors can be used as part of a portfolio's hedge
haven assets during the 2020 tumultuous market.
may have aided the divergence of Bitcoin's price against the falling dollar value and inflation.
action from the stock market.

Data source from https://finance.yahoo.com/ and CoinGecko CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 14
Market Capitalization: Bitcoin vs. Gold vs. Top-5 S&P 500 Stocks
Bitcoin’s market capitalization is nearly 6% that of gold

Assets Market Cap. Bitcoin market cap ratio to the asset class

Bitcoin $ 0.683 T

Gold $12.186 T 5.6%

Apple Inc (AAPL) $ 2.152 T 32%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $ 1.605 T 42.5%

Amazon.com, Inc (AMZN) $ 1.575 T 43.3%

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) $ 1.166 T 58.6%

Facebook, Inc (FB) $ 0.749 T 91.2%

Data snapshot taken on 1st January 2021

https://www.investopedia.com/top-10-s-and-p-500-stocks-by-index-weight-4843111
CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 15
https://finance.yahoo.com/
DEFI ANALYSIS

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 16

2020 DeFi Overview
DeFi ended the year with market capitalization ATH ($20.4 billion)
DeFi Market Cap vs. DeFi / Global Market Cap Ratio

In 2020, the crypto space witnessed the

DeFi Market Cap DeFi Market Cap. DeFi / Global Market Cap. Ratio (DeFi Dominance) DeFi Dominance meteoric rise of the DeFi sector,
particularly during the ‘DeFi summer’
$80B 4.6% 5.0% (June – August) as DeFi dominance rose
rapidly from 0.9% to 4.6%.
$72B 4.5%
As for the market cap, it multiplied 12
$64B 4.0% times to $19.6 billion during the peak of
the summer.
$56B 3.5%

$48B 3.0%
DeFi market cap stood on a new ATH at
$40B 2.5% $20.4 billion, 4% higher than its
previous peak at the end of 2020.
$32B 2.0%
Despite that, DeFi dominance dropped
$24B $19.6B $20.4B 1.5% to 2.5% from its 2020 peak as Bitcoin's
0.9% large price movement towards the end of
$16B 1.0% the year shadowed DeFi sector's growth.
$8B 0.5%
$1.7B
$0B 0.0% If and when Bitcoin dominance drops, a
Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 renewed DeFi craze may be in sight.

Data is taken from https://www.coingecko.com/en/defi as of 1st January 2021 CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 17
2020 DeFi Price Returns
Overall, DeFi tokens had a positive return up to almost 3,000%
2020 Top-10 DeFi Return

Market Cap 2020 Returns Largest Daily Drop Largest Daily Drop Date Return from 2020 Bottom

Chainlink $4.47B 539% -48% 03-Sep-20 550%

Uniswap $1.10B 50% -20% 19-Sep-20 168%
Aave $1.06B 57% -21% 11-Nov-20 219%
Synthetix Network Token $0.99B 497% -46% 03-Sep-20 1761%
Yearn.Finance $0.68B 2788% -20% 13-Sep-20 2788%
Compound $0.62B 91% -17% 21-Jun-20 123%
Maker $0.53B 35% -59% 12-Mar-20 189%
UMA $0.42B 2423% -37% 05-Sep-20 2423%
SushiSwap $0.36B 10% -58% 05-Sep-20 484%
Loopring $0.21B 685% -45% 05-Sep-20 686%

+718%
Average DeFi Price Returns
Overall, DeFi tokens had positive
returns throughout 2020 with YFI and
UMA leading the pack at 2,788% and
Notably, 6 out of top-10 DeFi tokens
are the new entrants in 2020 (YFI,
UMA, COMP, AAVE, UNI, and SUSHI).
Most DeFi tokens had maximum
drawdown of an average 37%, where
MKR had the worst drawdown in
2,422% growth respectively. 2020 at almost 60%.
in 2020

Top-10 DeFi tokens are taken as of 1st January 2020 from https://www.coingecko.com/en/defi. CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 18
An Introduction To The DeFi Ecosystem
Data services proved to be more valuable than exchange and lending
To understand the value of each platform within DeFi space, we will be looking at their 2020 growth of the Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) and market
capitalization to give us some indication on the importance of their product and services.

