A Review of Major Crypto Events in 2024: Bitcoin Shines, Crypto Market's Hidden Dragons

Author: Tuo Luo Finance

The year 2024 is a tumultuous one for the crypto industry. During this year, cryptocurrencies have entered the mainstream, with institutionalization, compliance, and politicization becoming the core narratives. Bitcoin hitting the headlines at $100,000 marks the end of the stigma surrounding the crypto market, with digital gold shining brightly, and a new cycle slowly unfolding.

But crypto is far more than just Bitcoin, and the market is not solely about institutions. The shifting spotlight records the changes of this year; Bitcoin dances gracefully on stage but is not always the main character. Each month of this year has brought new topics and headlines to the crypto market, with technologies, projects, communities, and personalities taking the stage, weaving through the ups and downs of 2024 and leaving bold annotations for the arrival of 2025.

Looking back at the old year and welcoming the new, the crypto market remains a potential dragon in the depths, with limitless future potential.

January: Bitcoin Spot ETF Approved

In January, the spot ETF officially brought institutions onto the Noah's Ark of the crypto world. On January 10, Eastern Time, the U.S. SEC announced the approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs for listing, with approved issuers including Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex, iShares, Valkyrie, Ark 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, and Franklin.

For the crypto market, the Bitcoin ETF is undoubtedly a historic achievement. After a decade-long struggle with the SEC, the crypto world finally gained regulatory recognition, marking a new chapter for the digital asset market. Following this, Bitcoin was officially recognized as a legitimate investment product, leading to a massive influx of traditional institutional funds into the market, further promoting the compliant development of the crypto market.

As of December 31, according to data from Coinglass and SOSOvalue, the total inflow into Bitcoin ETFs reached $35.27 billion, with total net assets exceeding $10.9532 billion. However, with the continuous growth of Bitcoin ETFs, institutionalization has replaced the once-dominant miners, becoming the controllers of Bitcoin prices; this is perhaps the essence of the changing times.

March: Ethereum Cancun Upgrade

After a relatively quiet February, March saw Bitcoin and Ethereum back in the spotlight. With the influx of ETFs, Bitcoin's price continued to rise, successfully breaking through $70,000 on March 8, reaching a three-year historical high. At that time, the market believed $70,000 was Bitcoin's peak, not realizing it was merely a silent milestone.

In contrast, Ethereum, despite a concentrated narrative, still showed lackluster price performance. However, as the industry leader, construction was the primary focus for Ethereum. On March 13, Ethereum successfully completed the Cancun upgrade, introducing the data unit Blob of the Ethereum scalability solution (protodanksharding), ushering in a cost-reduction era for Layer 2 solutions.

As of now, all mainstream Layer 2 solutions, including Optimism, Starknet, Base, zkSync, Zora, and Mode, have adopted blobs. Blobscan data shows that since the Cancun upgrade, as of December 30, Ethereum's total block count exceeded 1.2 million, with a total transaction count of 2.4 million, utilizing 4.9 million blobs, which saved 3,008 ETH in gas fees. However, it is worth noting that the liquidity of L2 networks is fragmented across multiple sub-networks, and the cost reduction in L2 has captured some of the value from the mainnet, making the competition between Ethereum and L2 increasingly evident.

April: Bitcoin Halving and Hong Kong Virtual Asset Spot ETF Approved

The most significant event in April was the Bitcoin halving. On April 20 at 8:09, Bitcoin successfully completed its fourth halving at block height 840,000, reducing the mining reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, with the last halving occurring on May 11, 2020. The impact of halving on price is undoubtedly long-term, and among the affected groups, mining companies, as the main force in mining, were the most widely impacted. Mining companies initiated a wave of consolidation, further intensifying the head effect, with leading miners like Marathon, CleanSpark, and Riot racing to increase capacity, combining high computing power with low energy costs, leading to fierce competition in the industry, with some miners already beginning to pivot towards the hotter AI field.

