The bizarre year of 2024: What are the memorable stories on and off the chain?

Author: J1N, Techub News

The cryptocurrency market in 2024 is full of twists and turns and challenges. At the beginning of the year, the US Bitcoin spot ETF was officially launched; at the end of the year, Bitcoin broke through $100,000. In the meantime, DCG's bankruptcy crisis was resolved, Mt.Gox repaid $7 billion in Bitcoin debt; the global cryptocurrency field entered a new stage of compliance. Hong Kong, China launched Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, Russian President Putin officially signed the digital currency taxation law, and Trump was elected as the US president as a supporter of the crypto field. Various events have affected the entire cryptocurrency market. Today, we will review the monthly major events in the cryptocurrency market in 2024.

January

US Bitcoin spot ETF officially launched: the end of a decade of extreme tug-of-war

On January 11, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially approved 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs including VanEck, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin, Valkyrie, Hashdex, Ark Invest, Grayscale, BlackRock, WisdomTree and Invesco Galaxy. After the news was released, the price of Bitcoin fluctuated sharply, breaking through 47,000 USDT for a short time and then falling below 45,000 USDT. Previously, there was an oolong incident in which the official account of the SEC was stolen, which caused the maximum intraday decline of Bitcoin to exceed 7%.

DCG announced that it has repaid all short-term loans from Genesis and has repaid more than $1 billion in debt

On January 8, Digital Currency Group (DCG) announced that it had repaid all short-term loans from Genesis. Over the past year or so, DCG has repaid more than $1 billion in debt to creditors, including nearly $700 million in Genesis debt, fulfilling the repayment requirements for all current debts due.

Memecoin platform Pump.fun officially launched

Pump.fun is a one-stop Memecoin trading platform on Solana, where users can create tokens and trade them immediately. The platform was officially launched on January 19, 2024. As of January 2, 2025, a total of 1.5 million SOL (worth approximately $300 million) has been deposited into the Kraken address through this.

February

Genesis and the SEC reached a settlement on the Gemini Earn-related lawsuit and agreed to pay a $21 million fine

On February 2, according to Bloomberg, Genesis has reached a settlement with the SEC on the Gemini Earn project-related lawsuit, agreeing to pay the SEC a $21 million civil penalty to end the lawsuit. Gemini Earn is jointly operated by Genesis and Gemini. The SEC accused it of violating securities laws. Genesis and Gemini denied any wrongdoing. Genesis stated in court documents that the settlement agreement will avoid further litigation with the SEC, thereby saving cash flow.

March

On March 8, Bitcoin broke through 70,000 USDT, setting a record high since November 2021

Market value exceeded 100 million in 30 minutes: Slerf "Oh Fxxk"

On March 18, @Slerfsol, the founder of the Slerf project, tweeted that he had destroyed LP and airdrop reserved tokens due to misoperation, and the minting rights had been revoked. He was powerless and even cried in Space with real emotion. It was thought that the meme project SLERF, which raised more than 50,000 SOLs, would die, but it was unexpected that this move made SLERF break the previous record of BOME's market value exceeding 100 million in 9 hours. In just 30 minutes, SLERF's market value exceeded 100 million, becoming a meme.

BlackRock Launches BUIDL, the First Tokenized Fund on Ethereum

On March 20, BlackRock launched its first tokenized fund issued on Ethereum, "BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL for short)". BUIDL will subscribe to the fund through Securitize Markets, LLC, providing qualified investors with the opportunity to earn US dollar returns. BUIDL seeks to provide a stable value of $1 per token and pays daily accrued dividends directly to investors' wallets as new tokens every month. The fund invests 100% of total assets in cash, U.S. Treasuries, and repurchase agreements. BUIDL's initial ecosystem participants include Anchorage Digital Bank NA, BitGo, Coinbase, and Fireblocks, as well as other market participants and infrastructure providers in the crypto industry.