The heavyweights are infrastructure related protocols that powers data flow within the DeFi ecosystem. This is closely followed by money-
market related services such as decentralized exchanges and lending & borrowing platforms. Notably, Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) have
gained rapid adoption with the invention of pooled liquidity model rather than orderbook.

Infrastructure Decentralized Exchanges Lending

Chainlink Uniswap Compound

FDV: $11.25B (+538%) FDV: $5.17B (+50% ) FDV: $1.50B (-32%)

Market cap: $4.47B (+595%) Market cap: $1.10B (+400%) Market cap: $619.54M (+109%)

The Graph Protocol Curve Finance Aave

FDV : $3.51B (+190%) FDV: $2.07B (-94%) FDV: $1.41B (+57%)

Market cap: $429.99M (+189%) Market cap: $109.85M (+1,749%) Market cap: $1.06B (+2,260%)

Band Protocol 1inch Maker

FDV : $534.32M (+2,299%) FDV: $2.06B (-42%) FDV: $590.50M (+35%)

Market cap: $120.39M (+2,923%) Market cap: $105.52M (-30%) Market cap: $529.77M (+64%)

* Percentage change in FDV was calculated from the listing date to 1st Jan 2021. CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 19
** Illustration above showcases 3 category leaders by market cap for each sector – there can be more than 3 in each sector.
An Introduction To The DeFi Ecosystem
Complex DeFi protocols are struggling to gain adoption

Within the DeFi ecosystem, derivatives platform remain fairly underutilized by the wider community. Yield farming aggregators have gained
popularity but struggled to grab significant market share post DeFi summer, likely due to unsustainably high yields and past exploitations. One
notable new participant is the emergence of algorithmic stablecoins as a new DeFi primitive, though its sustainability remains unproven.

Derivatives Yield Farming Aggregators Algorithmic Stablecoins

Synthetix Yearn Finance Empty Set Dollar

FDV : $1.55B (+499%) FDV: $685.19M (+2,788%) FDV : $412.99M (+16,978%)

Market cap: $986.67M (+810%) Market cap: $685.19M (+42,762%) Market cap : $412.99M (+16,978%)

UMA Alpha Finance Ampleforth

FDV : $775.14M (+2,422%) FDV: $185.76M (+260%) FDV : $282.97M (+16,923%)

Market cap: $424.91M (+2,654%) Market cap: $32.35M (+259%) Market cap : $282.97M (+16,923%)

Hegic Harvest Finance Basis Cash

FDV : $357.33M (+2%) FDV: $50.63M (-88%) FDV : $79.55M (+2,588%)

Market cap: $37.54M (+366%) Market cap: $26.95M (+5%) Market cap : $79.55M (+2,588%)

* Percentage change in FDV was calculated from the listing date to 1st Jan 2021. CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 20
** Illustration above showcases 3 category leaders by market cap of each sectors – there can be more than 3 in each sector.
An Introduction To The DeFi Ecosystem
Risk mitigation is still in its infancy compared to Traditional Finance (TradFi)
counterparts

Insurance, Fixed Interest Rate, and ETF are huge in traditional finance as risk management tools but has yet to gain any significant traction
in DeFi. This suggests that DeFi users either have very high risk appetite (i.e. degens), or that risk management tools have yet to mature.

Fixed Interest Rates Insurance Tokenized Indices

BarnBridge Nexus Mutual DeFiPulse

FDV : $263.67M (-85%) FDV : $189.75M (+169%) FDV : $24.73M (+1,202%)

Market cap: $22.63M (+339%) Market cap: $189.62M (+281%) Market cap: $24.73M (+1,202%)

Saffron Finance Cover Protocol Power Index Pool

$43.12M (+100%)
FDV : $20.55M (+145%) FDV : $43.12M (+38%) FDV : $10.87M (+95%)
$47.94M (+307%)
Market cap: $11.14M (+140%) Market cap: $32.70M (+213%) Market cap: $10.87M (+95%)

