Introduction

The year 2024 is destined to be remembered as a milestone in the history of the cryptocurrency industry. This year saw Bitcoin break the landmark $100,000 price threshold, signifying the formal entry of crypto assets into the realm of mainstream financial assets. The integration of AI and blockchain technology ignited a new wave of narratives, injecting unprecedented innovation and vitality into the industry. Meanwhile, the rapid development of stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA) further solidified blockchain technology’s pivotal role in traditional finance.

As a symbol of the crypto industry’s rapid growth, the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs and Donald Trump’s election victory not only propelled Bitcoin’s price surge but also marked the dawn of a new era of deep institutional participation in the crypto market. At the same time, breakthroughs in decentralized technologies shifted the spotlight to ecosystems like Solana and Base, which emerged as new hubs for on-chain infrastructure, bringing significant advancements in transaction efficiency and ecosystem diversity. The revival of the NFT market and the rise of AI Agents highlighted the crypto industry’s boundless potential in shaping narratives and achieving technological adoption. Amid dramatic macroeconomic changes and an evolving policy environment, 2024 not only defined the current market landscape but also laid the groundwork for 2025 and the years ahead.

This article aims to review the highlights of the crypto industry in 2024, analyzing the breakthroughs achieved and the challenges faced during the year while offering an outlook on the prospects for 2025. By examining key events, technological innovations, and market trends, we will illustrate how the crypto industry is advancing towards a more mature and stable phase in its golden era and explore the limitless possibilities of this field in the context of global trends.

Part 1 : Highlights of the Crypto Industry in 2024

1. Bitcoin and Institutionalization: The Core Driving Force of the Crypto Industry

1.1 Launch of Bitcoin ETFs: Entering Mainstream Finance

The approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs was the most significant event at the beginning of 2024. This milestone marked the transition of crypto assets from speculative tools on the fringes to becoming an integral part of mainstream finance, drawing significant attention from traditional institutions. The introduction of ETFs provided investors with a safer and more convenient way to invest in Bitcoin, further driving up Bitcoin prices.

Data shows that market inflows have surged since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs. Combined with the listing of Bitcoin spot ETFs and the BTC halving, Bitcoin achieved a growth of over 130%, surpassing the critical psychological threshold of $100,000 by year-end and approaching $110,000.

1.2 Evolution of Market Structure: The Impact of Institutionalization

The structure of the Bitcoin market underwent significant changes in 2024. Continuous inflows of institutional funds shifted market dominance from retail investors to institutions, making Bitcoin an essential part of global investment portfolios. According to a report by K33 Research, institutional players purchased 859,454 BTC in 2024, accounting for 4.3% of its total circulating supply. As of December 31, 2024, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF held 551,917.901 BTC, while MicroStrategy acquired 444,262 BTC. Together, these two institutions held nearly 1 million BTC.

Source: https://x.com/NateGeraci/status/1872463503828959450

1.3 The Impact of the U.S. Presidential Election and Trump’s Victory on Bitcoin

The outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election played a key role in driving Bitcoin prices and boosted related sectors like the Polymarket prediction market and meme tokens tied to the election. Trump, during his campaign, expressed open support for the crypto industry and pledged to implement crypto-friendly policies, including replacing the SEC Chair, promoting Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, and easing crypto regulations.

Following Trump’s confirmation as president, market sentiment soared, with Bitcoin prices breaking $100,000 within weeks and continuing to rise. Analysts noted that Trump’s victory bolstered institutional confidence, accelerating ETF fund inflows. Moreover, his policy stance raised market expectations for more institutional-friendly financial products, solidifying Bitcoin’s position in mainstream finance.

2. Stablecoins and RWAs: Bridging Traditional Finance and Crypto

2.1 The Rise and Mainstreaming of Yield-Bearing Stablecoins

Yield-bearing stablecoins emerged as a key innovation in the stablecoin market in 2024. These stablecoins, tied to high-yield decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols or traditional financial instruments, provided holders with stable and attractive interest income.

