Year in Retrospect: Crypto Initiatives, Adoption, and Regulation in 2024

If 2023 was a year of cautious optimism for the crypto industry, 2024 turned out to be a year of transformation and significant milestones. From remarkable price gains to groundbreaking technological advancements and notable regulatory milestones, this year has demonstrated the resilience and potential of the cryptocurrency ecosystem

For many, the highlights of 2024 have been a testament to the maturing ecosystem, proving that crypto is here to stay and evolving faster than ever. What were your best moments? We can’t decide!

As we bid adieu to the year 2024, let’s dive into the monumental moments and milestones that made this year unforgettable.

January
Jan 1: Bitcoin began the year trading at $42,280,  ETH traded at 2,200

Jan 3: Crypto community  celebrates Bitcoin’s 15th Anniversary 

January 3: The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) token saw an 80% surge in value after Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, Publicly Recognized and praised it. 

January 4:  The Central Bank of nigeria announced regulations permitting crypto firms to access banking services 

January 8: Standard Chartered Bank predicts bitcoin could soar to $200,000 by the end of 2025.

January 10: 11 Bitcoin ETFs were approved by the US SEC, and Bitcoin’s price soared to $47,130 while the crypto fear index soared to 76/100 for the first time since November 2021.

January 11: Circle, Issuer of USD Coin, Files for IPO in the US

January 11: Yellow Card and Coinbase announce strategic partnership to expand digital access to digital assets with Coinbase integrating Yellow Card’s onramp/off-ramp

January 16: Bitcoin ETFs smashed records and generated an impressive $1.8 billion in daily trading volume —over three times the combined volume of all 500 ETFs launched in 2023.

January 16: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) temporarily suspends reporting obligations for transactions exceeding $10,000

January 17:  The highly-anticipated Ethereum Dencun upgrade has gone live on the Goerli testnet

January 17: Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital, predicts Bitcoin will hit $170,000 by mid-2025.

January 19: A report reveals that the global number of cryptocurrency owners witnessed a significant surge of 34% in 2023, reaching a total of 580 million by December. 

February

February 5: Solana’s much-anticipated "Chapter 2" crypto phone amassed over 60,000 preorders ahead of its scheduled 2025 launch.

February 6: Solana experienced its first outage of the year, sparking discussions about network resilience.

February 20: Bitcoin soared past $52,800, marking its highest price since December 2021, while Ethereum shattered the $3,000 threshold for the first time in 22 months.

February 20: Renowned financial educator and "Rich Dad Poor Dad" author Robert Kiyosaki predicts the price will soar to $100,000 by June 2024. 

February 20: Stellar introduces smart contracts after 16 months of testing, expanding its capabilities for developers.

February 21: Circle announces the halt of USDC minting on the Tron network, announcing support will continue until February 2025. 

February 23: Yellow Card welcomes USDC on the Stellar Network.

February 28: The crypto market cap soars to $2.5 trillion, joining the top ten largest assets by market capitalisation. Microstrategy purchased an additional 3,000BTC while Bitcoin ETFs successfully recorded 300,000BTC in total inflows worth $ 17 billion. 

March

March 5: Bitcoin smashed through its previous all-time high, surpassing the $69,000 mark, Tether crosses the $100 billion market cap, and ETH soars to $3,800.

March 6: Binance launches a luxury fragrance for women called “Crypto” in celebration of International Women’s Day.

March 8: Tether co-founder William Quigley suggests that BTC could surge to $300,000 at the peak of a bull run. Renowned author of the award-winning book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki also predicts Bitcoin could hit $300,000 by the end of 2024. 

March 8: Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer noted that Bitcoin could exceed $200,000 in 2024 because of the "massive supply-demand dynamic."

March 13: Ethereum launched the Dencun upgrade on its mainnet.
March 13: South Africa announces plan to grant licenses to approximately 60 cryptocurrency platforms. 

March 17: Cardano introduces its fiat-backed stablecoin, USDM

March 18: Standard Chartered, a global financial powerhouse, revised its previous Bitcoin price forecast to $150,000 by year-end and a staggering $250,000 by 2025.

March 22: Google integrates Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains into its search results, allowing users to view wallet balances directly, thereby simplifying crypto transactions

March 24: The European Parliament approved new regulations under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, which provides guidelines on operations for crypto-asset service providers.
March 26:  Robert Kiyosaki, the author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," adjusted his Bitcoin price prediction, foreseeing the cryptocurrency hitting $100,000 by September

March 28: Bitcoin attains a new ATH of $73,750, ETH soars to $4,000, and Bitcoin ETFs hit $ 1 billion in daily inflows. Four Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC, secured positions among the top 30 asset funds globally within just 50 days of trading.

April

April 1: Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to around 25 years in prison for his role in the FTX exchange collapse. 

April 4:  Ripple announces plans to launch a stablecoin pegged to the dollar.
April 11: TON Coin flips Cardano to become the 8th largest cryptocurrency by market cap as the number of accounts on its network soars to 12 million. 