88mph Nsure Network PieDAO DEFI ++

FDV : $8.25M (-27%) FDV : $58.62M (-15%) FDV : $722.64K (+22%)

Market cap: $6.25M (+131%) Market cap: $4.58M (+232,265%) Market cap: $722.64 (+22%)

* Percentage change in FDV was calculated from the listing date to 1st Jan 2021. CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 21
** For Cover, figures were taken as of 5th January 2021 after migration.
*** Illustration above showcases 3 category leaders by market cap of each sectors – there can be more than 3 in each sector.
Notable DeFi Events in 2020
Defi Summer has managed to capture significant mindshare in the crypto world
UNI token airdrop
Ampleforth launched liquidity mining.
It is one of the biggest
As the first rebase token, its marketcap
retroactive rewards to user
Aave rebranded from reached a peak of $688 million
ETHLend

16 Sep
23 Jun
08 Jan Empty Set Dollar launched,
Compound launched liquidity mining,
igniting algorithmic stablecoin
Curve launched kickstarting the DeFi Summer 1inch airdrop
buzz

03 Jan 15 Jun 01 Sep 25 Dec

JAN MAR JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT DEC

Uni v2 launched Fair launch of CRV token launched DPI, the first Aave v2
Yearn Finance Tokenized DeFi launched
index launched
13 Aug
23 Mar 17 Jul 03 Dec
Sushiswap launched, 07 Oct
Graph Protocol
DeFi as a sector has bloomed in the summer of 2020, giving births to billion-dollar siphoning away
launched
protocols such as Uniswap, Curve, Compound, Aave, Synthetix and Yearn Finance. liquidity from Uniswap
This has further cemented Ethereum’s position as the leading smart contract
platform.
22 Dec
After Chainlink, Graph Protocol has leveraged the DeFi season to debut, serving as 16 Aug
one of the core infrastructure for DeFi apps. CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 22
DeFi Protocols Exploitations in 2020
DeFi ecosystem lost $121M in total to hackers throughout 2020
bZx Akropolis Value Defi
$645 K $2 Million $7 Million

19 Feb
12 Nov 14 Nov
bZx bZx
$8 Million Cheese Bank
$298 K $7 Million

14 Feb 14 Sep 06 Nov

FEB APR SEP OCT NOV DEC

dForce Harvest Finance Origin Protocol Warp Finance
$25 million $34 Million $7 Million $8 Million

19 Apr 26 Oct 17 Nov 17 Dec

Pickle Finance Cover Protocol

This timeline shows some of the largest DeFi hacks in 2020 with losses totaling $121 million. $20 Million $2 Million
The largest DeFi hack happened on Harvest Finance which saw a $34 million loss. bZx meanwhile
has suffered 3 hacks in 2020 alone, with losses totaling $9 million.
21 Nov 28 Dec
Immutability of smart contracts are a double sword, there is very little recourse to lost funds.
Users are encouraged to understand the risks when interacting with DeFi protocols and purchase
insurance wherever possible.
CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 23
FIXED INTEREST RATE
PROTOCOLS

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 24

Fixed-Interest Rate Protocols (FIRPs)
FIRPs intend to address the demand for stable and reliable interest rates

With the growing popularity of yield farming, and increased volume of DeFi lending/borrowing, there has been a growing demand for
stable and reliable interest rates. In Q4 2020, the gap in the market led to a boom of a new class of protocols known as Fixed-
Interest Rate Protocols (FIRPs).

Active Products on Ethereum Mainnet Under Development

What amounts
to a FIRP?