The rise of yield-bearing stablecoins attracted not only native crypto users but also traditional investors and enterprises. Many companies began adopting these stablecoins as reserve assets to hedge market volatility while earning stable returns. This trend highlights how stablecoins serve as a bridge for deeper integration between the crypto industry and traditional finance.

According to DefiLlama, as of December 31, the total stablecoin market cap exceeded $200 billion. Fiat-backed stablecoins like USDT and USDC remained dominant, while asset-backed and algorithmic stablecoins gained traction. Innovations such as USDe, USD0, and BUIDL showcased the diversity and potential of yield-bearing stablecoins, quickly ranking among the top 10 stablecoins by market cap.

Source: https://defillama.com/stablecoins

2.2 RWA Ecosystem Growth and Leading Projects

Tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) saw remarkable progress in 2024. By converting traditional financial assets such as real estate, bonds, and commodities into blockchain-based tokens, RWAs brought new narratives and investment opportunities to the crypto space. Leading projects like Ondo Protocol and MANTRA performed exceptionally well, attracting significant capital inflows.

Moreover, the growth of RWAs was supported by improved regulatory frameworks in various countries, providing legal certainty for blockchain applications in financial assets. This burgeoning market offered institutional investors a new entry point into crypto and brought unprecedented diversification opportunities to individual investors.

3. The Rise and Flourishing of the Solana and Base Ecosystems

3.1 Solana’s Strong Comeback and Meme Coin Boom

The Solana ecosystem staged a strong comeback in 2024. With its high throughput and low transaction costs, Solana attracted developers and users back into its ecosystem, becoming a hub for meme coins.

• Increased Activity and Transactions: On-chain activities within Solana surged, with daily active addresses climbing rapidly. Solana led the market in new token launches, hosting 80% of all new tokens.
• Pump.fun’s Revolutionary Role: This one-click token launch platform leveraged Solana’s cost and efficiency advantages, revolutionizing the meme coin market. As of December 31, Pump.fun had launched over 5.26 million tokens, with cumulative trading volumes exceeding 1.94 million SOL, attracting millions of users.

Source: https://dune.com/evelyn233/pump-data

3.2 Base Ecosystem’s Rapid Growth and Diversification

Base, Coinbase’s Layer 2 scaling solution, achieved remarkable ecosystem growth since its launch in August 2023. Supported by Coinbase’s market influence, funding, and technical backing, Base earned the trust of users and developers alike.

By December 2024, Base’s total value locked (TVL) had grown from $440 million at the beginning of the year to $3.75 billion, becoming the second-largest Layer 2 network after Arbitrum. Innovative projects like BRETT, DEGEN, VIRTUAL, and Morpho emerged within the Base ecosystem, spanning sectors like memes, social applications, AI, and DeFi.

4. Expansion of Staking and Restaking Ecosystems

4.1 Increased Staking Rates and Demand for Liquidity

In 2024, staking, as the core mechanism of proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, continued to play a critical role. Leading blockchains like Ethereum experienced steady increases in staking rates, attracting significant investor participation. Liquid staking protocols (LSTs), such as Lido, solidified their market position by providing liquidity solutions for staked assets. However, as staking rates rose, market demand for staking services also grew, prompting the emergence of new solutions and protocols to meet this need.

4.2 The Rise and Expansion of Restaking

Restaking emerged as a prominent sector in 2024, showcasing immense potential. First gaining attention at the 2023 DevConnect, its adoption surged rapidly. Restaking allows users to repurpose staked assets for other protocols, sharing staking security while enhancing capital efficiency. EigenLayer, the leading project in this field, secured backing from top investment firms like a16z, achieving a valuation of billions of dollars. Inspired by Ethereum projects like EigenLayer, Bitcoin’s robust consensus mechanism and security opened new opportunities for staking and restaking. Projects like Babylon explored Bitcoin asset restaking, potentially engaging dormant Bitcoin holders and fostering a staking ecosystem rivaling Ethereum.

