The biggest crypto stories of 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to look back at the year that was and take stock of what happened in the world of crypto. Memecoins have come and gone, Kanosu - the famous Siba Inu behind the ‘Doge’ meme and Dogecoin - sadly passed away, and the price of Bitcoin broke $100,000. Aside from the most attention-grabbing headlines, there were themes and stories that painted the picture of a busy year for crypto, and a lot of development and advancement compared to previous years. 

In this blog, we’ve listed some of the biggest changes and narratives that made an impact across the crypto and blockchain world, and touched a little upon the impact that these could have as we go into 2025. 

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MiCA, MiCA, MiCA

2024 was the year of crypto regulation. Around the world, governments grappled with creating regulatory frameworks that fit their perceptions of crypto. Some were positive, some negative, and others simply tried to understand how it would fit into their existing financial structure. 

One of the biggest pieces of legislation to roll out was the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. The MiCA regulations finally created uniform rules for the EU market with regards to crypto. This began in the summer of this year, forcing every country within the EU to understand and interpret the rules within their existing financial legislation. This came after a long consultation process that started in 2020. There was a phased approach to adoption, with some elements enforced back in June, but the full legislation will come into effect in December 2024. MiCA’s progress has been watched around the globe, as will the impact of its enforcement in 2025. 

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Bitcoin halving 

The first quarter of 2024 was all about when the Bitcoin halving would take place. A Bitcoin halving event takes place about every four years, when the reward for mining Bitcoin is cut in half. These halvings reduce the rate at which new coins are created, lowering the supply available. In the end, the 2024 Bitcoin halving happened on 19 April. The echoes of the halving can be felt in price points throughout the rest of the year and into 2025.

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Central Bank Digital Currencies

CBDCs have boomed in 2024. Around the globe, countries are beginning to look to CBDCs as a way to move into digital assets, bridging the gap between DeFi and CeFi. We published a blog that broke down the development of CBDCs by Q4 of 2024, detailing some of the major CBDC work done so far around the world. China still takes the lead for the most prolific users and development of CBDCs with their digital yuan, but the Gulf states are catching up fast, with not only strong CBDC pilots but also numerous programs to ensure these digital currencies can be used in cross-border transactions and trades, thereby making these currencies arguably stronger and more versatile than the digital yuan going into 2025. 

Some governments are still very cool on the idea of introducing CBDCs, citing regulatory issues and user education, pointing to pilots around the world that folded due to a lack of interest or understanding by citizens. Others have forged ahead, and some such as Australia have diversified outside of retail CBDCs and investigated wholesale CBDCs instead. Ghana leads the way in Africa and has been working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to facilitate cross-border transactions between the two countries. Nigeria’s eNaira failed to receive much uptake but is pivoting, and has gained a lot of interest from private entities. 

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Artificial intelligence

AI was one of the biggest buzzwords of the year. Artificial intelligence has crept into every industry, causing debates about the technology, morality, and integration of AI in all sorts of fields - crypto has not escaped the discussion. In 2024, AI has been driving crypto security, detection, and predictive analysis. It has been particularly popular for securing crypto wallets, detecting unusual patterns, and triggering alerts before something nefarious happens. But artificial intelligence goes beyond security, and investment in AI has been huge throughout 2024. In 2025, we are likely to see what the results of that investment will be. 

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What’s in store next

There’s no way to accurately predict what will happen in 2025, but the first signs are to understand the patterns and stories from the previous year. With these, it becomes more clear where the crypto industry could change, grow or shrink. 

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