2024 was a landmark year for the cryptocurrency market. It was a year when the market matured, barriers to the institutional investing world came down, and international regulations started to pave the way for digital currencies to enter the mainstream global financial system.
With a President-elect keen on making the US a global crypto hub, the market experienced significant growth. As crypto adoption rose, more users turned to crypto platforms and ETFs to invest. 2024 was a transformative experience for the crypto market and the blockchain technology that powers it.
The general public, buoyed by positive sentiment and rising crypto prices, has flocked to DeFi platforms to download their first wallet. Many of those new users have found their way to the highly trusted crypto brand Binance.
It takes a leader to help an industry continue to mature and Binance CEO Richard Teng has taken on that role throughout 2024’s massive growth. Teng commented on his leadership and the future, “we have served in the best interests of our users since day one, leading the industry’s standard and continue building the future of the industry responsibly.”
Binance accounts for approximately 50% of all trading volume globally. This number has only increased from Jan-Nov 2024. During the 2024 US Presidential election week, Binance captured $7.7 billion out of the $20 billion total inflows across all exchanges. Combine that with the leading crypto exchange reaching a new milestone surpassing 200 million users and safeguarding over $130 billion in user assets.
So, these are exciting times for the crypto industry that come off the back of a lot of hard work in 2024. The highlights of the year included:
Institutional Involvement and Widespread Adoption
In 2024, BlackRock launched its spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT, before bringing options to the table on November 19th 2024, and broke all the records on day one with 354,000 contracts traded and $1.9 billion in notional value. This was a landmark moment for the crypto industry, but it came at the end of a year of institutional investment.
Pension funds, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds have worked hard into crypto this year as they try to take advantage of the growth potential and protect against problems with fiat currency. They follow on the heels of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Fidelity…