Crypto's 12 biggest stories of 2024: From Bitcoin ETFs to Hamster Kombat and even the FBI There’s always something going on in the crypto space — and this year was no exception. From Bitcoin ETFs to Sam Bankman-Fried, Hamster Kombat, Donald Trump and the halving, here are 12 of the top stories from 2024 to enjoy this Christmas. SEC approves spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US On Jan. 11, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved proposals for multiple spot bitcoin ETFs on an accelerated basis. ETFs from Ark Invest/21Shares, Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Invesco, Valkyrie (now CoinShares), VanEck and WisdomTree began trading the next day. An additional spot ETF from Hashdex and Grayscale’s mini Bitcoin ETF launched in March and July, respectively. As the most successful ETF launch in history by many measures, the combined spot Bitcoin funds have since gone on to attract more than $36 billion in net inflows, with around $110 billion in assets under management amid bitcoin’s substantial price rise this year. BlackRock’s IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF has dominated most metrics, accounting for approximately $54 billion in AUM alone and over 70% market share by trading volume. A $1.2 million bitcoin mistake In one of the crazier stories of the year during the same month, as an unknown user sent 26.9 BTC, worth $1.2 million at the time, to Bitcoin's Genesis wallet, which was created by the blockchain’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto and is unlikely to be accessible or return the funds. The transaction, originating from a wallet linked to the crypto exchange Binance, according to blockchain analytics platform Arkham, cost an unusually high $100 fee and brought the Genesis wallet's balance to nearly 100 BTC, worth $4.3 million at that point. "Either Satoshi woke up, bought 27 bitcoin from Binance, and deposited it into their wallet, or someone just burned a million dollars," Coinbase director Conor Grogan said. 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 ordered to pay $11 billion in restitution for orchestrating one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history. In September, Bankman-Fried filed an appeal and called for a new trial, with his lawyer criticizing Judge Lewis Kaplan's handling of the case. A month later, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salame also began a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in the debacle. However, former CEO of FTX's sister trading firm Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, was handed a lighter sentence of two years, while FTX's former engineering director Nishad Singh and FTX co-founder Gary Wang received no prison time after the pair cooperated with authorities. Dogwifhat's iconic photo sold as NFT for $4.3 million On a lighter note, in March, the iconic photo of Achi, the dog behind the Dogwifhat memecoin, was sold as an NFT for $4.3 million to crypto trader Gigantic Rebirth Ventures. Achi's image became a viral sensation, leading to the creation of the Dogwifhat memecoin, which now ranks in the top 50 cryptocurrencies with a market cap of over $3 billion. The NFT sale came just days after crypto holders raised over $650,000 to put the dogwifhat picture on the Las Vegas sphere — an initiative that is yet to transpire into a reality. Bitcoin ushers in fourth halving In April, Bitcoin’s fourth halving event reduced miners’ block subsidy rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, marking a new epoch for the network. The halving, occurring at block height 840,000, means miners now produce around 450 BTC daily compared to the previous 900 BTC. Bitcoin halving events, which occur roughly every four years, will continue reducing rewards until the last bitcoin is mined around 2140, after which miners will earn only transaction fees. Billionaire Mark Cuban’s remarks weighing in on the halving was one of the most popular stories this year. However, while the Dallas Mavericks owner and "Shark Tank" host noted the direct impact on revenue for bitcoin miners, he was more interested in the potential impact of AI on the industry. The FBI’s warning to American crypto users The same month, another popular story centered around the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation warning Americans to avoid using cryptocurrency services not registered as Money Services Businesses under federal law to prevent financial and legal risks. The FBI advised checking the registration status of crypto services using the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network MSB lookup tool and to also avoid platforms that lack know your customer ID verification compliance.
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Crypto's 12 biggest stories of 2024: From Bitcoin ETFs to Hamster Kombat and even the FBI

There’s always something going on in the crypto space — and this year was no exception.

From Bitcoin ETFs to Sam Bankman-Fried, Hamster Kombat, Donald Trump and the halving, here are 12 of the top stories from 2024 to enjoy this Christmas.

SEC approves spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US

On Jan. 11, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved proposals for multiple spot bitcoin ETFs on an accelerated basis. ETFs from Ark Invest/21Shares, Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Invesco, Valkyrie (now CoinShares), VanEck and WisdomTree began trading the next day. An additional spot ETF from Hashdex and Grayscale’s mini Bitcoin ETF launched in March and July, respectively.

As the most successful ETF launch in history by many measures, the combined spot Bitcoin funds have since gone on to attract more than $36 billion in net inflows, with around $110 billion in assets under management amid bitcoin’s substantial price rise this year.

BlackRock’s IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF has dominated most metrics, accounting for approximately $54 billion in AUM alone and over 70% market share by trading volume.

A $1.2 million bitcoin mistake

In one of the crazier stories of the year during the same month, as an unknown user sent 26.9 BTC, worth $1.2 million at the time, to Bitcoin's Genesis wallet, which was created by the blockchain’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto and is unlikely to be accessible or return the funds.

The transaction, originating from a wallet linked to the crypto exchange Binance, according to blockchain analytics platform Arkham, cost an unusually high $100 fee and brought the Genesis wallet's balance to nearly 100 BTC, worth $4.3 million at that point.

"Either Satoshi woke up, bought 27 bitcoin from Binance, and deposited it into their wallet, or someone just burned a million dollars," Coinbase director Conor Grogan said.

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 ordered to pay $11 billion in restitution for orchestrating one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.

In September, Bankman-Fried filed an appeal and called for a new trial, with his lawyer criticizing Judge Lewis Kaplan's handling of the case.

A month later, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salame also began a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in the debacle. However, former CEO of FTX's sister trading firm Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, was handed a lighter sentence of two years, while FTX's former engineering director Nishad Singh and FTX co-founder Gary Wang received no prison time after the pair cooperated with authorities.

Dogwifhat's iconic photo sold as NFT for $4.3 million

On a lighter note, in March, the iconic photo of Achi, the dog behind the Dogwifhat memecoin, was sold as an NFT for $4.3 million to crypto trader Gigantic Rebirth Ventures.

Achi's image became a viral sensation, leading to the creation of the Dogwifhat memecoin, which now ranks in the top 50 cryptocurrencies with a market cap of over $3 billion.

The NFT sale came just days after crypto holders raised over $650,000 to put the dogwifhat picture on the Las Vegas sphere — an initiative that is yet to transpire into a reality.

Bitcoin ushers in fourth halving

In April, Bitcoin’s fourth halving event reduced miners’ block subsidy rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, marking a new epoch for the network.

The halving, occurring at block height 840,000, means miners now produce around 450 BTC daily compared to the previous 900 BTC. Bitcoin halving events, which occur roughly every four years, will continue reducing rewards until the last bitcoin is mined around 2140, after which miners will earn only transaction fees.

Billionaire Mark Cuban’s remarks weighing in on the halving was one of the most popular stories this year. However, while the Dallas Mavericks owner and "Shark Tank" host noted the direct impact on revenue for bitcoin miners, he was more interested in the potential impact of AI on the industry.

The FBI’s warning to American crypto users

The same month, another popular story centered around the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation warning Americans to avoid using cryptocurrency services not registered as Money Services Businesses under federal law to prevent financial and legal risks.

The FBI advised checking the registration status of crypto services using the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network MSB lookup tool and to also avoid platforms that lack know your customer ID verification compliance.