The winners and losers of 2024: a year of all-time market highs, cryptocurrency hacks, and increased HODLing behavior.

Winners

Bitcoin Hodlers

2024 was a monumental year for Bitcoin (BTC) holders as the cryptocurrency crossed the $100,000 psychological milestone on Dec. 5, driven by the hundreds of pro-crypto candidates who won seats in the United States Congress and hopes for a pro-crypto US government. Bitcoin continued to climb afterward, peaking at $108,000 on Dec. 17, but has since fallen toward the end of the year.

According to CryptoQuant data, as of Dec. 27, 87% of Bitcoin holders are still in profit at a price of around $96,000. This is significant because most of the Bitcoin supply is currently in profit. MicroStrategy, under the leadership of executive chairman Michael Saylor, is among the more high-profile companies that have significantly benefited from its holdings.

According to Saylortracker.com, the firm’s stash of Bitcoin is worth $42 billion as of Dec. 27. In 2021, El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender and bought about 200 coins. The country has since increased its holdings to 5,919 BTC (valued at around $555 million), making it one of the largest Bitcoin holders in the world.

Other Winners

• Crypto companies: US regulators received over $19 billion in lawsuit settlements from crypto companies in 2024 — 78% more than in 2023.
• Blockchain and cryptocurrency startups: Many new blockchain and cryptocurrency startups emerged, providing innovative solutions for various industries.

Losers

Celebrities Jumping on the Crypto Bandwagon

Past cycles have seen some celebrities shilling crypto projects or launching non-fungible token (NFT) collections to ride the hype. This cycle has been no different, with some even landing themselves a proposed class-action lawsuit over their controversial token launches this year.

One of the more recent examples is Haliey Welch — known as the ‘hawk tuah girl’ — who launched a memecoin Hawk Tuah (HAWK) on Dec. 4. The token briefly pumped to a peak market cap of $490 million and then dumped rapidly to $41.7 million. Allegations of snipers and insider wallet selling have persisted ever since.

Investors filed a lawsuit against several entities involved in the launch of the coin on Dec. 19, alleging they promoted and sold an unregistered securities offering. After a few weeks of radio silence, Welch said in a Dec. 20 X post that she was "fully cooperating" with lawyers.

Bitcoin Paper Hands and Nocoiners

While there were diehard holders, there were also those who sold too early or didn’t jump in at all. Germany sold nearly 50,000 BTC seized from movie piracy website Movie2k starting July 12, making a haul of roughly $2.8 billion when Bitcoin was around $57,000 — which quickly garnered plenty of head-shaking from holders.

Germany’s 50,000 BTC would be worth around $4.7 billion at current prices. The US also received criticism from crypto industry executives and observers after it sent 19,800 BTC of its stash gained from shutting down the online Silk Road black market in 2013 to crypto exchange Coinbase on Dec. 2.

The US government’s known addresses still hold a significant amount of crypto, with around 183,850 BTC (valued at $17.7 billion) held across various known addresses.

Crypto Criminals

• Sam Bankman-Fried: The former FTX CEO was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his conviction on seven felony charges.
• Hackers: Plenty of hackers faced the brunt of the law, such as Ilya Lichtenstein, who stole Bitcoin from crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016.

Conclusion

2024 has been a year of significant ups and downs for the cryptocurrency market. While some investors have made substantial profits, others have lost large sums. The regulatory environment continues to evolve, with US regulators receiving over $19 billion in lawsuit settlements from crypto companies in 2024. As the market continues to grow and mature, it will be interesting to see how the winners and losers of this year shape up in the years to come.

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