April

Uniswap and other projects received the SEC's Wells Notice

On April 10, Uniswap Labs received a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The founder of Uniswap Labs said, I am not surprised, but annoyed, disappointed, and ready to fight back. We will not stop operating. I believe that the products we provide are legal and our work is correct from a historical perspective. But it’s clear that the SEC has not worked to develop clear and sensible rules for so long, and has decided to focus on attacking long-term builders like Uniswap and Coinbase. Meanwhile, bad actors like FTX are at large.

The SEC’s Wells Notice is a formal notice that tells the recipient that the regulator plans to take enforcement action against it.

Bitcoin Block Reward Halving

On April 20, 2024, Bitcoin ushered in its quadrennial block reward halving event. This halving reduced the mining reward for each block from 6.25 bitcoins to 3.125 bitcoins, further reducing the supply of bitcoin.

Hong Kong virtual asset spot ETF approved for listing

The first batch of Hong Kong Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETF products applied for by the Hong Kong subsidiaries of China Asset Management, Bosera and Harvest Fund Management have been formally approved by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission. Subsequently, on April 30, they were officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

According to Futu NiuNiu data, as of the first day of trading, the total trading volume of the first six virtual asset spot ETFs issued in Hong Kong was approximately HK$87.58 million, of which Hua Xia Bitcoin ETF (3042.HK) had a trading volume of HK$37.16 million, Hua Xia Ethereum ETF (3046.HK) had a trading volume of HK$12.66 million, Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF (3008.HK) had a trading volume of HK$12.44 million, Bosera HashKey Ethereum ETF (3009.HK) had a trading volume of HK$2.48 million, Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF (3439.HK) had a trading volume of HK$17.89 million, and Harvest Ethereum Spot ETF (3179.HK) had a trading volume of HK$4.95 million.

May

Changpeng Zhao Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison

On May 1, Changpeng Zhao, former CEO of the crypto exchange Binance, received a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws because he failed to implement an effective anti-money laundering framework within the deadline, causing Binance to become a financial platform that condones cybercrime and terrorist activities.

The judge rejected the 36-month sentence recommended by the Department of Justice, and Zhao Changpeng was eventually sentenced to four months in prison by the Seattle Federal Court. U.S. District Judge Richard told Zhao Changpeng, "You had the ability, financial resources, and manpower to ensure compliance with every regulation, but you missed this opportunity."

In November 2023, U.S. Department of Justice officials said that Binance admitted to participating in suspected money laundering, unlicensed remittances, and sanctions violations, and agreed to pay a fine of approximately $4.3 billion; at the same time, Zhao Changpeng admitted that he had failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and had resigned as Binance CEO.

As part of the plea agreement, Binance agreed to forfeit $2.51 billion and pay a criminal fine of $1.81 billion, for a total of $4.32 billion. Binance also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for three years to correct and strengthen its anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs.

After accepting the punishment from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced in December 2023 that it would impose a $2.85 billion penalty on Binance and Zhao Changpeng. Together with the $4.32 billion settlement amount from the U.S. Department of Justice, Binance and Zhao Changpeng have paid a total of $7.17 billion in fines.

Mt.Gox transfers more than $7 billion worth of Bitcoin to prepare for debt repayment

On May 28, the Mt. Gox wallet address transferred more than 107,000 bitcoins worth about $7 billion to a new address. Mt. Gox said this was in preparation for repaying creditors before October 31, 2024.

June

FTX and the IRS reached a settlement agreement on a $24 billion tax claim. The settlement amount is only a small fraction of the amount the IRS claimed to owe, which will help FTX pay a large number of customer compensation. The IRS will receive a priority claim of $200 million in the FTX bankruptcy case and will pay it within 60 days after the company's proposed restructuring plan takes effect.

