If bitcoin is in a bubble, it is one of the few in the history of finance – if not the first – that has developed with negligible credit use.

This is only one of the unique elements of CoinDesk's State of Blockchain 2018 report, the latest in the quarterly series exposing our extensive research on the rapid evolution of cryptocurrencies and technologies that They inspired.

Released on Wednesday, the report provides an analysis of more than 160 slides of some of the data points propelling this story forward.

The report covers public blockchains, DLT, consortium chains, initial parts offerings (ICOs), trading and investments, and presents the results of our survey of over 70 questions, which gives an overview of 3,000 CoinDesk readers.

Here are five of the most significant trends that defined both T4 and 2017:

1. This is not the investment bubble of your father

Bitcoin achieved a super run in 2017 with returns for the year of 1,278%. With all the attention of the general public came the discussion of whether the original and even larger cryptocurrency was in a bubble .

Our readers were divided on this subject, with about 49% "yes", 39% "no" and 11% "neutral". Deeper than this division of opinion, our survey provided a very useful data point around the whole bubble speculative conversation.

Only 19% of our respondents went into debt to buy crypto, and of those who did, more than half paid back their loans. The important and historical to remember is that if bitcoin is indeed a bubble, it is the rare kind that has inflated with little leverage or money borrowed. (The margin traded on the stock exchanges was introduced recently, but it is limited and generally offered on a peer-to-peer basis.)

In short, Bitcoin has managed to get here without the help of Wall Street or banks (unless you count the wholesale closure of accounts to certain industries and geographical areas by financial institutions risk averse, which could inadvertently banked users to use a system without permission).

This is the first time in recent memory that average people have outpaced the so-called "smart currency" – another chapter of the story that Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies are the most common story interesting world in finance and economics.

2. The market is considerably diversified

In January 2017, the value of bitcoin accounted for more than 90% of the cryptocurrency market. Ethereum had a huge development, but its trading volumes were still pretty weak. But when its first "killer app", the intelligent contract ERC-20 to generate tokens and ICOs, began to gain ground in Q2 2017, all the time. history has changed.

The demand for Ether (usually required to participate in many ICOs) has increased, as has the ability to finance and create new block chains. This shook the bitcoin dominance in the market until the third quarter, when bitcoin reversed the downtrend.

The timing of this change seems to align with Bitcoin's adoption of separate Witness and the end of confusion around the bitcoin cash fork . While bitcoin has gradually regained its dominance score, it has declined again in December while etéum had its best month of the year, driven by the ICO boom.

The market has also diversified with the rise of an institutional crypto-buy, while hundreds of new funds have formed to expose yourself to this new class of assets.

3. Ethereum continues to set transaction records for all times

The ICOs contributed to the demand for ethereum in 2017, but this was not the only application that was in the news.

CryptoKitties stormed the world in December, adding another interesting ride to the magic year of the Ethereum. While many have criticized the Kitties' stupidity the new case of blockchain use has nevertheless made its mark.

While the Ethereumeum had already broken its third quarter transaction records, the application of digital collectibles, as well as the 19459005 Byzantium hard fork almost doubled the volumes achieved a few months earlier.

As whimsical as it may be, CryptoKitties helped paint a complete picture of the current ethereum capabilities.

4. Korea fills the void left by China

From the beginning of 2017, China reported that the year was going to be different from the past.

It all came to fruition in September when China banned ICOs and then closed bitcoin exchanges in the country.

Any examination of trade volumes and markets before 2017 would have led the reader to believe that bitcoins and cryptocurrencies would suffer from this loss. But even with all Chinese stock markets closing on the last day of the third quarter, bitcoin quickly continued its biggest uptrend.

In short, it seemed that nobody cared that China was out. On the contrary, it was an opportunity for new players.

South Korea, on the other hand, has become an important crypto-currency trading hub in the third and fourth quarters – occupying much of the gap left by China. The Korean won has become one of the largest matched currencies in the industry, with particularly high volumes of XRP and ETH.

5. ICOs were large, but pitchforks and paratroopers were much larger

While the entire early stage finance industry heard the call of ICO in 2017 they were an obstacle to other token generating events.

Forks and paratroopers have an integrated user base (usually bitcoin HODLers) and are much more important to the overall market capitalization in cryptocurrencies.

The bitcoin fork was the first to surprise the industry with the interest that it aroused, catching several flat exchanges when users demanded their inherited property. Stellar also offered drops of his native currency, lumens, to bitcoin holders, which led some to believe that this strategy would be more widely used.

Our full report, with more than 160 insightful graphics, can be downloaded here.

Leader in blockchain news, events and information, CoinDesk has been showcasing technology since 2013. Cited by leading publications and recognized by companies around the world, CoinDesk's independent coverage is viewed by millions of readers each month. Learn more about our brand here.

