Preface

This report delves into the evolution of the Cryptocurrency market, focusing on the diversified development of Token issuance methods and types, and analyzing the current situation and future development trends of the crypto market Depth. By reviewing historical issuance methods and analyzing different Token issuance models, combined with the current market situation, it presents a complete picture of the crypto market for readers.

1. Evolution of issuance methods

In the field of Cryptocurrency, technological innovation is gradually lowering the threshold for asset issuance. Initially, Cryptocurrency issuance relied mainly on intensive computing resources for mining. With the emergence of ICO (Initial Token Issuance) and IEO (Initial Exchange Offerings), project parties need to have certain capital and industry background. The popularity of Liquidity Mining enables the cold start of long-tail assets, and decentralized projects are gradually emerging. Nowadays, the rise of one-click launch coin platforms has greatly simplified the process of token issuance, allowing individuals and small teams to easily engage in asset issuance.

1.1 Diversification of Token Issuance Methods

With the advancement of blockchain technology, the methods of token issuance are becoming increasingly diverse, and the technical barriers have significantly dropped, allowing users without a technical background to easily participate in token issuance. These methods adapt to the needs of different projects and market environments. Here are several common methods of token issuance:

1. Mining (Fari Mining) This is the most common way of token issuance in the early days, where users are rewarded with tokens by providing computing power to the network and mining new blocks. BTC (Bitcoin) is the most representative project.

2. Crowdfundingissuance Including initial Token issuance (ICO), Initial Exchange Offerings (IEO), and initial Decentralization issuance (IDO). The project party presells Tokens to raise development funds.

ICO is the earliest form of Crowdfundingissuance, reaching its peak between 2014 and 2018, with a total fundraising of over 56 billion US dollars, but gradually waning due to regulatory issues.

In 2019, IEO emerged as a new financing model, endorsed by a well-known Centralized Exchange, enhancing the project's credibility.

With the rise of Decentralized Finance, the IDO launched by Decentralizationexchange has quickly become popular due to its community-driven and Decentralization features, and has become one of the mainstream ways to launch coins in 2021, with a funding amount exceeding $130 billion.

3. Liquidity Mining（Liquidity Mining） Users provide Liquidity to the Decentralization trading platform and receive Token rewards. The DeFi Summer 2020 craze has made Liquidity Mining one of the popular Token issuance methods, which not only improves Token Liquidity, but also creates new revenue streams for users. Compound pioneered Liquidity Mining, leading to a significant rise in its user base and TVL.

4. Airdrop (Airdrop) The project party distributes Tokens to early supporters or specific user groups for marketing or reward strategies. Airdrops not only help projects increase their visibility but also incentivize user participation in the community and project governance. In 2020, the well-known project Uniswap distributed Tokens to early users through an Airdrop, becoming a successful case. Blur pioneered the use of a points system, and Pendle's interest separation-based Decentralized Finance gameplay facilitated the birth of the PointFi zone.

5. One-click launch coin (OCTD) In recent years, the rise of methods such as inscription, minting, and Pump.Fun launch coin, through simple tools or smart contracts, enables users to quickly create customized tokens and conduct transactions without complex operations. This approach greatly reduces the threshold for issuing tokens and promotes the rise of MEME culture.

Figure 1: Historical Issuance and Market Cap of different types of Crypto Assets

With the rise of the Decentralized Finance ecosystem, one-click launch coin platforms like Pump.Fun have simplified the coin issuance process with low cost and automated processes, significantly reducing the threshold for Token issuance. These developments reflect the market's demand for efficient, flexible, and Decentralization issuance methods, providing project parties and investors with more financing and participation opportunities.

Figure 2: Number and fundraising amount (in USD) of different Token issuance methods

1.2 In recent years, the number of Tokenissuance has surged

With the drop of the asset issuance threshold, the number of newly added Tokens in Crypto Assets experienced an explosive rise from 25 in 2013 to 13,453 in 2024. Especially since 2020, the average annual growth rate has exceeded 150%.

This rise is mainly attributed to the popularity of the ERC-20 token standard, the rise of decentralized finance, the popularity of non-fungible tokens, the emergence of new blockchain platforms, and the rapid expansion of the encryption ecosystem. At the same time, the standardization of technology, the widespread application of smart contracts, and the emergence of one-click launch coin platforms (such as Pump.Fun) have further lowered the launch coin threshold, prompting more projects and communities to enhance their visibility and attractiveness through token issuance.

Figure 3: The number of new Tokens listed by CoinGecko each year

Although platforms like CoinGecko provide data for new Tokens, the actual number of issued Tokens far exceeds these statistics. In 2024, the number of new Tokens surpassed 2.52 million, showing an explosive rise since 2020. This not only demonstrates the vitality of the crypto market but also highlights the increasing importance of Tokens in project development.