A protocol, whose
underlying objective is to
provide stable and Yield Protocol Notional Saffron Finance 88mph Horizon BarnBridge
reliable borrowing /
lending interest rates,
whether it be through
offering:
Oct Oct Nov Nov Q1 Q2
1. Fixed interest rates 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021 (planned
2021
release in
Q1 2021)
2. Fixed interest
earning ratios; or

3. Creating a market Compared to traditional finance where fixed interest rates come in the form of fixed-deposits (or bonds), FIRPs
environment which leverage their underlying tokenomics structure and offer different incentives to maintain interest rates.
facilitates fixed Coupled with the utilization of smart-contract technology, FIRPs are able to move capital and deploy assets efficiently
interest rates which translates into variable (albeit higher) earnings. This means that some FIRPs either offer a ‘fixed interest
rate’ or a ‘fixed interest earning ratio’. Moreover, there are FIRPS who do not offer fixed interest rates at all but
rather create an environment which facilitates fixed interest rates.

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 25

Fixed-Interest Rate Protocols (FIRPs)
FIRPs use a variety of different methods to offer ‘fixed interest rates’

Bond-based Game Theory-based Tranche-based

issues bonds to finance debt users compete to outbid each users earn yields based on
other to maximize their yields their preferred risk profiles

88mph is a yield aggregator that offers an

upfront ‘fixed interest rate’. However, in order to &
mitigate risks of insolvency, the protocol offers a
lower percentage than the average variable
interest rate of the protocol they are integrated Horizon is a yield aggregator with a Saffron and BarnBridge are yield
with (e.g. Compound), as well as floating rate twist. Users can bid on the interest aggregators that rely on tranches.
bonds to fill up debt (if any). rates that they expect to earn for a pre- Earnings are divided into portfolios which
determined round. have different risk exposure. Instead of
‘fixed interest rates’, both protocols offer
Both Yield and Notional are borrowing/lending At the end of each round, protocol ‘fixed interest earning ratios’.
protocols. While there are some key earnings are distributed first to lower
differences, both protocols apply similar bids (lower interest rates) before moving For SFI, there are three tranches for
principles to offer fixed lending/borrowing up to higher bids. Users will have to bid users to participate in. A core principle is
rates. smartly as they may not receive any that higher-risk tranches guarantees
earnings if they bid too high. earnings of the lower-risk tranches
& Native tokens are created which act like zero-
Users are therefore incentivized to bid
thereby creating an internal insurance
coupon bonds. These tokens have its own system.
maturity dates and can be bought/sold at conservatively up to the point which
different prices. The difference between the leads to a safe interest rate – this Notably, BarnBridge also plans to use
price at the time of purchase and the price at eventually becomes the ‘de facto’ fixed- tranches and allow users to have varying
time of maturity represents the fixed interest rate. levels of price exposure to coins/tokens.
lending/borrowing rate.
CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 26
ALGORITHMIC STABLECOINS

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 27

Stablecoins Categorization
Innovation has led to a growing variety of stablecoins

USD Stablecoins

Collateralized Over-Collateralized
Algorithmic Stablecoins
(Fiat) (Crypto)

Rebase Seigniorage

Single Token Dual Token Fractional

USDT DAI
Ampleforth
(AMPL) Empty Set Dollar Basis Cash (BAC) Frax (FRAX)
USDC sUSD (ESD) Basis Share (BAS) Frax Share (FXS)

Regulated Unregulated Unregulated Unregulated Unregulated Unregulated

Backed 1:1 with bank deposits Overcollateralized with crypto assets Uncollateralized Uncollateralized Uncollateralized Fractional collateralized
with crypto assets

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 28

Algorithmic Stablecoins
Algorithmic stablecoins are DeFi’s innovative take on uncollateralized stablecoins
In order to address the lack of uncollateralized stablecoins, several protocols have attempted to create stablecoins that are
algorithmically adjusted to ensure that its price remains at $1. These protocols can be generally categorized into two categories
which are (1) Rebase models and (2) Seigniorage models.

Rebase Seigniorage

Price is controlled by changing the entire Price control Price is controlled by introducing a reward
circulating supply. mechanism system which influences market dynamics.

Protocol will automatically increase the supply Coins are minted and provided to participants who
in every holder’s wallet over a fixed period. If price > $1 provide liquidity or stakes token in the DAO.

Protocol will automatically reduce the supply Coins stop minting. Users may then purchase
from every holder’s wallet over a fixed period. If price < $1 coupons which burns the underlying coin in
return for a premium which is only redeemable
when the price returns to the peg.