Hong Kong SFC requires all licensed exchanges to not have mainland Chinese users and sign a letter of commitment

On June 1, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) required all applicants for virtual asset trading platform licenses to sign a letter of commitment, promising that any of its entities cannot have mainland Chinese users in any region. This requirement has made it impossible for traditional offshore exchanges to meet it. Binance, OKX, HTX, Bybit Gate and others have withdrawn their applications for Hong Kong licenses. OKX tried to form an industry alliance to oppose this requirement but ultimately failed. However, industry insiders said that the withdrawn entities can apply again in the future after updating the legal entity or framework, but they should not be able to apply using brands similar to offshore exchanges.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Paul Assange reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and will regain his freedom and return to Australia after pleading guilty

On June 25, documents from the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands showed that 52-year-old Julian Paul Assange agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to obtain and disclose U.S. defense secrets, and reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to regain his freedom and return to Australia after pleading guilty.

The South Korean State Council passed the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" executive order, which will take effect on July 19

On June 25, the South Korean State Council passed the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" executive order, which will take effect on July 19. The decree aims to protect virtual asset users and regulate the order of the virtual asset market. According to the new law, virtual asset service providers (VASPs) are required to protect user deposits through banks and isolate users' virtual assets from the Internet to prevent risks such as hacker attacks.

VanEck, ARK 21Shares Submit Solana Spot ETF S-1 Documents to SEC

On June 28, VanEck and 21Shares submitted S-1 documents for Solana spot ETF in the United States. Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said in an interview that whether VanEck's application for spot Solana ETF can be approved depends largely on the results of the 2024 US presidential election and whether Gary Gensler continues to serve as chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). VanEck submitted an application for spot Solana ETF last week, followed by 21Shares. Matthew Sigel pointed out that as the regulatory environment in Washington changes, several Democratic lawmakers have begun to support crypto legislation, and crypto voters may play a key role in this election. He also mentioned that if Ethereum-related products are approved for trading, it will confirm their commodity status and believes that Solana should do the same.

July

SEC Abandons PAXOS Investigation, Determines BUSD Is Not a Security

On July 11, the SEC decided to close its investigation into New York-based stablecoin issuer Paxos, determining that BUSD is not a security. On July 9, Jorge Tenreiro, acting director of the Crypto Assets and Networks Division, said in a letter to Fortune that he had no intention of recommending enforcement action. More than a year ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Wells Notice, or notice of impending enforcement action, to Paxos for the dollar-backed BUSD stablecoin issued by Paxos in partnership with Binance.

Paxos strategy director Walter Hessert said in an interview: "The official end of this investigation is a huge relief for us. This is what we have been expecting, and it should indeed create more certainty for the market, and we see more and more large companies joining in."

German government address sells 50,000 bitcoins in one month, worth about $3.3 billion

On July 13, the 24-day sell-off of the German government address ended, with a total of 50,179 bitcoins sold, worth about $3.3 billion. Lennart Ante, co-founder and CEO of the German Blockchain Research Lab Blockchain Research Lab, pointed out that the German law enforcement agency's sale of Bitcoin is not an investment strategy, but a standard procedure for confiscating assets in criminal investigations. In addition, the analysis found that it was not the German government itself that sold the Bitcoin, but a small state in eastern Germany called Saxony. The Saxony Attorney General's Office is responsible for liquidating confiscated assets, so the asset sell-off is not surprising, as the seized assets need to be liquidated within a certain period of time, which is a routine business process, although this time the scale is larger than normal.

In most cases, confiscated assets can only be transferred or sold if a judge rules that the state government is allowed to do so, and the proceeds will go into the state budget, but this is not the case in this case, but the states can request to initiate an emergency sale, for example, if the value of the asset may depreciate rapidly or it is difficult to store, an emergency sale can be initiated.

US Ethereum Spot ETF Officially Launched

On July 23, according to official information from the US SEC, it has officially approved 9 S-1 applications from ETF issuers, and Ethereum spot ETFs have been officially approved for listing and trading, including Grayscale and Bitwise Ethereum spot ETFs listed on the New York Stock Exchange Arca, BlackRock iShares Ethereum spot ETF listed on Nasdaq, and VanEck, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, Fidelity and Franklin Ethereum spot ETFs listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange BZX.