4.3 The Rise of Liquidity Restaking Protocols (LRTs)

Liquidity Restaking Protocols (LRTs) gained significant attention in 2024. These protocols serve as intermediaries between restakers and operators, managing capital allocation while offering liquidity solutions. Unlike LSTs, LRTs address diverse risk factors, including inflation, slashing conditions, and technical risks. Projects like Ether.fi, Renzo, Puffer Finance, and KelpDAO made significant progress in this domain, attracting substantial user and capital participation.

5. Formation of a Diverse BTCFi Ecosystem

In 2024, the Bitcoin financial ecosystem (BTCFi) saw remarkable growth across various domains, including inscriptions, runes, decentralized finance (DeFi), and staking. According to DeFiLlama, Bitcoin’s DeFi total value locked (TVL) surged from $305 million at the start of the year to $6.7 billion by year-end, a 20-fold increase. This growth was largely driven by staking protocols, particularly Babylon, which accounted for over 82% of the TVL, establishing itself as Bitcoin’s largest protocol.

Source：https://defillama.com/chain/Bitcoin

Staking and restaking became integral to Bitcoin’s ecosystem in 2024. The rapid development of staking protocols shifted Bitcoin applications from payments (e.g., Lightning Network) to staking. The success of Babylon catalyzed a wave of staking and restaking protocols, further diversifying Bitcoin applications. Beyond financial applications, Bitcoin’s ecosystem also expanded in NFTs, gaming, and social applications. Although the popularity of inscriptions and runes declined, Bitcoin’s diverse ecosystem laid a solid foundation for future development. As the ecosystem matures, Bitcoin is transitioning from a mere store of value to a multifaceted platform encompassing finance, art, and social applications.

6. Struggles and Recovery in the Altcoin and NFT Markets

6.1 Altcoin Revival and Structural Changes

The introduction of Bitcoin ETFs led to heightened market liquidity concentrating on Bitcoin. This dynamic caused funding shortages and user attrition for many altcoin projects in 2024. While meme tokens thrived, established altcoins struggled. However, as Bitcoin prices stabilized, market sentiment shifted toward altcoins. Renewed investor confidence in established projects drove sequential price increases. XRP’s price surged from approximately $0.60 at the beginning of the year to $2.44 by year-end, a growth exceeding 300%. This growth stemmed from favorable cryptocurrency policies under Trump and expectations of a resolution in the SEC lawsuit against Ripple. Ripple’s plans to launch a new stablecoin, RLUSD, further bolstered market confidence in XRP.

The altcoin market in 2024 underwent significant structural changes, with capital and attention concentrating on a few high-quality projects like Aave, Ondo, and FET. Meanwhile, speculative tokens were gradually phased out, marking a shift toward a healthier and more sustainable altcoin market.

6.2 Recovery and Differentiation in the NFT Market

After a market cooldown in 2022–2023, NFTs experienced a revival in 2024. Blue-chip NFT projects, such as Pudgy Penguins and Bored Ape Yacht Club, regained prominence. Differentiation between NFT projects became apparent; successful blue-chip projects retained value through strong communities and scarcity, while smaller projects lacking innovation and community support lost market presence or exited the market altogether.

7. Meme Tokens’ Strong Performance: Winning through Growth

The meme token market sustained robust growth in 2024, showcasing significant vitality and market appeal. According to CoinGecko, meme tokens’ total market capitalization surged from $22.28 billion at the beginning of the year to approximately $116 billion. Meme tokens comprised 10% of the top 100 cryptocurrency projects, with established leaders like DOGE, SHIB, and PEPE maintaining dominance. Emerging projects like WIF, BRETT, and GOAT rapidly rose through innovation.