Ampleforth (AMPL) Examples Empty Set Dollar (ESD)

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 29

Algorithmic Stablecoins
Each of the case examples have different methods to maintain their peg at $1

Seigniorage Seigniorage Seigniorage

Rebase (Single Token) (Dual Token) (Fractional)

Ampleforth (AMPL) introduced the Empty Set Dollar (ESD) pioneered the The Seigniorage (Dual Token) Model is Frax is a unique system where its
rebase mechanic. Seigniorage (Single Token) model. similar to the Single Token Model supply is backed by two types of
but with the introduction of an collateral which are collateralized-
Every 24 hours, the entire circulating At the start of every epoch, the additional share token. backed stablecoins (USDC) and FRAX
supply of AMPL is either system will measure the Time- Share (FXS).
proportionally increased or Weighted Average Price (TWAP). Using Basis Cash as an example, the
decreased to ensure the price protocol has Basis Cash (BAC) as the Frax stablecoins (FRAX) can always be
remains at $1. If the TWAP is above $1, the protocol stablecoin and Basis Share (BAS) as minted and redeemed from the
will enter an inflationary phase and the staking token. system for $1 of value. This
Every wallet holder will be affected but mint tokens as rewards for DAO token incentivizes arbitrageurs to constantly
they would retain the same market stakers and liquidity providers. The main difference is that for users to purchase/mint FRAX which brings the
share as before. receive inflationary rewards from the price back to its original peg.
Conversely, if the price falls below $1, Boardroom (similar to DAO), they
Since rebasing occurs at fixed the protocol enters a contractionary must stake their share tokens. This is underpinned by an
intervals, users can time their trades phase where users will stop receiving adjustable collateral ratio which
to purchase or sell their AMPL right any rewards. BAS (earned from liquidity mining) controls the amount of FXS needed to
before rebasing to increase the value can be staked in the Boardroom to mint FRAX.
of their holdings. During contraction, users may earn BAC during expansion.
purchase coupons by burning ESD and The system starts with a 100% USDC
earn a premium of up to 56% if the Epochs last for 24 hours and bonds collateral ratio. Every hour, if FRAX
protocol enters the expansion phase (similar to coupons) are priced at stays at or above $1, the collateral
again. However, coupons only last (BAC)^2 but do not have an expiry ratio will go down by 0.25% and more
for 30 days, meaning coupon buyers date. FXS is needed to mint FRAX.
risk getting nothing.

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 30

EXCHANGES

CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 31

2020 Top-9 Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Trading volumes of CEXs and DEXs grew by $403 billion in 2020
Top-9 CEX + DEX Trading Volume (Jan – Dec 2020)

Trading Vol. $131 $192 $206 $151

Total Trading Volume ($ Billion)

$183 $139 $180 $333 $326 $211 $398 $534

+307%
Total Exchange Volume
$600B Growth in 2020

$29.6B For 2020, trading volumes across the top-9

$500B centralized and decentralized exchanges
grew by $403 billion to $534 billion
(+307%).
$400B
$19.9B
$13.4B This explosive growth was mainly driven by
CEXs who accounted for 93% of the year’s
$300B $31.6B
increase. DEXs however, recorded an
$505.1B exponential 17,989% growth, reaching $29
$0.6B
$0.5B $1.2B billion in trading volume in December, up
$200B $3.9B $22.7B $378.2B
$0.4B from a modest $163 million in January.
$0.2B $1.2B $319.7B $294.9B
Notwithstanding, DEXs remain behind
$100B $192.0B $205.9B $182.4B $176.7B $188.4B CEXs. Throughout the year, the top-9 DEX-
$131.1B $150.6B $137.8B
CEX ratio increased steadily from 0.12% in
January to a high of 10.74% in September,
$0B
before dropping to 5.53% in December.
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20

Centralized Exchange (CEX) Decentralized Exchange (DEX)

