Crypto’s comeback year, in numbers
From January’s launch of spot bitcoin ETFs to December’s all-time highs, 2024 has been a banner year for crypto.
There’s never a dull year on the blockchain. As 2024 winds down, we’re tallying up the numbers that shaped the news this year:
Bitcoin crossed $100K on its way to new all-time highs. Crypto’s total market cap also notched a new high-water mark.
The U.S. elected the most pro-crypto Congress ever. Crypto’s end-of-year rally has been boosted by optimism over regulatory progress in 2025.
Crypto ETFs launched and became an instant hit. In less than a year, spot bitcoin and ether ETFs have attracted more than $100 billion in assets.
YEAR IN REVIEW
24 numbers that sum up crypto’s blockbuster year
At this time last year, we were peering into the cryptoball full of hopes and dreams for a fruitful 2024. Would the SEC actually approve spot bitcoin ETFs after more than a decade of trying? Would bitcoin finally rally to new all-time highs?
As we know now, both of those things did indeed come true — along with a lot of other pleasant surprises.
From November’s elections resulting in the most pro-crypto government in U.S. history to bitcoin mega-HODLer MicroStrategy outperforming pretty much every other stock on Wall Street, here’s a look back at the numbers that made up crypto’s biggest year yet.
Happy HODL-days and see you in 2025!
$3.91 trillion
New all-time high market capitalization for crypto as a whole, achieved on Dec. 16, according to CoinGecko data — a more than 130% gain over this time last year.
If the crypto market were a company, it would be the most valuable in the world, with a market cap larger than Apple ($3.8 trillion), Microsoft ($3.5 trillion), or Nvidia ($3.1 trillion).
$204 billion
Total stablecoin market cap as of Dec. 18, an all-time high according to DefiLlama.
A recent report from Coinbase Institutional notes that as stablecoin borrowing and lending rates have surged in recent weeks, more capital has flowed into the stablecoin market.
$123 billion
The total assets under management by spot bitcoin ETFs, a type of investment that didn’t even exist in the U.S. at this time last year, as of Dec. 17.
The blockbuster success of crypto investment products from firms including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale has been described as “mind blowing” by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. Spot ether ETFs from some of the same firms are worth another $12 billion-plus.
$3.7 billion
The approximate total wagered on the U.S. presidential election via Polymarket, the real-time prediction market that enables users to bet on event outcomes.
As the election heated up, Polymarket became among the most popular crypto-based applications on the market, rising from around 4,000 monthly active users in January to nearly 300,000 by the end of November.
1.2 billion
Number of stablecoin transactions made in the last 12 months, as of Dec. 17, according to research from Visa.
New use cases continue to emerge for the technology, especially around fast, cheap global payments. In one recent example, workers in 69 countries can now be paid with the USDC stablecoin via the Base network.
$1 billion
Amount of venture capital invested in the “AI x crypto sector” in 2024, according to crypto research firm Messari.
Meanwhile, the market cap for AI-related crypto protocols rose from $5 billion as of October 2023 to more than $60 billion as of this month.
$346 million
The approximate amount of unrealized profit that El Salvador has made on its bitcoin holdings in 2024, as of Dec. 18.
The country, which owns nearly 6,000 BTC, has been regularly buying bitcoin since 2022 and has used its bitcoin stash to help bolster its foreign exchange reserves and drive up the value of its sovereign bonds.
7.19 million
The number of onchain gaming daily active addresses, as of December 16, a new all-time high, according to Footprint Analytics.
“After two years of relatively stagnant growth, 2024 marked a significant resurgence in player activity,” noted Messari.
4.72 million
The seven-day moving average of daily active addresses on the Solana network, as of Dec. 15, up from around 374,000 at the start of the year, according to The Block.
Solana, which is up more than 120% year-to-date, has attracted a flurry of new activity throughout 2024, especially around memecoin trading, with the blockchain becoming the de facto network for launching new memecoins.
439,000
Number of bitcoin held by publicly traded software company MicroStrategy, after adding 15,350 more BTC to its corporate treasury this week.
The firm’s total holdings are now worth around $45 billion. The bitcoin-buying spree has been a huge success on Wall Street, with MicroStrategy’s stock up around 547% for the year. On Monday, Nasdaq announced that MicroStrategy will join the Nasdaq 100 index.
$100,000
Six-figure milestone first achieved by bitcoin on Dec. 4, about a month after Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
The largest cryptocurrency by market cap has since spiked even higher, peaking above $108,000 on Tuesday.
800%
The approximate increase in value of assets locked on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network incubated by Coinbase.
