What Happened In Crypto This Year? 2024 In Review
We take a look back on everything that happened in crypto this year
By: Zack Guzman
December 31, 2024
2024 was a whirlwind year for crypto, packed with courtroom dramas, unexpected ETF announcements, memecoin madness, and political surprises.
Here’s our look back at the best (and weirdest) moments that shaped the year.
January: SEC’s Accidental Bitcoin ETF Leak
The year began with a bang—and a blunder. The SEC’s Twitter account got hacked after someone decided it might be a good idea to SIM swap the most aggressive US regulators.
The hacker turned out to be a 24-year-old from Alabama, who got arrested later in the year — which was all very dumb considering the approvals were announced the next day. Bitcoin enthusiasts were sent into a frenzy at NYC’s PubKey. The excitement set the tone for the rest of the year...
February: Killer Whales and Crypto Fights
Crypto met reality TV with the debut of Killer Whales, a Shark Tank-style show for crypto pitches. But the real drama started happened in the ring, with YouTuber BitBoy squaring off against a crypto developer from HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu in Mexico City. BitBoy would go on to fight influencer Ansem in a match that ended in a draw — cementing 2024 as the year of crypto brawls, including a win for VC Nic Carter.
March: Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced
The courtroom spotlight was on Sam Bankman-Fried, who received a 25-year prison sentence after months of legal battles.
Former Bernie Madoff prosecutor Marc Litt came in spot-on with his prediction for how much time SBF would receive (something he wasn't able to do as SBF's former girlfriend also faced time later in the year.) The end to the case began a complicated year for mainstream media's crypto coverage. Their narrative of "crypto is just a fraud" was melting as TradFi giants like BlackRock continued to stack Bitcoin — sending it to a new all-time high near $73,000 in March.
April: Crypto Pastors and Corporate Reckonings
Colorado’s infamous crypto pastor, Eli, preached financial salvation through blockchain — only to swindle millions from his congregation. Coinage headed out to his former residence — which he admitedly spruced up using funds he raised from unknowing investors.
Meanwhile, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison, and Terra's Do Kwon was found liable for civil fraud, with the SEC seeking $4 billion in restitution.
May: Congress Takes on the SEC
In a rare bipartisan moment, Congress voted to repealed the SEC’s restrictive crypto policy, SAB 121, earning support from 21 Democrats. The bill also passed in the Senate before requiring a veto from President Biden to save face for SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
June: Memecoin Madness with Iggy Azalea
June saw a plethora of celebrity memecoins begin to catch a bid thanks to help from crypto's underbelly of memecoin launchers.
Iggy Azalea’s memecoin MOTHER token hit an all-time high of $0.20. Despite her efforts to inject utility, it’s been mostly all downhill since — though it still fared better than some of the year’s more bizarre projects.
July: Trump’s Crypto Pledge
In one of the wildest moments of 2024, former President Trump keynoted Nashville's Bitcoin conference, promising to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler, free the founder of the Silk Road, and create a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.
Trump's full embrace of crypto also sent free a lot of the right-wing voices in crypto to go full MAGA, prompting some on the crypto left to play catch-up in a bid to shore up support for Vice President Kamala Harris. That didn't go so well after the only crypto mention from the Harris camp came wrapped in a platform to promote the financial progress of Black men.
August: Telegram Tumbles
Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest in France on money-laundering charges rocked the blockchain world.
At the same time, the Telegram-linked TON blockchain experienced downtime, raising questions about its decentralization. The chain has since stemmed the bleeding, and Telegram made significant changes to its privacy policies to prevent illegal uses of its platform.
September: Caroline Ellison’s Sentencing
Former Alameda Research co-CEO Caroline Ellison received a two-year prison sentence after cooperating in the FTX trial.
Bernie Madoff's former prosecutor had told us he would be shocked if she saw jail time.
October: Memecoins Get Weird
By October, more than two million memecoins had launched on Solana. Among the weirdest? A token whose creator threatened to stay on the toilet until it hit $300K, one with a guy who threatened to kill a fish — and one involving a son pimping his own mother to promote the project.
Either way, the platform Pump.Fun, which allowed anyone the ability to launch a memecoin for about $2 showed it may have gone too far. Live streaming on the platform was temporarily disabled.
November: Trump Wins, Gensler Resigns
Crypto saw its most significant rally of the year after Trump’s re-election and Gary Gensler’s resignation as SEC chair.
Crypto Twitter partied like it was 2017, celebrating what many saw as a fresh start for the industry. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce gave us an exclusive preview of changes coming to the agency as President-elect Trump's new Chair prepares to start.
December: Wrapping Up with Coinage
As the year closed, Coinage hosted its annual Crypto Project of the Year competition, showcasing top projects in the space. Solana, Base, Stacks, and THORChain all battled their way to become the final four contenders left.
Coinage members are now voting on who advances to the finals. Not a Coinage member yet? Mint an NFT to become part of the first community-owned media brand.
With 2024 in the rearview, the crypto world looks ahead to 2025, hoping for fewer lawsuits and more milestones. As always, we’ll be here to cover it all.
Happy New Year, everyone! Stay safe out there.