Figure 4: The annual issuance of new Tokens (including the Solana ecosystem and Pump.Fun)

2. In-depth analysis of different Token issuance methods

The evolution of Cryptocurrency issuance models reflects a focus on community participation and fairness. From the initial Mining issuance to community-driven models and now mechanisms such as IDO and Token Airdrop, the role of the community in the Cryptocurrency ecosystem has become increasingly prominent. For example, DOGE has promoted its rise in value by strengthening its community culture and values, demonstrating not only the critical role of the community in driving project success, but also the importance of community-driven models in the development of Cryptocurrency.

IDO and Airdrop and other new issuance mechanisms further promote the Decentralization of Token distribution, enabling a wider range of users to participate in the early development of the project. This not only enhances the fairness and transparency of the project, but also reflects the Cryptocurrency industry's pursuit of democratic and inclusive values, demonstrating innovation and adaptability in the Cryptocurrency sector.

2.1 Miningissuance: The main issuance method in the early era of clone coins

In the early development of the Blockchain, most of the alts were Cryptocurrency projects based on the BTC code and modified, such as Litecoin, Feathercoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, and Primecoin. The fair Miningissuance model of the altcoin era originates from BTC, relying on Computing Power to compete for the distribution of Tokens, which was the main issuance method in the early stages of the encryption market. Through DecentralizationMining, Token distribution is realized, with participants competing for new minted Token rewards using computational resources, providing security for the Blockchain network and creating a relatively fair Token distribution mechanism. Today, a few alts (such as Litecoin and Dogecoin) still occupy important positions in the Cryptocurrency market, becoming representative projects in the early AltCoin scene.

Figure 5: Market Cap (USD) of early clone coin issuance

2.2 ICO Craze: EOS and other star projects rise

ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is an innovative financing method for blockchain projects, similar to IPO in the stock market. The blockchain project team raises funds from the public by issuing tokens through the Internet with the help of a White Paper. Since the first ICO of Mastercoin (Omni) in 2013, this model has developed rapidly. In 2014, Ethereum raised approximately 18 million USD through ICO; in 2015, The DAO project raised a fundraising scale of 150 million USD. In 2017, ICO experienced explosive growth, and the EOS project raised nearly 4.2 billion USD within a year, becoming a pinnacle of ICO. However, with the hacker attack on The DAO in 2016 and the ban on ICO in China in 2017, the security and compliance issues of this model gradually emerged, and the ICO frenzy cooled down.

Figure 6: The amount of funds raised during the main ICO token issuance (in USD)

2.3 IDO Era: Enhancing the Degree of Token Issuance Decentralization

In June 2019, Binance DEX launched the first IDO project, marking the innovation of the Cryptocurrency fundraising model. Before the emergence of IDO, IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) was popular as a semi-centralized financing method. Under the IEO model, the Cryptocurrency exchange is responsible for project review and screening, and conducts Token sales and trading on its platform, enhancing the credibility of the project and expediting the listing process. In 2019, IEO became a popular fundraising method after ICO. However, due to the requirement for investors to complete KYC on the centralized exchange and rely on the centralized platform for Token subscription, the centralized nature also caused some users' dissatisfaction.

In response, the Initial DEX Offering (IDO) emerged. This emerging Token issuance method, through Decentralized Exchange (DEX) such as Uniswap, re-enables permissionless financing by conducting Token issuance and trading. In IDO, the project party or community can independently deploy Liquidity on DEX, bypassing the review of centralized exchanges. This enables investors to directly purchase Tokens in the early stages of the project, not only enhancing the flexibility and transparency of participation but also reducing the risks of centralization. IDO provides a broader financing platform for small-scale investors and innovative projects, promoting further Decentralization of the Cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Figure 7: Fundraising Amount during the main IDO Tokenissuance (in USD)

2.4 Liquidity Mining: Accelerating the Development of the Decentralized Finance Ecosystem

In 2020, the 'Decentralized Finance Summer' craze has propelled Liquidity Mining to the forefront of fundraising for launching coins. Liquidity Mining (also known as Yield Farming) is an innovative financing model in the Decentralized Finance field, allowing users to invest in Liquidity pools supported by Smart Contracts to obtain returns. This model originated from the attempt by IDEX in 2017, deepened by Synthetix in 2019, and ultimately achieved great success in June 2020 when the Compound protocol distributed the governance token COMP, leading to nearly a 10-fold increase in Total Value Locked (TVL) in the following five months, becoming a key catalyst for the rise of Decentralized Finance. Other Decentralized Finance projects (such as Uniswap) have also rapidly emulated this successful example, driving the vigorous development of the entire Decentralized Finance ecosystem.