After years of struggle and bargaining with regulators, Ethereum has finally entered the US ETF trading market after Bitcoin. The approval of the Ethereum spot ETF will be another important milestone in the history of the cryptocurrency field, and it also indicates that the regulation around the crypto industry has officially broken the ice and entered a mature regulatory pattern dominated by market demand and centered on innovation.

Trump: A national Bitcoin reserve will be established in the United States

On July 27, Trump, the then Republican presidential candidate for the United States, said at the Bitcoin Conference (bitcoin2024) held in Nashville, Tennessee, that "If we don't accept cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin technology, China will accept it, and other countries will accept it. They will dominate, and we can't let China dominate. They have made too much progress."

Trump talked about establishing a presidential advisory committee on cryptocurrencies and using the cryptocurrencies currently held by the U.S. government, most of which have been seized in law enforcement actions, to establish a national Bitcoin reserve.

August

Telegram co-founder and CEO arrested in France

On August 25, Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France. Durov was arrested by the French National Anti-Fraud Office after arriving in France from Azerbaijan on a private plane. The reason for the arrest is allegedly related to illegal activities on the Telegram platform, including facilitating terrorism, drug and stolen goods sales, fraud, etc.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority launches Ensemble project sandbox to promote tokenized applications

On August 28, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s official website announced that the Ensemble project sandbox launch ceremony was held today, announcing that the first phase of the trial will cover four major tokenized asset use case themes, marking an important step forward in the financial industry’s actual application of tokenization technology.

September

The pygmy hippopotamus Moo Deng swept the world, and the memecoin of the same name exceeded the market value of 300 million US dollars

A two-month-old pygmy hippopotamus Moo Deng (Bouncing Pig) in Chonburi Zoo, Thailand, quickly became popular due to its funny interaction with the keeper, becoming a famous network meme and being made into various meme pictures. Hippo fever also swept the crypto circle. On September 10, the memecoin of the same name was born on Solana, and the market value exceeded 300 million US dollars at the end of the month.

Changpeng Zhao is released from prison

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao will be released from prison on September 29 and is currently undergoing preparation and assessment before reentry into society at the Long Beach Residential Reentry Management (RRM) in central California. The "Reintegration Administration", also known as the "Halfway House", mainly serves as the local liaison between the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the federal courts, the U.S. Marshals Service, and state and local correctional institutions. It signs contracts with federal prisons to provide necessary assistance and support to prisoners who are about to be released to ensure that they can smoothly transition to social life

October

The President of El Salvador proposed to "rent 170 volcanoes to Bitcoin miners" and plans to promote the introduction of geothermal energy bill

On October 4, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele issued a statement saying that miners can use geothermal energy generated by volcanoes to reduce mining costs. El Salvador has successfully used geothermal energy to mine 474 bitcoins, worth about $46 million. Bukele pointed out that El Salvador has 170 volcanoes and is a rich energy treasure trove that attracts miners from all over the world. He wrote: "With 170 volcanoes, it actually makes sense to launch a 'rent a volcano to mine Bitcoin' program." In response, Daniel Alvarez, director of the General Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines of El Salvador, said that the team will start drafting a new geothermal energy bill to support the implementation of the plan.

US judge approves FTX bankruptcy plan to fully repay cryptocurrency customers in cash plus interest

On November 8, John Dorsey, a judge of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, decided to approve FTX's bankruptcy plan at a hearing, and will fully repay cryptocurrency customers in cash plus interest. Under the plan, 98% of creditors will receive at least 118% of the value of their claims in cash. FTX lawyers said they are still considering distributing stablecoins to creditors as an option and confirmed that they are in discussions with at least four companies that can handle such distributions if necessary.

AI Agent exploded, GOAT exceeded $1 billion within one month of listing

On October 10, a16z founder, Marc Andreeson, provided Andy and AI @truth_terminal with a $50,000 research grant, and then @truth_terminal launched GOAT, which triggered a new wave of AI Agent topics, and its market value exceeded $1 billion within one month of listing.