Another major event in April was the approval of Hong Kong's virtual asset spot ETFs. On April 15, the first batch of virtual asset ETFs was publicly announced as approved, and on April 30, six Hong Kong virtual asset spot ETFs were listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with Huaxia Fund (Hong Kong), Bosera International, and Harvest International as the main issuers. In fact, after the declaration in December 2022, Hong Kong's Web3 market cooled down, and despite frequent policy updates, the market remained hesitant. The virtual asset ETF was considered an important milestone for Hong Kong, and even before the announcement, despite frequent pessimism in the market, there was still a relatively bright hope, with some believing this move could be a precursor to the mainland's opening up. However, the reality was a cold shower; not only were funding channels restricted, but due to compliance costs, the virtual asset spot ETFs had higher fees compared to similar products in the U.S., with significant differences in fundraising. According to SOSOVALU data, as of December 27, the total net assets of Hong Kong's Bitcoin spot ETFs were only $409 million, holding approximately 4,290 BTC. Moreover, with the one-year anniversary of Hong Kong's new crypto regulations in June, several crypto-native exchanges faced failures, raising more questions in the market. It is evident that Hong Kong's Web3 still has a long way to go, but with the strong energy of traditional finance, there is still hope for Hong Kong to overtake, with stablecoins and RWA becoming key paths for Hong Kong in 2025.

May: Ethereum Spot ETF Resurrects, CZ's Hearing

In May, the spotlight returned to Ethereum. What was once thought to be hopeless for the Ethereum spot ETF turned into a dark horse of the year. On May 24, according to official documents, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the plans for a spot Ethereum ETF from the New York Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, and Nasdaq, specifically the issuer's Ethereum spot ETF 19b-4 (exchange rule change) application. Compared to Bitcoin, the approval of Ethereum's key processes reflects a more significant shift in regulatory attitudes, not only shedding its historical baggage of being considered a security but also symbolizing a turning point in the openness of U.S. regulation. Other decentralized projects may also expect regulatory relief, timely rescuing the crypto market from the siphoning effect of Bitcoin. Throughout every bull market, the rise of Ethereum spilling over is the key indicator of sector rotation. On July 23, the Ethereum spot ETF was officially approved, and according to Coinglass data, as of now, the total inflow into the Ethereum spot ETF reached $2.68 billion, with total net assets exceeding $12.11 billion. However, it is evident that Ethereum's attractiveness in the eyes of institutions still falls far short compared to Bitcoin.

The headline figure in May was undoubtedly CZ. After last year's exorbitant settlement, CZ faced a sentencing hearing this month. As early as April, to support this representative figure, the crypto community launched a massive show of support, with 161 letters of support led by his wife, He Yi, delivered to the court, witnessing the rare trust and sincerity in the crypto space. This move ultimately achieved victory; compared to SBF's sentence of over a hundred years, a four-month sentence was not too long. On September 28 of this year, CZ was released, and BNB rose in respect, reflecting its strong community influence.

June: LayerZero and ZKsync Airdrop Controversies

In June, airdrops became the main theme of the market. LayerZero's witch-hunting campaign sparked widespread discussion, intensifying the direct conflict between projects and airdrop hunters. Even the airdrop hunters, who are evolving towards professionalism, institutionalization, and scaling, did not hold an advantage in the project’s offensive and defensive battles. On the other hand, ZKsync, although controversial due to insider trading, introduced a new standard for fund retention that left a profound impact on subsequent airdrops. In the long run, the reduction of short-seller odds, increased complexity, and rising investment funds will become trends in airdrops. It must be acknowledged that the threshold for individual airdrop wealth will become increasingly high. Additionally, the weakening of macro expectations and miners' capitulation directly led to the first major shakeout of the year on June 18, with Bitcoin dropping below $65,000 and most altcoins falling over 20%.

July: 7.5 Major Drop, VC Tokens in Public Opinion Crisis, Trump's Life Photos Released

After June 18, July 5 came to take over, and under the influence of the MenTouGou repayment and the German government's purchase of coins, the crypto market faced another washout, with Bitcoin dropping below $60,000, returning to the levels of late February. From that time until mid-July, the term bull market seemed to have vanished from the crypto market, and complaints became a reality, with VC tokens and exchanges being the first to bear the brunt, as the public opinion vortex continued to ferment. However, on July 16, Trump's life photos were released, illuminating not only his electoral path but also bringing a glimmer of hope to the crypto market. Following this, Trump appeared at the Bitcoin conference, making ten promises regarding strategic reserves, the U.S. crypto center, and stepping down as SEC chairman, successfully winning the support of the crypto world.

August: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested

In August, Telegram made headlines, delivering a heavy blow to the TON ecosystem. On the evening of August 24, French television reported that Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested at a French airport. On the day of the incident, Toncoin experienced a nearly 11% drop within 24 hours, and the TON TVL saw a staggering 57.62% drop in a single day. Given TON's independent ecological attributes, prices quickly recovered after the short-term impact. However, the Telegram incident once again prompted the market to reflect on decentralized social media, as the next goal for the crypto market is to find a balance between order and freedom under the banner of defending free speech.