After starting the year with $445 million in assets, Base now has roughly $4 billion on its blockchain, more than any other layer-2 network on the market, according to DefiLlama.
316
Approximate age of a Stradivarius violin that was tokenized and put on a blockchain this summer, potentially allowing traders to buy shares of the estimated $9 million instrument.
The tokenization of real-world assets is predicted to grow into a $10 trillion industry by 2030. As BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has put it, tokenization represents “the next generation for markets.”
308%
The year-to-date gain for XRP, as of Dec. 17, which has catapulted to become the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
XRP’s big year can be attributed to the near-conclusion of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit, as well as optimism over incoming President Donald Trump’s embrace of the crypto industry.
273
The number of “pro-crypto” candidates elected to U.S. Congress this year, with voters sending 257 pro-crypto candidates to the House of Representatives, and 16 pro-crypto candidates to the Senate.
Throughout the 2024 election cycle, crypto-related political organizations donated more than $100 million to candidates on both sides of the aisle, with hopes of seeing a productive shift in crypto policy in the U.S. after years of the crypto industry asking for regulatory clarity.
99%
The percentage reduction achieved in Ethereum transaction costs since 2021, thanks to Ethereum scaling solutions (such as L2 blockchains like Base), according to a report from a16z crypto.
It cost an average of $12 to send USDC via the Ethereum mainnet in 2021, compared to less than a penny in September using Base, reported a16z.
56%
Percent of Fortune 500 executives who said their companies are exploring onchain projects, including consumer facing payment applications, according to a survey in Coinbase’s June State of Crypto report.
As for Fortune 100 companies, the U.S.’s largest firms reported a 39% year-over-year increase in onchain initiatives in the first quarter of 2024.
34.1 ETH
Price of the cheapest Pudgy Penguin NFT on Dec. 17, or around $136,000.
The cute Penguins are one of the big-name NFT collections (along with CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht club) that rebounded in a major way this fall even though fewer people are trading NFTs overall.
18
Age of Kabosu, the iconic Shiba Inu that inspired the “Doge” meme and Dogecoin, when she passed away in May.
The beloved, internet-famous dog received an outpouring of tributes, including from Elon Musk and Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus, who tweeted, “Kabosu will live forever in our hearts.”
16
Age of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Whitepaper as of October 31.
Next month, on January 3, Bitcoin will celebrate the 16th anniversary of the first transaction ever recorded on the network. The message inscribed in the “Genesis Block” referenced a newspaper headline about the Great Recession, a key factor in Bitcoin’s creation: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
5
Number of minutes (or less) it can take to create an AI-powered onchain agent using Coinbase’s new AgentKit.
Eventually, such AI assistants will be able to automatically monitor and execute trades based on market conditions, deploy and manage smart contracts without human intervention, and much more.
3.125 BTC
The Bitcoin network’s current block reward after April’s halving, which reduced the rate at which new BTC can be mined by 50%, down from 6.25 BTC.
Bitcoin halvings are a core mechanism that help the asset remain scarce and inflation resistant, and will continue to happen every four years (every 210,000 blocks, to be exact), until all 21 million BTC are mined sometime around the year 2140.
2
The number of U.S. state public pension funds that have invested in crypto ETFs so far this year.
The state of Wisconsin Investment Board and Michigan’s state investment board both purchased shares in spot BTC ETFs, with Michigan also purchasing shares of spot ETH ETFs. Next year, more states could join the fray, including Pennsylvania, which introduced a bill that would authorize the state treasurer and public pensions to invest in bitcoin
1.00%
Amount that the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates in 2024, bringing rates down from nearly two-decade highs.
The Fed announced a widely anticipated quarter percentage point reduction on Wednesday — the agency’s final rate cut of the year — and signaled “fewer reductions ahead,” per CNBC. Rate cuts are typically seen as a bullish signal for stocks and crypto because the combination of cheaper borrowing and lower returns on cash holdings tends to mean more capital ends up in these asset classes.
TUNE IN
How moving onchain can rebuild the creator economy
Season Two of Coinbase’s award-winning “Evolving Money” podcast, produced in conjunction with Bloomberg Media Studios, just dropped this week. Tune in for all-new stories and insights about how crypto is driving finance and the economy forward.
In the first episode, we’re exploring what’s wrong with the internet and why moving onchain can create better outcomes for creators and consumers worldwide. Joining to discuss are Jesse Pollak, creator of Base, and Julian Holguin, CEO of Doodles.
Listen today on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
TOKEN TRIVIA
When is the next BTC halving expected?
A
2025
B
2026
C
2027
D
2028
Find the answer below.
Trivia Answer
D
2028
