Top Five Events That Redefined the Crypto Industry in 2024
2024 has been an influential year for crypto, marked with several industry-defining moments. This article takes a look at the top five events that boosted investor sentiment on cryptocurrencies this year.
The US SEC Approves Bitcoin Spot ETFs
In the fourth quarter of 2023, asset manager Grayscale surprisingly won a legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with the court instructing the agency to approve the conversion of the firm’s Bitcoin Trust to a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). The victory drove other asset managers, including Bitwise and BlackRock, to apply for Bitcoin spot ETFs.
Earlier this year, the SEC approved 12 Bitcoin ETFs, allowing American investors to get exposure to BTC without holding the coin. The regulator’s approval renewed investor interest in crypto, prompting a marketwide rally, with Bitcoin crossing its previous all-time high of $69,946 to reach $73,000.
Bitcoin spot ETFs have been a success, given that their issuers now hold over $105 billion worth of BTC, or about 5.6% of the coin’s total supply. This success story has motivated asset managers to submit spot ETF applications for other cryptocurrencies, such as Solana, XRP, and Ethereum. The SEC approved Ethereum spot ETFs in mid-2024.
The Rise of Solana Meme Coins
While Solana has been a host for meme coins since its inception a few years ago, it saw massive adoption this year thanks to Pumpfun, a protocol that allows anyone to deploy tokens on the blockchain without providing initial liquidity. As of December 2024, over 2 million meme coins have been launched on Solana via PumpFun. According to CoinGecko’s data, these tokens have a combined market cap of $16.1 billion.
Although most Solana-based meme coins have been pump-and-dump schemes, some have witnessed massive success. For instance, Dogwifhat has surged 1,100% this year and was listed by established crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.
Increased onchain activity has boosted Solana’s total value locked (TVL). Data on DefiLlama shows that the network has a TVL of $8.6 billion, up from $4.8 billion at the start of the year.
Furthermore, the meme coin craze has increased the demand for Solana’s native token, SOL, enabling it to reach a new all-time high ($264) a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Aleph.im CEO Jonathan Schemoul expects the buzz around Solana meme coins to fade in 2025, arguing that investors will likely focus on tokens with meaningful utility.
Donald Trump Wins US Presidential Election
Donald Trump’s victory in November marked a new dawn for crypto, with many believing he would end regulatory wars against blockchain companies. This optimism has been reflected in the crypto markets as prices have kept rising since his re-election. Notably, the total market cap for crypto has grown by over $1 trillion in the past two months.
Trump’s pro-crypto stance has encouraged numerous institutional investors to step into the crypto space, essentially legitimizing digital currencies. Additionally, analysts are optimistic that the approval of the proposed Bitcoin reserve bill could motivate other countries to embrace crypto.
Bitcoin Hits $100,000
Bitcoin hit the $100,000 mark at the start of December, marking a significant milestone for the asset. This achievement boosted investor confidence and showed how mature Bitcoin had become.
Moreover, Bitcoin’s success proved that pro-crypto companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy made the right investment, considering their respective stocks have posted significant gains in the past three weeks. Interestingly, several firms, including Amazon, are now looking to add Bitcoin to their portfolios.
The entrance of such well-established companies could spur further adoption, pushing Bitcoin’s price to higher levels.
Gary Gensler Resigns
After years of going after crypto companies, Gary Gensler is set to step down as the SEC Chair next month. The crypto critic announced his resignation in November, a few days after Trump defeated Kamala Harris.
Over the years, the Gensler-led SEC employed a ‘regulation by enforcement’ approach to crypto, with targeted companies paying millions of dollars to settle charges brought against them.
The incoming SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, who is known for his pro-Bitcoin stance, is expected to focus on providing regulatory clarity rather than attacking cryptocurrency players.
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