The year 2024 marked a historic turning point for the crypto industry, with bitcoin surpassing the symbolic $100,000 mark in December. Between the resounding successes of Bitcoin ETFs and the colossal losses due to hacks, this year has been full of twists and turns for the crypto sector.
A record year for hodlers and institutions
The crypto market has undergone a major transformation in 2024, propelled by mass institutional adoption and regulatory validation in the United States. On December 5, bitcoin crossed the $100,000 threshold for the first time, driven by a favorable political context and the historic approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the SEC in January. This rally peaked at $108,000 in mid-December, allowing 87% of holders to make substantial profits.
MicroStrategy has become the perfect example of this institutional success, with bitcoin reserves reaching $42 billion at the end of December. El Salvador has also seen its strategy of adopting bitcoin as legal tender pay off, with its 5,942 BTC now worth $576 million. In their wake, many companies like Metaplanet and Rumble have integrated bitcoin into their treasury.
Additionally, Bitcoin ETFs have been wildly successful, surpassing gold funds with $129 billion in assets under management as of December. Furthermore, the memecoin sector is not left out, with a total capitalization of $104 billion, driven by the impressive performances of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
Hacks and setbacks, the other side of crypto in 2024
The year was also marked by an increase in malicious activitieswith losses totaling $2.2 billion across 303 incidents. The largest heist hit the Japanese stock exchange DMM in May, with $300 million stolen by suspected North Korean hackers. PlayDapp and WazirX also suffered major losses of $290 million and $235 million, respectively.
Crypto lawyers were the big winners from these setbacks, raking in more than $751 million in fees just for Chapter 11 bankruptcies. The SEC kept up the regulatory pressure, obtaining $8.2 billion in financial relief on the fiscal year.
The “paper hands” and the latecomers missed the opportunity of the century. Germany notably sold 50,000 BTC seized at $57,000, missing the rise towards $100,000. The United States also liquidated 19,800 BTC to its disadvantage, although it still retains 183,850 BTC.
This year 2024 will go down in history as that of the maturity of the crypto market, marked by historic institutional successes, but also by the persistence of the risks inherent to this constantly evolving industry.
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