Whaleinsider top cryptocurrency news of 2024

This is our last post for 2024, and what a year it has been! In twelve seemingly short months, the year 2024 comes to an end today. Day after day, week after week, and month after month, we stayed focused and determined to bring our readers the latest cryptocurrency news and analyses for both industry newcomers and seasoned investors alike around the world as they unfolded. 

For the cryptocurrency industry, 2024 has been a historic year, full of significant innovations and dramatic changes. Here are the major cryptocurrency headlines that garnered media attention this year.

Bitcoin halving event in April

The much-anticipated fourth Bitcoin halving event, which is expected to reduce the reward for mining new blocks by 50%, from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block, took place on April 19, 2024. The network's economic dynamics were significantly impacted by this event, even though average transaction fees unexpectedly decreased along with the decline in mining rewards.

Binance founder CZ sent to prison

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) pleaded guilty to violating US money-laundering laws and was given a four-month prison sentence. United States District Judge Richard Jones of Seattle sentenced Zhao, 47, after rejecting the prosecution's request for a three-year sentence.

Zhao was released from a California correctional facility after serving his prison sentence for violating anti-money laundering procedures on his exchange, Binance. In October the founder made his first public address while speaking at a two-day conference in Dubai since his release from US prison.

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX suffered a $230 million loss

The leading cryptocurrency exchange in India, WazirX, was the target of an exploit in July that cost more than $230 million, according to on-chain security company Cyvers. A significant cybersecurity incident occurred when the hacker stole over $100 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB), 20 million MATIC tokens, valued at $11 million, 640 billion PEPE tokens, valued at $7.5 million, 5.7 million USDT, and 135 million GALA tokens, valued at $3.5 million. 

WazirX hacker transfers $6.5 million in Ethereum to Tornado Cash

Ethereum worth $6.5 million appears to have been moved to the U.S.-sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash by the group of hackers responsible for the July 18 crypto theft on WazirX, the largest exchange in India. In addition, the group transferred $12 million in stolen ether (5,000 ETH) to the mixing service Tornado Cash. The WazirX hack is believed to have been carried out by the North Korean Lazarus Group, a well-known state-sponsored hacker entity best known for high-profile exploits.

MicroStrategy Bitcoin buying spree

According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, MicroStrategy has purchased approximately 113,000 Bitcoins since the middle of November. The biggest month-long expenditure in Microstrategy's history occurred during the mid-November to December buying spree. Over 444,000 Bitcoins, or roughly $44 billion, are currently in the company's treasury.

On Monday, December 30, MicroStrategy announced that between December 23 and 29, the company paid about $209 million for 2,138 Bitcoin. At an average price of $62,428 per token, MicroStrategy currently owns 446,400 Bitcoin as of December 29.

MicroStrategy has acquired 2,138 BTC for ~$209 million at ~$97,837 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 47.8% QTD and 74.1% YTD. As of 12/29/2024, we hodl 446,400 $BTC acquired for ~$27.9 billion at ~$62,428 per bitcoin. $MSTR https://t.co/58aXM7g6u2

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) December 30, 2024

Donald Trump's election victory spikes crypto prices

After Donald Trump was re-elected as US president, the cryptocurrency market saw a significant upswing. His win gave the market new hope, and in the months that followed, cryptocurrency prices have risen sharply.

Trump promised the cryptocurrency community in the run-up to the U.S. election that he would fire Gary Gensler, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and free Ross Ulbricht. The announcement that Gensler would resign further impacted the crypto market.

Bitcoin reaches a record high of over $100,000

In December, Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark, setting a new record. Nearly 15 years have passed since the launch of the most popular cryptocurrency. The price of Bitcoin has skyrocketed since Donald Trump's victory in the November election.

Biggest crypto airdrop news of 2024

This year, cryptocurrency was awash with free money as different projects used airdrops to distribute substantial amounts of tokens to adventurous users and loyal communities. These are a few airdrops that caused a big stir and joy for the crypto community in 2024:

• HYPE token airdrop: Hyperliquid distributed 310 million HYPE tokens to over 94,000 users. The tokens distributed is equivalent to $620 million at the $2 opening price on November 29. In less than three days, the token price has nearly increased fivefold, peaking at $9.8 on December 1. It is arguably one of the biggest airdrop projects of the year. 
• PENGU token airdrop: The project stated that there are 88,888,888,888 PENGU tokens in total supply. Approximately 7 million users were eligible to claim PENGU tokens.
• Notcoin airdrop: Notcoin, a gaming token on The Open Network (TON) blockchain, gave out an airdrop of more than 80 billion NOT tokens to participants. 

The other airdrops that made headlines were Wormhole, Eigenlayer, ZKsync, and Movement. Decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator Jupiter also announced plans to expand its token distribution through an airdrop event called "Jupuary." Jupiter, which was introduced in October 2021, will distribute 700M JUP tokens, or $580 million, to users, stakeholders, and contributors in the January airdrop event in 2025.

What does 2025 hold for the cryptocurrency market?

Most members of the cryptocurrency community are feeling indecisive as 2024 comes to an end today, with most of them expecting a bullish 2025. A CoinGecko report earlier this month identified meme coins as one of the top-performing narratives of 2024. This is in addition to AI-based meme coins, Solana, and base-based meme coins in the top 10. Meme coins have emerged as a significant trend in this market cycle, and this trend might continue in 2025.

Once again, it was a privilege for us at Whaleinsider to serve our readers from across the globe with the latest crypto developments. Thank you for your readership. We wish you a Happy 2025! 

Disclaimer

This information should not be considered financial advice by any means. Please do your own research before making any investment decisions. The views in the articles are personal opinions only. Whale Insider is not responsible for any financial losses incurred.