Top-9 DEX as of 1 January 2021 – Uniswap, Curve, SushiSwap, 0x, Balancer, Kyber Network, 1Inch, dYdX, PancakeSwap CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 32
Top-9 CEX as of 1 January 2021 – Binance, OKEx, Huobi, Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Gate.io, Gemini
2020 Top-9 Centralized Exchanges (CEX)
Binance maintained its market leadership as OKEx’s and Huobi’s dominance shrank
Top-9 CEX Trading Volume Dominance (Jan – Dec 2020)

Dominance $131 $192 $205 $150

Total Trading Volume ($ Billion)

$182 $137 $176 $319 $294 $188 $378 $505

+285%
Top-10 CEX Total Trading
Volume in 2020
100%

3% 4% 3% 3% 3% 3%
90% 3% 4% 4% 4%
7% 5% 4% 4% Centralized exchanges almost quadrupled
5% 5% 6% 6% 6%
7% 6% 7% 9% 9% in trading volume since January, growing
80% by $374 billion to reach an all-time high
24% 18% 19% 20% 22% 26% of $505 billion by the end of 2020.
70% 26% 22% 21% 26%
22% 19%
60% Binance contributed the lion’s share of this
growth with a $189 billion increase in
50% 25% 21% 20% 10% 14%
29% 28% 31% 33% 17% trading volume (+51%), followed by Huobi
25%
28% with $61 billion (+16%) and Coinbase with
40%
$40 billion (+11%).
30%
47% 45% In terms of dominance, Binance was the
20% 40% 41% 41% 41% clear winner in 2020, solidifying its lead by
29% 32% 33% 33% 33% 33%
a staggering 16% to 45%. The biggest loser
10%
was OKEx, which saw its dominance fell by
0% about half from 28% to 14%. Huobi
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20 meanwhile, suffered a moderate 7% loss.

Binance OKEx Huobi Coinbase Kraken Bitfinex Bitstamp Gate.io Gemini

Top-9 CEX as of 1st January 2021 – Binance, OKEx, Huobi, Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Gate.io, Gemini CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 33
2020 Top-9 Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)
Uniswap retained its lead, Kyber and dYdX’s market share eroded to new entrants
Top-9 DEX Trading Volume Dominance (Jan – Dec 2020)

Dominance $0.2 $0.5 $0.6 $0.4

Total trading volume ($ Billion)

$1.2 $1.2 $3.9 $13 $31 $22 $20 $29

17,989%
Top-9 DEX Total Trading Volume
Growth in 2020
100% 2% 2%
5% 4% 7% 4%
12% 13% 9% 6% 10% 11%
90% 17% 4% 2020 saw DEX trading volume grew
22%
33% 30% 7% 8% 6% 7% exponentially by an astounding 180 times
9% 10%
80% 27% 3% from $163 million to $29 billion by
7%
24% 13% 10% December.
70% 20% 3%
16%
2% 11% 2%
3%
60% 44% 33% 11% 8% Uniswap maintained its lead throughout
23% 6%
7% 2020 as the largest contributor to trading
50% 32% 14% volume with $16 billion (55% dominance)
in December.
40% 79%

30% 62% 60% 60% 57% 55% Kyber and dYdX however, saw their share
47% 50%
45% 43% decrease significantly (-42% and -15%).
20% 39% 35%
10%
Overall, DEX markets are now more
0% competitive due to new entrants such as
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20 Curve, Sushiswap, 0x and Balancer.
Uniswap Kyber dYdX Curve Balancer 1Inch 0x SushiSwap PancakeSwap
Top-9 DEX as of 1st January 2021 – Uniswap, Curve, SushiSwap, 0x, Balancer, Kyber Network, 1Inch, dYdX, PancakeSwap CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 34
2020 Derivatives Exchanges – Bitcoin Perpetual Swaps Volume
BTC perpetual swaps volume reached a staggering $3.5 trillion in 2020
Aggregate Monthly Bitcoin Perpetual Trading Volume (Jan – Dec 2020)

Trading Vol. $140 $198 $245 $219

Total Trading Volume ($ Billion)

