Binance Australia reports 8% crypto market growth in Sept

Binance Australia has published its Monthly Insights report, which details recent trends and data in the cryptocurrency market.

The report highlights that the crypto market grew by 8% in September, alongside equities in major markets, due to favourable global macroeconomic factors. A key driver of this growth was the Federal Reserve's decision to reduce interest rates by 50 basis points, coupled with improvements in US inflation and unemployment data, as well as Chinese stimulus measures.

Bitcoin experienced a resurgence, recovering from its lowest point since February, when it dropped below USD $54,000. The cryptocurrency has since rallied, posting a gain of nearly 15% as the market moves into October, a month that has historically been strong for Bitcoin prices.

Several altcoins also experienced notable price increases during September. Dogecoin surged by 14.9% following increased attention on social media, particularly due to a post by Elon Musk on X. Solana saw a 12.0% gain after announcements of key developments within its ecosystem, maintaining its second position ahead of Ethereum among Australian users for the third consecutive month. XRP increased by 9.1%, influenced by advancements on the XRP Ledger, including the introduction of smart contract capabilities and work on Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD. TON recorded a 7.7% rise as it prepared for a network upgrade aimed at optimizing and stabilizing validation. Additionally, Fetch.ai retained its place in the Top 10 trending coins, spurred by renewed interest in AI coins.

The report also notes a decline in cryptocurrency hacks, as enhanced security measures and heightened user awareness contribute to this trend. As of the current year-to-date, losses from cryptocurrency hacks total USD $1.3 billion, a significant decrease from USD $8.1 billion in 2021, USD $3.9 billion in 2022, and USD $1.8 billion in 2023.

Joy Lam, Binance's Head of Global Regulatory and APAC Legal, stated, "However, while we invest heavily in our platform security, we strongly urge all users to remain vigilant. Ultimately, users themselves play the largest role in safeguarding their assets, which is why we do our best to continuously educate and inform our users of potential scams. It is critical to stay informed, use strong security practices, and be cautious of potential scams."

Centralised exchanges have faced the most significant hacks this year. DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese trading platform, experienced the largest single-month loss in May, with a hack resulting in the theft of USD $305 million and approximately 4,500 BTC. In July, Indian exchange WazirX lost USD $235 million due to a security breach.