November

MAS of Singapore promotes commercialization of asset tokenization

On November 5, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced a number of measures to promote the commercialization of asset tokenization. MAS draws lessons from multiple projects and develops a new framework to provide guidance. At the first MAS Layer One Summit, Vice President Liang Xingqiang reviewed the success of large financial institutions participating in Project Guardian in testing tokenization of foreign exchange and funds. The Project Guardian industry group released two tokenization implementation frameworks: the Guardian Fixed Income Framework and the Guardian Fund Framework. SGD Testnet will provide wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Singapore dollars for payment and securities settlement. Project Orchid developed use cases for retail CBDC and introduced the concept of purpose-bound currency.

On November 12, Bitcoin broke through 90,000 USDT

The market value of Bitcoin has risen to 1.758 trillion US dollars, surpassing silver's 1.732 trillion US dollars, and ranked 8th in the world's market value.

Polish presidential candidate: Bitcoin strategic reserve will be adopted if elected

On November 18, Polish presidential candidate Sławomir Mentzen promised to adopt Bitcoin strategic reserve if elected.

Russian President Putin officially signed the law on taxation of digital currency, and digital currency was recognized as property

On November 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law regulating the taxation of digital currency. According to the law, digital currency is recognized as property. This also applies to currencies used for foreign trade payments "within the framework of the experimental legal system (EPR) in the field of digital innovation." The mining and sale of digital currencies are not subject to VAT.

Operators of mining infrastructure must report to the tax authorities for the issuance of cryptocurrencies using their services. Failure to transmit such information on time may result in a fine of 40,000 rubles. For personal income tax purposes, digital currency obtained through mining will be classified as income in kind (a term usually used when payment is made with goods or services instead of money). The value of the currency obtained will be determined based on market quotations.

Such income will be taxed at the usual progressive rates, taking into account tax deductions for the amount of mining expenses. At the same time, income from the acquisition, sale or other circulation of digital currency will be taxed at a two-stage personal income tax rate (13% for income up to 2.4 million rubles and 15% for income exceeding this amount). They will be included in the same tax base as income from trading in securities, bank deposits and other sources. For corporate income tax purposes, digital currency mining will be taxed at the standard rate (25% from 2025).

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Reorganizes Web3 and Crypto Policy Department

On November 29, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reorganized the Web3 and cryptocurrency policy-making department. Digital Minister Masaaki Taira recently stated that the Liberal Democratic Party will dissolve the existing Web3 Project Team (PT) and instead set up a special agency in the party's digital society promotion department, led by former Web3 PT Secretary-General Akihisa Shiozaki. Previously, Shigeru Ishiba's campaign platform showed that the government plans to use blockchain technology and NFT to promote local development projects and raise the value of local products such as food and tourism experiences to global levels.

December

The South Korean president issued a martial law order, and the Upbit platform Bitcoin had a negative premium and fell below 72,000 USDT

On December 3, the South Korean president issued a martial law order. Members of the South Korean opposition party said that the entrance to the parliament was blocked and they tried to overturn the martial law order issued by South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol. Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said that Yoon Seok-yeol's declaration of martial law was illegal and unconstitutional.

Perhaps affected by this incident, the Korean cryptocurrency was delivered to Upbit. Bitcoin had a serious negative premium. Bitcoin on Upbit had a negative premium and fell below 72,000 USDT. XRP fell 60% in a short period of time, and the USDC/USDT exchange rate rose to 1.2.

Microsoft shareholders vote against Bitcoin investment proposal

On December 11, Microsoft's major shareholders voted against the company's Bitcoin investment proposal on Tuesday. Previously, Microsoft's board of directors urged shareholders to reject a recommendation from the National Center for Public Policy Research that Microsoft invest 1% of its total assets in Bitcoin to hedge against inflation. At the annual shareholders meeting, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor gave a three-minute speech trying to convince Microsoft shareholders to support the proposal. But the final voting results showed that shareholders failed to accept the proposal. Currently, Microsoft's largest shareholders are major institutional investors such as Vanguard and BlackRock.

On December 12, Bitcoin broke through 108,000 USDT