2024 has been quite a surprising year in world events and even in the cryptocurrency market. On July 1st, we hit the half-year mark, so it’s the best time to reflect and see how various crypto tokens have performed. While cryptos are known for their volatile nature, at times filled with heavy losses, 2024 has been generous to investors, being termed a “bullish year” for most coins.
One of the biggest wins for cryptocurrencies this year is how they continue to get adopted by mainstream players in different sectors. Whether it’s banking, governance, ecommerce, or gaming, more and more people are turning to crypto as their go-to currency.
Take gaming, for example, crypto sites where players can access entertaining games are becoming popular. In countries like the US where casino gaming and crypto are popular, sweepstakes casinos have become the middle ground where people can enjoy the best of both worlds. Online sweepstakes casinos are legal in the US and allow players to play games using crypto, making it convenient. Players can play slots, and table games and compete in tournaments with Bitcoin, Tether, Solana, or any other coin they have.
Besides adoption in various industries, other factors such as legislation and regulation have played a big role in boosting the crypto market. However, some tokens have made the most out of it more than others.
Bitcoin
Ever since Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin (BTC) in 2009, it has become the undisputed crypto king, growing steadily over the years. At the beginning of the year, bitcoin had a value of about $44,000 and by 1st July it had increased to about $62,000 — figures according to Yahoo Finance.
Part of what has led to the over $15,000 increase, are some developments that have happened to bitcoin this year. The long-awaited approval of the spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by the SEC happened in January and marked Bitcoin’s big milestone in its mainstream acceptance. One of the most important bitcoin events, the halving, occurred in April, which led to a strong price surge of BTC.
Ethereum
Ethereum is the second most popular crypto token and second-biggest crypto in market capitalization with a total volume of over $420 billion. On January 1st, the value of one token was about $2,000 and by mid-year, the price was about $3,400, a leap of over $1,000.
The token has had an exciting year with the Dencun Upgrade implemented in January to improve scalability. The company is also in the process of phasing out their Goerli Testnet validator to make way for a new and advanced testing solution which will streamline the development process.
Lastly, their most promising project this year, the EIP-4844 project aka Proto-danksharding was rolled out to improve scalability, and affordability and provide a user-friendly Ethereum experience.
Solana
Solana is a relatively young token launched in March 2020. However, its features are impressive with an algorithm called Proof of History that processes over 65,000 transactions per second. The token, with a market capitalization of over $79 billion, is a fast blockchain mostly used for smart contracts, NFT trading, and decentralized applications (dApps).
Solana started the year with a value of $101.5, and by half of the year, one token was going for about $140. The steady rise of Solana can be attributed to the successful projects it has had in the past such as Jupiter, Orca, and Marinade Finance. Solana’s 2024 roadmap revealed upcoming projects for 2024 like Runtime V2 and Firedancer which were to be launched early this year but the projects are still ongoing.
USDC
Unlike BTC, ETH, or SOL, which can be considered investments and can make you money if you hold them for some time, USDC is a stablecoin and has a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar. The USDC is backed by the US dollar and is mostly used for global transactions. Even in this regard, the coin has performed quite well this year maintaining the ratio.
Platforms like Compound, Uniswap, and Aave are increasingly using USDC to facilitate trading, lending, and staking. One of the highlights of USDC this year happened on the 1st of July when the European Union’s Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) approved the stablecoin and allowed it to operate in the European market.
What Awaits in The Other Half of the Year?
The remaining half of the year continues to have good tidings for the crypto community with a bullish prediction by most experts. Bitcoin is predicted to finally cross the $100,000 mark and Ethereum is anticipated to reach between $5,000 and $10,000. There are still some projects yet to be released this year that will push the crypto market forward, so all we have to do is wait and see.