April 11: Ethereum developers announce plans for a new upgrade, Petra, that will enhance wallet functionality by integrating Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074.

April 15: South Korea’s Won becomes the world’s most-traded fiat currency against cryptocurrencies in the first quarter of 2024.

April 18: Bitcoin trades at $64,000 and Ethereum at $3,100.

April 20:  Bitcoin halving takes place, and Bitcoin’s price drops to $63,500. 

April 24: A KPMG survey reveals that 39% of Canadian institutional investors now hold crypto assets, a notable increase from 31% in 2021.

April 25: Nigeria appoints crypto-friendly Emomotimi Agama as the new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

May

May 1: Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, is sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws.

May 2: Tether reports $4.52 billion profit in Q1 and announces partnership with Chainanalysis to ensure compliance. 

May 5: At 9:34 pm UTC on May 5, Bitcoin hits 1 billion transactions. This milestone comes 15 years, four months, and four days after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the network’s first block on January 3, 2009.

May 6: Global asset management firm Alliance Bernstein predicts Bitcoin will rise to $150,000 by 2025.

May 11: Onchain Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo forecasts BTC to reach $1 million within the next decade, envisioning it as a future reserve currency.

May 11: In Ghana, Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia announced plans for the country to become the first in Africa to adopt blockchain technology across its government operations.

May 12: El Salvador launches a new treasury holdings site through its Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), allowing the public to verify the nation's bitcoin holdings and confirm the purchase of one bitcoin per day

May 20: Bitcoin enthusiast Dadvan Yousuf scaled Mount Everest and proudly displayed a Bitcoin flag at the summit.

May 21: The US SEC approved eight spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), noting they must complete S-1 registration statements before trading. Geoff Kendrick from Standard Chartered highlighted that the approval could propel Ethereum to reach as high as $8,000 by year-end.

May 22: This crypto community celebrates the 14th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day.

May 29: Grammy-nominated artist Davido launches his own meme coin, $DAVIDO, which later loses 80% of its value due to investor sell-offs. 

June

June 4: Australia’s first spot Bitcoin ETF goes live.

June 5: VanEck, a prominent asset manager, forecasts that Ethereum could reach $22,000 by 2030.

June 12: Bitcoin’s price surged past the $70,000 mark for the first time in several weeks, reaching $71,000 while ETH traded at 3,800. Terraform Labs and its former CEO, Do Kwon, agree to pay the US SEC $4.5 billion in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

June 12: Circle announced it would roll out support for the Solana blockchain across its Web3 services in two phases.

June 15: The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reports that 94% of central banks are exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with a focus on wholesale applications.

June 17: Tether launches a gold-backed U.S. dollar stablecoin named Alloy.

June 19: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially declared that ETH was not a security. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire predicts that stablecoins could represent 10% of global economic money within the next decade.

June 19: Argentina’s President Javier Milei endorsed the use of Bitcoin and other digital assets.

June 24: Bitcoin drops below $60,000 for the first time since May 3, 2024, and ETH to $3,200, spurred by news that defunct Mt.Gox will return 140,000 BTC to its clients starting in July. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 30, marking its lowest level in 18 months.

June 25: Michael Saylor predicts that Bitcoin will attain $10 million per coin, noting its finite supply and decentralised nature make it "perfect money" compared to traditional currencies.

June 25: Solana Foundation introduces Solana Actions and blockchain links (or “blinks”), allowing users to perform Solana transactions via shareable links on websites, social media platforms, and QR codes. 

June 25: Cardano successfully counters a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. 

June 26: Bitwise predicts that Ethereum spot ETFs will attract over $15 billion in net inflows within the first 18 months of their launch in the U.S.

July

July 1: Circle becomes the first global stablecoin issuer to secure regulatory approval under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. 

July 4: In Q2, Web3 applications experienced a milestone as daily unique active wallets (dUAW) reached a record high of 10 million, marking a 40% increase from the previous quarter.  NFT also recorded $4 billion in trading volume, which is the highest since Q1 2023.

July 4: Femi Akinola is celebrated by the crypto community after 90 Solana tokens valued at $14,000 that a foreign trader mistakenly sent to him were returned. 

July 5: Nigeria SEC introduces guidelines for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). 

July 8: Tether (USDT) emerged as the most traded cryptocurrency, surpassing the combined 24-hour trading volumes of top digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, Solana, and First Digital USD.

July 9: Bitcoin dipped to $54,000, ETH dropped to $2,800, and the Crypto Fear & Greed Index plummeted to 27 (extreme fear), the lowest since January 2023. 

July 12: In 2023, Seychelles and South Africa emerged as the dominant hubs for blockchain innovation and investment in Africa, accounting for 95% of the continent's venture funding in the blockchain sector.

July 22:  US SEC approves Ethereum ETFs for trading, and Ethereum celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its initial coin offering (ICO). 