Figure 8: Compound TVL rise trend

Figure 9: Uniswap TVL rise trend

2.5 Airdrop Incentive Token: Airdrop draw attention effect is popular

Since 2020, many blockchain projects have adopted the Airdrop strategy to incentivize users and expand the project's influence. The earliest Cryptocurrency Airdrop can be traced back to 2014 when programmer Baldur Friggjar Odinsson Airdropped AuroraCoin to Icelandic citizens. However, the turning point for Airdrop becoming the mainstream token distribution method occurred in 2020 when Uniswap conducted a large-scale Airdrop in response to the competition from Sushiswap, with eligible users receiving at least $1,000 worth of UNI Tokens. This strategy not only attracted a large number of users but also fueled the rise of 'Decentralized Finance Summer.' Subsequently, projects such as DYDX and ICP also incorporated Airdrop strategy into their token economic models. As a result, Airdrop has become a powerful tool for Web3 projects to attract users, enhance visibility, and achieve decentralized token distribution, laying the foundation for future applications such as GameFi and SocialFi.

Figure 10: Launch Market Cap of Popular Airdrop Projects

2.6 Community-driven Issuance: Community Culture Drives Token Value

In December 2013, DOGE (Dogecoin) was born, and community culture became the core driving force of its value. This project, which initially satirized cryptocurrency speculation, not only became popular due to its humorous brand image, but also stood out with its strong community cohesion. The DOGE community won widespread followings by sponsoring charitable activities such as the Jamaican bobsled team and the Kenyan clean water project. These initiatives not only enhanced the visibility of the project, but also demonstrated the key role of community culture in cryptocurrency value. DOGE's innovative model ingeniously combines entertainment with investment, providing inspiration for subsequent meme coins such as Shib, Pepe, and Bonk, and has had a profound impact on the development of meme community culture and community-driven tokens.

Figure 11: Total market capitalization of MEME zone

2.7 One-click launch coin platform: launch coin operation is flexible and convenient

In mid-March 2024, the Solana ecosystem Meme Token represented by BOME triggered a craze, driving the rise of one-click launch coin platforms such as Pump.Fun. Pump.Fun is a rapidly growing Memecoin issuance and trading platform in the Solana ecosystem, attracting a large number of users to participate in one-click launch coin due to the wealth effect of Memecoin. By collecting launch coin fees, the platform's income rose rapidly, with over 10 million USD in revenue in just 3 months. As of August 16th, the platform's total revenue exceeded 96 million USD, with a daily peak of 2.31 million USD, surpassing many mainstream blockchain networks (Base, Arbitrum, BNB, Blast's average daily income is less than 1 million USD).

Figure 12: Pump.Fun cumulative revenue

Figure 13: Daily Earnings of Major Blockchains

3. Variety of Token: From "Digital Gold" to MEME Craze

With the continuous innovation of blockchain technology and application scenarios, the uses and types of tokens continue to expand. As the earliest cryptocurrency, BTC is mainly used for value storage and transactions, while ETH has expanded the application scope of tokens through smart contracts. In recent years, with the rise of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), token functions have become increasingly diversified, giving rise to stablecoins, governance tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for digital art, GameFi tokens that combine gaming and finance, SocialFi tokens that combine social elements, and Meme coins used for community entertainment. This not only provides investors with more choices, but also promotes the prosperity of the crypto market.

3.1 Historical Trends: Popular concepts are constantly changing with the historical cycle

In 2009, the Genesis Block of BTC was born, ushering in a new era of the encryption industry. Subsequently, the Block chain ecosystem has witnessed numerous innovative concepts, each of which has brought unique value and vitality to it.

In 2013, for the first time, Bitcoin Halving, many developers drew on BTC's code for innovation and optimization, ushering in the "clone coin era". According to the research of Gate Institute, the total market value of early clone coins was about 918 billion US dollars.

With the rise of Ethereum (ETH) and other L1 blockchains and the ICO frenzy in 2015, the market share of Bitcoin has significantly declined.

Since 2017, stablecoins and CEX coins have gradually gained market follow, and the 2020 Decentralized Finance Summer has further promoted emerging cryptocurrency types such as Decentralized Finance, GameFi, and MEME, showing a trend of currency diversification.

Despite experiencing multiple market cycles, BTC still dominates, with the Market Cap share stabilizing from a peak of over 80% in the early days to the current level of 50%. The current Market Cap has exceeded $1.2 trillion, earning it the title of "digital gold".

Figure 14: Proportion of Market Cap of Different Concept Zones over the Past 10 Years

In December 2013, the Ethereum White Paper was officially released, marking the arrival of the Programmability Block Chain era. Ethereum's Smart Contract technology greatly expanded the application scenarios of the Block Chain, making its Market Cap break through $340 billion in 2021, becoming the second largest Cryptocurrency after BTC.

