12 Most Memorable Crypto Events of 2024

SEC Approves Bitcoin ETF

On January 11, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved proposals to register Bitcoin ETF Spot. These ETFs all come from major fund management companies in the market such as Ark Invest/21Shares, Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Invesco, etc.

It is also the most successful ETF release in world economic history, attracting a total of more than $36 billion in net trading cash flow and approximately $110 billion in assets under management as of now.

In particular, BlackRock's IBIT Bitcoin ETF proved to be the leader, accounting for $54 billion (equivalent to almost 50%) of total assets under management and more than 70% of the market share based on trading volume.

$1.2 Million Bitcoin Transfer Incident

One of the most memorable incidents this year was when an anonymous user sent 26.9 BTC, worth $1.2 million at the time, to Bitcoin's Genesis wallet address.

This is the address created by founder Satoshi Nakamoto and no one has the ability to access or return the money to the victim.

According to blockchain analytics platform Arkham, the transaction originated from a wallet linked to the Binance exchange, which raised the Genesis wallet's total balance to nearly 100 BTC, which is worth nearly $10 million at the moment.

Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

In March, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison and $11 billion in restitution for orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.

In September 2024, Sam Bankman-Fried filed an appeal and asked for a retrial. A month later, former CEO of FTX Digital Markets, Ryan Salame, also began serving 7.5 years in prison.

Meanwhile, former CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, received a lesser sentence of two years in prison.

Dogwifhat NFT sells for $4.3 million

In March, the iconic photo of the dog Achi, the mascot behind the famous memenoin Dogwifhat, was sold as an NFT for $4.3 million to crypto trader Gigantic Rebirth Ventures.

Since then, Achi has become a viral cyber phenomenon throughout the crypto community, leading to the introduction of the Dogwifhat memento. WIF is currently ranked 63rd in the list of tokens with the largest market capitalization with a total capitalization of $2 billion.

This NFT transaction comes just days after investors raised more than $650,000 to project an image of Achi the dog onto Sphere, the world's largest LED globe in Las Vegas. To date, however, this plan has not been implemented.

Bitcoin halving event for the fourth time

The fourth Bitcoin halving event took place in April 2024 in the 840,000 block, splitting the miner's reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This also means that miners now produce only 450 BTC per day compared to 900 BTC previously.

Already programmed from the beginning, the Bitcoin network's halving events will take place about every four years, cutting mining rewards until the last Bitcoin is mined around 2140. From then on, Bitcoin miners will only generate revenue from a portion of the network's transaction fees.

FBI warns crypto investors

Also in April, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned US investors to avoid using crypto services that are not registered as Currency Services Businesses under federal law, in order to prevent financial and legal risks.

The FBI also advised users to check the registration status of cryptocurrency services and companies using the American Financial Crimes Control Network lookup tool, and asked people to avoid using platforms that do not comply with regulations related to KYC clients.

ZKSync airdrop event and large batch of projects

ZKSync is one of the largest and most anticipated token release and airdrop events of the year. Immediately after the airdrop event, ZK's market capitalization quickly reached $1 billion, and was listed on many major exchanges of the market.

ZKSync Era is a layer 2 network designed to enhance Ethereum's scalability using Zero-knowledge proof technology. This technology improves Ethereum's throughput while maintaining core principles of freedom, information autonomy, and decentralization at scale.

Besides ZK, a number of major projects have also launched tokens and airdrops for users in 2024 such as EigenLayer, Scroll, LayerZero, Starknet, Wormhole, Jupiter, Notcoin, Blast, Magic Eden, WalletConnect, Hyperliquid,...

Hamster Kombat with Tap to Earn wave

One of the biggest fads in 2024 is Hamster Kombat and the Tap to Earn game genre from mini-apps on the Telegram platform.

Notcoin's success inspired the founders of the game Hamster Kombat, which contributed to attracting more than 300 million users worldwide along with many newly established records.

Although the airdrop event did not succeed as many players expected, the title remains attractive and is planning to launch a second airdrop within the next two years.

Norwegians pay the price for shutting down a Bitcoin mine

One of the strangest stories of the year took place in September, when residents of a small Norwegian town called for the forced closure of a local Bitcoin mining facility due to noise issues that had been going on for three years.

Residents criticize Bitcoin mining facilities for wasting energy, noise pollution and not being environmentally friendly. Industry advocates, meanwhile, argue that Bitcoin mining can help absorb excess energy, help stabilize the grid and reduce energy costs for surrounding people.

What the people of Stokmarknes probably did not anticipate was that their electricity bills rose by more than 20%, as the local power company Noranett lost a large source of revenue after the mine operated by KryptoVault shut down.

Mt.Gox extends repayment period to 2025

In October, Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox extended the repayment period to October 31, 2025, extending it by one year from the previous deadline of October 31, 2024.

The extension also helped cool concerns about Bitcoin selling pressure after the exchange moved 47,229 BTC earlier this year. However, investors are still worried that Mt.Gox has to pay a total of $9 billion in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and cash to creditors in the near future.

This Tokyo-based exchange was founded in 2010 and quickly became the world's largest Bitcoin trading platform at the time. However, Mt.Gox completely collapsed after 850,000 BTC were stolen in a security attack in 2014.

Donald Trump re-elected US president

Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November, beating his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris, amid overwhelming Republican wins in the House, Senate and White House.

Donald Trump was also the first presidential candidate to express a positive attitude towards the cryptocurrency market with a series of pledges to boost the industry upon his election.

Accordingly, he promised to fire SEC Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and reduce the life sentence of Silk Road crypto black market founder Ross Ulbricht on his first day in office.

At the same time, Donald Trump also pledged to establish a Presidential Advisory Council on Cryptocurrencies, repeal SAB 121, end “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” turn the US into a crypto capital, and create a national-level strategic Bitcoin reserve fund.

MicroStrategy Accelerates in Bitcoin Race

In 2024, MicroStrategy made 17 Bitcoin purchases, currently owning 444,262 BTC with a total value of $43.97 billion and an average price of $62,226 per Bitcoin. According to data from SaylorTracker, the company's Bitcoin investment currently has a return of about 59%, which equates to more than $16.3 billion.

In October, the company announced plans to raise a total of $42 billion through a stock and bond offering to help buy more Bitcoin.

On December 13, the company's MSTR shares officially joined the Nasdaq 100 index, with a total capitalization of nearly $98 billion. The share price has risen more than 500% in 2024, surpassing the ATH established since 2020 and is currently trading at $358.18.