July 23: At 9:30 AM Eastern Time, Ethereum ETFs start trading, amassing a trading volume of $361 million within the first 90 minutes.

August

August 20: Yellow Card integrates Fireblocks to streamline cross-border transactions in Africa.

August 24: Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov was reportedly arrested in France on a range of charges, including terrorism, trafficking, conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering, and the price of TON coin dropped following the news. 

August 28: Australia’s Bitcoin ATMs soar from just 73 in September 2022 to over 1,160 installations in 2024, positioning it as the third-largest market globally, behind the US and Canada.

August 29: Nigeria's SEC grants approval in principle to two digital asset exchanges

August 30: The Crypto Wealth Report 2024 notes that 85,400 individuals hold over $1 million in Bitcoin, a 111% rise from 2023.

August 31: PayPal’s PYUSD becomes the fifth-largest stablecoin with a market cap of $1 billion.

September

September 1: Cardano completes the first phase of its Chang hard fork, marking a new era for the network. 

September 3: Ripple reveals plans to introduce smart contracts to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), aiming to broaden the network's capabilities and attract developers.

September 9: India emerges as the world leader in cryptocurrency adoption for 2024, topping Chainalysis’ Global Crypto Adoption Index for the second consecutive year.

September 10: Standard Chartered launches a digital asset custody service in the UAE, focusing on secure storage of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

September 19: Louisiana becomes the first state in the US to accept cryptocurrency for state services.

October

October 1: Bitwise files for a Ripple (XRP) ETF. 

October 3: Standard Chartered suggests that investors should use Bitcoin’s price as an opportunity to buy the dip.  

October 3: PayPal completes its first business payment using its PYUSD stablecoin for Accounting giant Ernst & Young.
October  7: Tether celebrates its 10th anniversary and reveals its user base surged to 350 million in 2024, marking a 24% increase from the previous year.

October  8: Cardano launches its first legally enforceable contract on its blockchain network in Australia. TON coin has hit a major milestone by surpassing 100 million unique holders

October 9: The HBO documentary "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery" concludes without solving the mystery of who Satoshi Nakamoto is. 

October 10: South Korea officially allows the division of cryptocurrency holdings in divorce settlements, recognising crypto as marital property.

October 16: Yellow Card closes US$33M Series C funding round to drive global expansion.

October 17: Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) attain a milestone, crossing the $20 billion mark in total net inflows.

October 19: Solana records a surge in activity, with its monthly active address count surpassing 100 million, a sharp increase from the 509,000 recorded at the start of 2024.

October 20: Tether reports a milestone of  $120 billion USDT in net circulation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) introduced a virtual handbook aimed at accelerating the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

October 21: Yellow Card enables free transfers for stablecoins across multiple networks.

October 21: The National Bank of Bahrain launched its first Bitcoin investment fund for institutional investors, offering exposure to Bitcoin gains with full downside protection.

October 21:  Zanzibar launched its new blockchain sandbox, the National Blockchain Network, to help innovative tech startups experiment with blockchain technology. 

October 23: Solana’s total value locked (TVL) surged to $6.4 billion and surpassed Ethereum, with its DEX volume exceeding $2 billion.

October 25: Yellow Card introduces TON Coin to the list of coins on its platform.

October 28: The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) announced the launch of Asia's first EU-regulated crypto index, the “Virtual Asset Index Series.”

October 31: Satoshi Nakamoto's famous Bitcoin whitepaper,  “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” turned 16.

November

November 4: The Ethereum community celebrates the 11th anniversary of its original white paper, “proto-white paper. 

November 7: Detroit positioned itself as a leader in crypto adoption by becoming the largest US city to accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and fees.

November 8: Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $76,873, fueled by the buzz surrounding the 2024 U.S. presidential election. 

November 8: Binance Research reports that decentralised applications (dApps) generated $164 million in revenue in October. 

November 20: Yellow Card secures Crypto Asset Service Provider Licence (CASP) in South Africa.

November 26: Morocco’s Central Bank announces that it is drafting laws to legalise cryptocurrencies.

December

December 1: Ripple’s market cap surged past $110 billion, and it temporarily overtook Tethe as the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap. 

December  5: Bitcoin hits a new ATH of $103.900 while Ethereum soars to $3,800.

2024 has truly been that year for the crypto world. It wasn’t just about soaring prices, though Bitcoin and Ethereum definitely hit some historic highs. This year brought game-changing regulations, groundbreaking innovations, and a wave of adoption milestones that proved just how far the industry has come.

As we wrap up 2024, the momentum in the crypto space leaves us eagerly anticipating what lies ahead. With exciting milestones like Ripple’s stablecoin launch and Morocco’s progressive crypto laws already in motion, the groundwork for further innovation and adoption is being laid. These are just a glimpse of what’s to come, and if industry predictions hold true, 2025 could bring even greater price gains and technological breakthroughs. 

 Here’s to an even more remarkable year ahead! Happy HODL-days!