Following a 2023 bear market recovery for the crypto industry, 2024 produced another largely positive year, with Bitcoin reaching new all-time highs and many metrics continuing to improve.

From the U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds’ remarkable first year to a record supply of stablecoins, a DeFi resurgence, the rise and fall of SocialFi, and U.S. election-fueled Polymarket betting, here are five charts highlighting the industry’s changes in 2024.

US Spot Bitcoin ETFs’ Remarkable First Year

On January 11, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved proposals for 11 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.

These combined funds established the most successful ETF launch in history, competing against established products like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ). They attracted over $35 billion in total net inflows and have about $103 billion in assets under management amid Bitcoin’s substantial price rise from around $42,000 on January 1 toward the $100,000 level.

BlackRock’s IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF dominated most metrics, accounting for over $37 billion in net inflows and recording only 10 negative days throughout the year. Alongside Bitcoin’s price rise, IBIT grew to $52 billion in AUM, representing around 70% of the trading volume market share.

However, the U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs launched in July did not perform as well, generating around $2.6 billion in net inflows.

Stablecoin Supply Hits New Heights

The circulating supply of U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins across issuers and blockchains reached new heights above $200 billion in 2024, surpassing the last peak in April 2022 before the bear market collapse of crypto firms like Terra, Celsius, and FTX.

Stablecoins generated over $5.1 trillion in global transactions in the first half of this year alone, comparable to Visa’s $6.5 trillion during the same period. Major corporations like PayPal have launched their own stablecoins, attesting to their growing market usage.

Tether continues to dominate the U.S. dollar-denominated market, with USDT accounting for around $140 billion (66% of total stablecoin supply), followed by Circle’s USDC with over $43 billion (20%).

Solana Leads a DeFi Fee Resurgence

DeFi fees observed a resurgence, peaking at over $53 million per day in November and reaching record monthly totals. Solana emerged as the primary beneficiary, with decentralized exchange volumes surpassing $100 billion in November.

The surge in activity was attributed to the memecoin frenzy, alongside Solana’s low transaction fees. A bullish forecast suggests that as the market grows in 2025, more retail speculators will flock to the memecoin space.

The Rise and Fall of SocialFi

SocialFi combines social media and blockchain, rewarding users for quality content. The friend.tech platform initially thrived but witnessed a sharp decline in transactions and ultimately gave up control of its smart contracts, limiting new features.

Conversely, the decentralized social protocol Farcaster experienced a peak in daily active users. However, it too faced a dramatic drop in activity.

Polymarket Betting Soaring Ahead of the U.S. Election

The decentralized predictions platform Polymarket saw significant growth leading up to the U.S. election, with USDC-denominated bets reaching $5 billion in trading volumes during October and November. Monthly active traders rose to over 300,000 in November.

Overall, 2024 marked a period of notable progress and emerging challenges within the cryptocurrency sector, highlighting both advances and setbacks in various facets of the market.