September: Federal Reserve Cuts Rates for the First Time in Four Years, Beginning Rate-Cutting Cycle

In September, the crypto market finally welcomed the long-awaited rate cut. On September 18, local time, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point reduction in the target range for the federal funds rate, bringing it down to between 4.75% and 5.00%. This marked the first rate cut by the Federal Reserve in four years. It signifies the official transition of the U.S. from the most stringent tightening cycle in 40 years since 2022 to a rate-cutting cycle. As of now, the Federal Reserve has successfully implemented three consecutive rate cuts, bringing the target range for the federal funds rate to 4.25%-4.50%, with a cumulative reduction of 100 basis points in this rate-cutting cycle. It must be acknowledged that macroeconomic easing provides a solid foundation for the rise of the crypto market.

October and November: U.S. Election as the Main Theme, "Bitcoin President" Trump Takes Office

In October and November, the political arena became the headline of the crypto field. On November 5, the world's spotlight focused on the U.S. election, where Trump successfully garnered more than half of the electoral votes, securing victory in this presidential election and officially becoming the 47th president of the United States. The rise of the Bitcoin president sounded the horn for the bull market, and under the most crypto-friendly congressional backdrop in history, crypto regulation entered a new era. Subsequently, Bitcoin soared, breaking through $90,000 in November, surpassing silver for the first time to become the eighth-largest asset by market capitalization globally. On the other hand, Dogecoin also surged, with the government efficiency department led by Musk being established, heating up the PolitiFi discussions. Additionally, November was filled with hotspots, with the DEX theft casting a shadow over the Chinese MEME circle, the DeSci track rising under the celebrity effects of CZ and Vitalik, Sun Yuchen's expensive banana going viral in traditional media, and the emergence of the derivatives dark horse Hyperliquid's native token HYPE, all contributing to a FOMO in the crypto world.

December: South Korea's Martial Law, Bitcoin Breaks $100,000, SEC Chairman Change

At the beginning of December, the South Korean martial law incident dominated the headlines, causing Bitcoin to briefly spike by 30%, and XRP to drop by 60%, once again demonstrating the influence of political situations on the crypto field. However, it is worth noting that a large influx of funds into Upbit successfully took advantage of the situation; sometimes, a misfire can also be a key to a small profit.

On December 5, Bitcoin reached a historical milestone, officially breaking through the $100,000 mark, embarking on the journey to six figures, not only legitimizing digital gold but also being officially recognized by the world for its value storage function, achieving a transformation from experiment to asset, and then to a good asset, marking a phased victory for the financial experiment initiated by Satoshi Nakamoto.

The premise for achieving this goal was favorable policies. As he approached taking office, President Trump began to announce personnel arrangements and policy strategies. Throughout December, the crypto market was largely driven by speculation surrounding Trump. First, the SEC chairman Gary Gensler, who had long been a thorn in the side of crypto, announced he would resign on the day of the president's inauguration, with the new SEC chairman being Paul Atkins, nominated by Trump. Following the formal nomination on December 5, the crypto market began to price in this new chairman, who is significantly pro-crypto and experienced, which in turn helped Bitcoin reach $100,000.

Good news continued to flow; on December 6, Trump nominated David O. Sacks as the White House cryptocurrency and AI director, marking the first time the crypto field has entered the White House, and being placed alongside the strategic AI industry, fully reflecting Trump's emphasis on the crypto field. Institutions began to take notice, and discussions around altcoin ETFs came to the forefront, leading to a quiet arrival of altcoin season, with the crypto market experiencing a broad rally. The FOMO sentiment was briefly interrupted on December 11 when Microsoft shareholders voted against a Bitcoin investment proposal, compounded by concerns over the emergence of quantum chips, leading to a significant drop in Bitcoin, and the market gradually shifted towards sideways consolidation.

The last piece of good news before Christmas was that Microstrategy was included in the Nasdaq 100 index. As the first crypto component stock to be included in the index, it reflects the growing influence of the crypto field, not only broadening investor channels but also marking a watershed moment for crypto companies entering the traditional financial world.

Christmas arrived as expected, and the news cycle came to a halt, with conservative capital flowing back, and the market showing signs of a downward trend. However, it is evident that the crypto bull market has just begun, Trump has yet to officially take office, and the macro environment continues to improve. The potential dragon in the depths of 2024 is about to pass, and in 2025, the sight of the dragon in the fields may be the next step for the crypto market.