The widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies has evolved significantly in recent times, moving from relative obscurity into the limelight. This shift has been notably propelled by the launch and remarkable performance of Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), capturing the attention of analysts, bankers, and technologists.

We are on the cusp of a significant evolution in the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem with the much-anticipated Dencun upgrade. This update marks a substantial advancement, bolstering Ethereum's capabilities by addressing some of the ecosystem's most pressing challenges, such as unlocking Layer-2 scalability and augmenting security for node operators and validators.

In this special edition of the State of the Network, we reflect on a year full of riveting data and crucial events through the lens of the research team’s favorite issues from 2023. In the upcoming year, our commitment remains steadfast: to deliver meticulous, actionable insights that empower your decisions in an ever-evolving digital asset world.

After a challenging 2022, this past year brought a number of positive developments across the ecosystem, from new institutional entrants to key technical upgrades. While the regulatory environment was arguably the most challenging it has ever been, especially in the US, the new battles should force clarity on a number of outstanding questions. With a period of monetary tightening seemingly coming to an end, both crypto and equities surged in 2023, with many digital assets posting gains above 100%, including bitcoin (BTC), which has risen 150% in 2023. The table below shows the performance of all assets in the datonomyTM universe with a market cap above $1B.

In this week's State of the Network, we continue our focused series on Bitcoin mining, spotlighting data across the mining ecosystem. Mining stands as one of the most intriguing parts of the digital assets industry, often capturing the interest of the public and enthusiasts. As the industry matures, mining is moving well beyond its hobbyist days. With over a dozen publicly-traded mining companies listed on American and Canadian stock exchanges, mining has now become a sector commanding the attention of equity analysts on Wall Street.

In this week’s State of the Network, we return with our quarterly mining data special, where we provide a close examination of the current Bitcoin mining landscape through the lens of Coin Metrics’ data. Despite a flat BTC market in the back half of Q3 as spot ETF chatter quieted, hashrate continued to accelerate throughout the quarter, recently hitting a new high of around 400 EH/s from 250 EH/s at the beginning of 2023. Hashprice conditions remain challenging, yet savvy miners continue to add operational hashrate.