In 2017, stablecoins and coins of centralized exchanges (CEX) platforms developed rapidly with the ICO craze. As of now, Stable Coin Market Cap has exceeded $160 billion, and CEX platform coin Market Cap has also exceeded $90 billion. The influence and recognition of the cryptocurrency market continues to expand globally.

Figure 15: Historical popular concept zone and its current Market Cap

During 2014 to 2017, the demand for anonymous transactions once drove the rapid development of Privacy Coins such as Monero and Zcash. However, with the increased regulatory efforts by governments, the market share of Privacy Coins has significantly declined since 2018, and early Fork coins and clone coins have gradually faded away as innovative projects emerge.

Due to the rapid development of Decentralized Finance, the activity on the Ethereum mainchain has increased significantly. However, due to the slow processing speed and high gas fees, Layer 2 solutions have emerged to improve the scalability of Ethereum. Currently, the market capitalization of Layer 2 zone has exceeded 174 billion US dollars.

Decentralized Finance and GameFi zones have rapidly risen since 2020, with Dapps such as Uniswap and AAVE providing new solutions for traditional Financial Services. The Market Cap of Decentralized Finance zones has reached 732 billion USD. Projects like Axie Infinity and STEPN have attracted a large number of users and funds through the 'Play to Earn' model, demonstrating the potential of blockchain in digital ownership and virtual worlds, with the current Market Cap at 43.8 billion USD.

In 2023, SocialFi and BRC-20 became the market focus, combining blockchain with social media and BTC ecosystem expansion, with a market capitalization exceeding 3.3 billion US dollars.

Figure 16: Proportion Trend of Market Cap for Different Currencies

Since 2020, the crypto market has gradually shown a trend of segmentation and specialization, with emerging zone Tokens emerging like mushrooms after rain.

The issuance quantity and variety of new Tokens are showing explosive breakthroughs, making Meme, GameFi, Decentralized Finance, and Non-fungible Token the market focus, even maintaining a high proportion in the Bear Market cycle from 2022 to 2023.

MEME Tokenzone has shown the most eye-catching performance, rising far above other zones, with a Market Cap exceeding 400 billion US dollars, reflecting investors' sustained enthusiasm for this sector. GameFi, Decentralized Finance, and Non-fungible Token zone have slightly retreated after their peak in 2021.

With the approval of the BTCSpot ETF in 2024, OTC funds are pouring into the cryptocurrency market, driving the total market capitalization of the encryption market to new highs.

Figure 17: Issuance volume of different currencies rise

3.2 Return to the present: Solana occupies the major market share of new coin issuance

In 2024, the Meme Token craze swept across multiple public chains, with Solana being particularly prominent. In March, tokens such as Bome and Slerf in the Solana ecosystem became market focus due to their high return rates. The emergence of one-click launch coin platforms like Pump.Fun further lowered the launch coin barrier and simplified the process, leading to a daily average new coin issuance volume of over 10,000 in the Solana ecosystem. According to data from Gate Research Institute, Solana accounts for over 60% of the new coin issuance market, far ahead of other public chains.

Figure 18: Daily new token additions for major Blocks on-chain in 2024

In addition to Solana, the Base chain has also performed well this year. Thanks to the support of Coinbase, the dropMoney Laundering of EIP-4844, the Meme craze, and other Favourable Information such as the rise of the Farcaster community, the number of users and the activity of the Base ecosystem have rapidly increased. Since March, the wealth effect of the 'Degen' Token big pump has further boosted the heat of the Base ecosystem, with Token issuance soaring, making it the second largest public chain in market share this year, accounting for over 20%.

Figure 19: Daily percentage of newly added tokens on-chain for major blocks in 2024

Summary

The Token issuance method in the cryptocurrency market has evolved from Mining, ICO, IEO, IDO, Liquidity Mining to today's one-click launch coin platform, reflecting the pursuit of community participation and fair issuance. Each issuance method responds to specific market demands and technological developments in different periods. The current diversified issuance model provides blockchain projects with wider financing channels, lowers the threshold, improves efficiency, and promotes the vitality of the community ecosystem.

The continuous advancement of blockchain technology has brought about the prosperity of the Token economy. From the 'digital gold' role of Bitcoin (BTC), to the Smart Contract revolution of Ethereum (ETH), and the emergence of diverse functions such as stablecoins, governance tokens, and utility tokens, the application scope of Tokens continues to expand. With the emergence of innovative concepts such as Decentralized Finance, Non-fungible Tokens, GameFi, and SocialFi, the application of blockchain in finance, art, gaming, and social fields continues to deepen. With the promotion of high-performance public chain Solana and the one-click launch coin platform, Meme Tokens have become the new favorite in the market due to their enormous growth potential, occupying a leading position in new coin issuance. The diversification of Tokens provides investors with a wider range of choices, while accelerating the overall rise of the cryptocurrency market.