2024 presented the highs, the lows, and in-between moves. The crypto industry had a lot of drama, yet here we are, looking forward to 2025.
- We covered the most prominent stories of the year and their impact;
- As always, we focused on the BIGGEST players;
- Crypto prices are already revving for an explosion;
- The Bulls are having a field day;
- The industry is already a part of popular culture, with a significant impact on just about everything;
Of course, these are your decentralized diaries!
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Bitcoin Slid to $95k (As of 12/23/24)
Prices cooled as Bitcoin moved from a $108,251.21 high to a $92,171.18 low, settling at $95,940.34.
The altcoins are moving in different directions. Ethereum (ETH) is at $3,335.69, Solana (SOL) at $184.12, Avalanche (AVAX) at $36.92, Chainlink (LINK) at $23.10, Polkadot (DOT) at $7.03 and Uniswap (UNI) at $13.98.
The Age of the Crypto Heavyweights Ended
Expectedly, all good things come to an end. The year began with the continued exit of several crypto top guns from the scene. Former Binance founder Changpeng CZ Zhao got the end of the federal government’s big stick with a four-month prison stint.
Compliance-focused Richard Teng took over the reins at Binance with decades of experience in the financial services industry.
Similarly, the FTX legal drama continued with several sentences. A judge sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried’s former partner, Caroline Ellison, to two years in jail. On the other end, FTX former CTO Gary Wang survived his trial with zero jail time.
Stablecoins Had Issues
Several ongoing conversations continued to highlight the stablecoin soft underbelly of the crypto industry. Prominent stablecoin token USDT and its issuer Tether were the significant targets of dominance allegations.
Additionally, regulators continued the push for effective stablecoin regulation, leading to increased multi-jurisdictional partnerships and token clawbacks for crypto fraud-related activities.
The year began with an ETF-related bang. On January 10, the SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs. They include the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, Franklin’s Bitcoin ETF, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Hashdex’s Bitcoin ETF, Invesco’s Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Fund and WisdomTree’s Bitcoin Fund.
Trading started the next day.
Additionally, on May 23, the regulator approved eight spot Ethereum ETFs. The SEC approved asset managers who launched their spot Ethereum ETFs and started trading on July 23.
They include BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, the VanEck Ethereum Trust, the Fidelity Ethereum Fund, the Franklin Ethereum ETF, the ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF, the Bitwise Ethereum ETF, and the Grayscale Ethereum Trust.
Several ETF-related instruments continued to make moves and provide exposure.
State-Focused Pro-Crypto Laws Made a Comeback
Crypto and blockchain legislation continued to progress at the state level. In February, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina pushed forward pro-blockchain drafts at their respective Capitols.
Other significant legislative activities include Wyoming’s Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act (DUNA) and Pennsylvania’s and Oklahoma’s Bitcoin rights bills, which got signed into law by their respective governors.
More so, Bitcoin reserve bills are on the horizon in Texas and Pennsylvania.
The Crypto Bankruptcy Fallout Continued
While crypto bankruptcies started last year, they continued to hit the industry hard in 2024. There was some good news, though.
Customers of Gemini Earn received $2.18 billion of their funds in May. Efforts by New York’s Attorney General in June recovered an additional $50 million.
Similarly, in April, bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital revealed recovery efforts that brought in $484.35 million from FTX, 3AC, and D&O insurance payouts.
Celsius Network’s customers also had cause to smile, with a creditor distribution worth $127 million in November.
Conversely, the creditors of the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox have unresolved issues. Some payouts started in late July, but the repayment deadline was postponed several times.
Creditors will (expectedly) receive their funds at the end of October 2025.
Regulatory Agencies Stepped Hard on the Brakes
The crypto community had issues in its interactions with regulators. Accusations of unfair enforcement actions flew back and forth between both parties, some of which reached the courts.
The SEC issued Wells Notices against several crypto-related entities besides prosecutions. They include crypto.com, Robinhood, Uniswap, Consensys, Immutable, and ShapeShift.
On September 24, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler testified before the House Financial Services Committee. During his testimony, Gensler indicated that several crypto tokens were securities and called for their registration with the regulator.
Additionally, he identified several digital asset regulation issues, including investor protection and compliance.
On January 20, 2025, Gary Gensler will step down as the SEC Chief.
The CFTC was also busy with enforcement actions. Significant cases include restitution and disgorgement payouts from FTX (worth $12.7 billion) and $1.35 billion in civil penalties from Binance.
The CFTC also received $150 million in fines from Changpeng CZ Zhao.
Other enforcement actions include $250,000 in penalties against blockchain protocol bZeroX and its founders and $42 million in whistleblower payments.
The Tokenization Conversation is Now Mainstream
This year, tokenization projects and experiments exploded, with several key players dipping their toes in the waters. The expansion efforts of BlackRock’s tokenized BUIDL fund proved that the sector will take root faster than we think.
Other projects worthy of mention include J.P. Morgan’s ‘JPM Coin’, Tether’s Hadron, and VeChain’s Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS).
Future tokenization plans include efforts by Goldman Sachs, and others will (expectedly) launch in 2025.
Crypto, Blockchain Adoption, and Innovation Thrived
Because of limited publishing space, we couldn’t cover the many projects that kept pushing the industry forward. Adoption improved significantly with expansion and improvements on every side.
2025 is going to be a crypto year.