Source：https://coinmarketcap.com/view/memes/

The 2024 meme narrative encompassed several categories:

• Animal-themed memes (e.g., DOGE, PEPE, MOONDENG, PNUT), often propelled by celebrity endorsements and strong community foundations.
• Cult-culture memes (e.g., WIF, POPCAT), recognized for their unique community-driven narratives.
• Hot-topic memes (e.g., BAN, MAGA), which quickly responded to market events and attracted capital.
• Tech-themed memes (e.g., GOAT, ACT, FARTCOIN, RIF), which attracted biotech and AI enthusiasts.

Institutional interest in meme tokens increased, with players like Binance, Coinbase, and a16z actively investing in the space. Litecoin’s embrace of its meme identity triggered a wave of meme-driven marketing across various institutions and projects.

8. The Intersection of AI and Crypto: From Innovation to Market Explosion

8.1 The Rise of AI Meme Tokens

AI meme tokens saw explosive growth in 2024, particularly in the latter half of the year. Tokens like GOAT, ACT, and FARTCOIN experienced rapid surges in market capitalization and price. For example, TruthTerminal, an AI agent, combined AI technology with meme culture to drive mainstream attention and investor enthusiasm. Supported by prominent figures like Marc Andreessen, AI meme projects like GOAT became leaders in this niche, repeatedly achieving “wealth creation” milestones.

8.2 Expanded Applications of AI Agent Tokens

AI Agent projects developed rapidly in late 2024, becoming a hot topic and exhibiting strong “wealth creation” potential. Leading projects included ai16z and Virtuals Protocol. Ai16z, a decentralized AI trading fund on Solana, leveraged AI agents to gather market insights, analyze community consensus, and execute automated token trades. Its open-source framework, Eliza, gained widespread attention in the developer community, advancing the AI Agent ecosystem.

Virtuals Protocol, a platform for creating and deploying AI agents, stood out with its VIRTUAL token, which reached a market cap of $380 million, becoming a leader in the AI Agent domain. Tokens created via Virtual, such as LUNA and AIXBT, quickly became highly popular in the AI agent ecosystem.

Part 2: Outlook for the Crypto Landscape in 2025

1. Macro Environment and Policy Drivers

1.1 Expectations of Crypto-Friendly Policies Following Trump’s Reelection

• Regulatory Reform: Trump has proposed firing the current SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, and appointing a pro-crypto advisory committee. Such high-level personnel changes would foster a more favorable regulatory environment for the crypto industry.
• Strategic Reserve Plan: Plans to include Bitcoin as a national strategic reserve asset would integrate it into the U.S. mainstream financial framework, further solidifying its status in the global financial system.
• Policy Support Tools: Potential measures such as tax incentives and regulatory relief are expected to encourage domestic development of the crypto industry in the U.S.

1.2 Continued Institutional Capital Inflows and Synergistic Effects

• Market Expansion: Institutional capital purchased over 1.4 million Bitcoins in 2024, representing approximately 7% of circulating supply. This trend is expected to continue and accelerate in 2025, driven by institutional investors like MicroStrategy and pension funds.
• Correlation Between Price and Capital Flow: Data from 2024 shows a significant correlation between spot ETF inflows and Bitcoin prices. This relationship is likely to strengthen in 2025 as more funds enter the market via ETFs.
• Global Institutional Capital Synergy: U.S. pro-crypto policies could prompt other regions to ease regulations to remain competitive. Asian hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore may continue attracting institutional capital to counterbalance U.S. market dominance.

1.3 Further Promotion of Spot ETFs

• Simplified Investment Paths: Bitcoin spot ETFs provide traditional investors with a low-risk, high-convenience way to invest without directly holding crypto assets, attracting long-term capital like pension and sovereign funds.
• Altcoin and Thematic ETFs: As institutional interest in niche sectors grows, thematic ETFs focused on DeFi, Layer 2 solutions, and AI+Crypto may emerge. Altcoin ETFs could provide funding for smaller projects and attract high-risk, high-reward investors.
• Regulatory and Compliance Expansion: The promotion of ETFs requires enhanced regulatory support, particularly for diversified asset portfolios. This could lead to global competition in optimizing ETF regulations.