$335 $187 $180 $249 $204 $258 $582 $744

531%
Top-9 Bitcoin Perpetual Swap
$800B Trading Volume Growth in 2020

$700B
$165B
$600B Bitcoin perpetual swaps trading volumes
across the top-9 derivative exchanges
$89B grew from $140B in January to $744B in
$500B
December, a 531% growth in 2020.
$400B $110B
Binance contributed the most to this
$90B growth at 40% (+$242B), followed by Huobi
$300B $59B $67B
at 27% (+$165B).
$65B
$44B $40B
$200B $19B $43B
$35B Volume has surged in November and
$30B $25B $34B $34B
$25B $75B $38B $33B $274B December 2020, coinciding with Bitcoin
$88B $61B $23B $24B $24B $40B $233B
$100B $19B $52B $42B breaching All-Time-High (ATH) for the
$87B $41B $38B
$61B $115B $96B first time in 3 years.
$69B $83B $63B $57B $80B $71B
$32B $44B
$0B
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20

Binance BitMEX Bybit OKEx FTX Deribit Huobi Kraken KuCoin

Data source: CoinGecko. Trading volume is measured for Bitcoin Perpetual swaps trading pair of the top-9 exchanges CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 35
2020 Derivatives Exchanges – Bitcoin Perpetual Swaps Volume
Binance maintains its lead, Bitmex falters, Huobi grows faster
Aggregate Monthly Bitcoin Perpetual Volume Dominance (Jan – Dec 2020)

Total Trading Volume ($ Billion)

Dominance $140 $198 $245 $219 $335 $187 $180 $249 $204 $258 $582 $744

100% BitMEX’s fall from grace is notable, as it

4% 4% 8% dropped from 44% market share to 9%
90% 8% 18% 18% 18% 17% 15% 15%
10% 4%
19% 22% by the end of 2020.
12%
80% 11% 7%
4% 4% 3% 4% 5% 5%
14% 13% 3%
70% 12% 11% 6% 6% 7% 7% 9% 8% 5% Binance has been cementing its number 1
7%
13% 8% lead since Bitmex’s fall, maintaining
60% 13% 15% 12%
14% 13% 15% dominance within the 40% range.
28% 15%
50%
44% 44% 36% 22% 22% 20% 15% 11%
40% 21% 21% 9% Huobi launched its derivatives segment in
2020 and rose to the number 2 within a
30% year, commanding 22% of market share at
the end of 2020, signifying China’s big
20% 38% 37% 40% 37% appetite for Bitcoin perpetual swap.
34% 34% 32% 32% 35%
28%
10% 23% 22%

0%
Jan 20 Feb 20 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Jul 20 Aug 20 Sep 20 Oct 20 Nov 20 Dec 20

Binance BitMEX Bybit OKEx FTX Deribit Huobi Kraken KuCoin

Data source: CoinGecko. Trading volume is measured for Bitcoin Perpetual swaps trading pair of the top-9 exchanges CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 36
2020 Derivatives Exchanges – Bitcoin Perpetual Swaps Open Interest
BTC's positive correlation to its Open Interest suggests a bullish sentiment in 2020
Aggregate Monthly Bitcoin Perpetual Open Interest (Jan – Dec 2020)

Bitcoin Price Total Open Interest

Dips appeared to repeatedly wipe
$30,000.00 out over-leveraged long positions, $10B
In 2020, the market sentiment signified by Open Interest drops of 10%
is generally bullish – price – 30%.
$9B
When Bitcoin dipped from $8k to $5k increases are generally not
$25,000.00 in a day, over 50% of Open Interest followed by sharp drops in $8B
were wiped out, indicating that Open Interest, indicating that
market participants may have been market participants generally
overly leveraged on long positions. $7B
$20,000.00 hold long positions.
$6B

$15,000.00 $5B

$4B
$10,000.00
$3B

$2B
$5,000.00
$1B

$0.00 $0B
Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
Binance BitMEX Bybit OKEx FTX Deribit Huobi Kraken KuCoin
Data source: CoinGecko. Open Interest is measured for Bitcoin perpetual swaps trading pair of top-9 exchanges CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 37
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CoinGecko 2020 Yearly Cryptocurrency Report 38

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