2. Sectoral Trends

2.1 Accelerated Adoption of DeFi Protocols by Financial Institutions

• Lending: Traditional financial institutions are leveraging DeFi protocols to enhance capital efficiency, especially in cross-border payments and corporate financing.
• Insurance Applications: On-chain insurance solutions are becoming a new risk management tool for institutional investors.
• Derivative Innovations: The DeFi derivatives market is expanding with products like options, swaps, and index derivatives. Institutional investors are adopting complex strategies, including liquidity mining and yield enhancement tools, providing new liquidity sources for the market.

2.2 Deep Integration of AI and Crypto

• AI Agent-Driven Crypto Economies: AI agents will play a more prominent role in areas like asset management and DAO governance, autonomously managing funds and decisions on decentralized networks, driving long-term growth for AI-related tokens.
• Technological Integration: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK-SNARKs) and Multi-Party Computation (MPC) ensure secure integration of AI and blockchain. Distributed physical infrastructure networks allow AI systems to access computing resources more efficiently.
• Blurring Boundaries Between Virtual and Real Economies: Crypto projects incorporating AI will significantly impact areas like decentralized finance, content creation, and data analytics, further merging virtual and real economies and creating new growth drivers.

2.3 Deeper Integration of RWAs with Real-World Financial Products

• Use Cases: The tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) like real estate, commodities, and bonds is seeing broader adoption, particularly in cross-border settlements and liquidity enhancement.
• Market Impact: The market for tokenized assets could surpass trillions of dollars, offering institutional investors diversified choices.

2.4 The Rise of DeSci Narratives

• Decentralized Scientific Research: Smart contracts and DAOs enable transparent management of research funding in areas like genetics and medical innovation.
• Growth Potential: Financial backing from leading investment institutions like Binance Labs provides strong momentum for DeSci projects.

2.5 Meme Coins and the Attention Economy Extension

• Narrative-Driven Diversification: AI narratives and community autonomy are core drivers of meme coins’ long-term growth, attracting new users through hotspots and viral effects.
• Transition from Sentiment to Real-World Value: Some meme coin projects are exploring real-world applications, such as social networks and in-game economies.

2.6 Diverse Integration of Layer 2 Scaling Solutions

• Continuous Layer 2 Expansion: As user demand grows and technology evolves, Layer 2 networks will drive the next wave of crypto expansion, with a focus on cross-chain interoperability and user experience optimization.
• Shared Security and Ecosystem Synergy: Interaction between Layer 1 and Layer 2 chains is improving. Emerging Layer 2 solutions are leveraging platforms like Eigenlayer for re-staking ETH, providing seamless experiences and ecosystem integration.

Conclusion

2024 was a landmark year for the crypto industry. Key events like Bitcoin ETF approvals and anticipated U.S. pro-crypto policies following Trump’s reelection reshaped the global market. Bitcoin’s historic $100,000 milestone not only solidified its position as a global store of value but also enhanced its recognition in traditional finance.

Institutional participation reached unprecedented levels, with significant inflows from Bitcoin spot ETFs and large-scale purchases by players like MicroStrategy. While this institutionalization brought stability and professionalism to the market, it also increased the crypto market’s sensitivity to macroeconomic and policy changes.

Innovation was a highlight of 2024, with meme coins showcasing the potential of the attention economy and the fusion of AI and crypto becoming a central narrative. The rise of DeSci also hinted at future growth opportunities. These trends demonstrated the industry’s speculative nature, innovative spirit, and ability to quickly adopt new technologies.

Looking ahead to 2025, the crypto industry is poised for a new cycle, stepping into a golden age. Bitcoin’s recognition as a mainstream global asset will continue to grow, but its diminishing volatility may impact its appeal. Meanwhile, RWAs, AI agents, and DeSci are expected to drive the next wave of growth. 2025 holds the promise of further technological breakthroughs and market highs while presenting potential challenges. The crypto market’s story remains one of uncertainty and opportunity.

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