As usual, crypto carved its way into the mainstream media on a few select occasions this year, for a variety of reasons. In a year of ETFs, record fines, record prices, prison sentences, prison breaks, and much more, there are plenty of stories to choose from when deciding who or what made the biggest splash in the headlines this year.
Here are our top three biggest headline-makers of 2024.
3. MtGox
Third place in our headline-makers of 2024 goes to MtGox, the defunct exchange that blew up in 2014, taking half a billion dollars in customer assets with it. MtGox made headlines because February saw the ten-year anniversary of the mega hack, which made the fact that creditors were yet to see a penny back all the more startling. Years of procedural delays and lawsuits ensured that former customers were sent on a rollercoaster of emotions between February 2014 and February 2024, and as the tenth anniversary came and went, all the positive sounds that had been emanating from the trustee’s office counted for nothing.
However, MtGox made headlines again when, in July, some creditors woke up to a nice surprise: their payouts. The first cash payouts had begun, with crypto payouts following suit soon after. While the process will extend into 2025, MtGox’s beleaguered customers can, at last, look forward to getting their hands on at least some of their coins again.
2. Satoshi Nakamoto
Of course, Satoshi Nakamoto himself didn’t make any headlines this year, but his legacy still managed to be one of the biggest stories (or non-stories) of 2024. In October, HBO teased a forthcoming documentary in which its makers claimed to have unmasked Satoshi after several attempts over the last decade-plus. After much hype, and plenty of bets on Polymarket, “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” ‘revealed’ that Bitcoin’s creator was Canadian Bitcoin developer Peter Todd.
Many Bitcoin luminaries scoffed at the connection, which Todd himself denied on X, with the evidence put forward being flimsy at best. Critics pointed out numerous flaws in the documentary’s timeline, arguing that Todd was not actively involved with Bitcoin until years after Nakamoto’s disappearance, while Todd’s colleagues spoke out against the film’s conclusions. The so-called ‘evidence’ seemed to be nothing more than a few comments on BitcoinTalk and on an email, which didn’t amount to a hill of beans.
Todd himself sarcastically noted, “Of course I’m Satoshi… and Craig Wright too,” another individual with a connection (the term is used loosely) to Satoshi who created headlines this year under the pseudonymous banner. Wright grabbed headlines in March when a UK judge ruled that not only was Wright not Satoshi Nakamoto but he was Britain’s most prolific evidence forger…
1.Bitcoin
2024 was bookended by the two biggest stories of the year, both related to Bitcoin. Until December, there was no guessing which story took the top spot; after ten years of trying, Bitcoin finally achieved an ETF. The momentum behind the ETF saw the floodgates open: rather than just being afforded one, Bitcoin saw 11 granted at the same time, including from financial titans such as BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton. Bitcoin raced from $40,000 to $73,000 within eight weeks of the news, with Bitcoin ETFs proving to be the most in-demand of all time.
The ETF and Bitcoin’s performance made headlines left, right, and center, legitimizing Bitcoin as an investible asset and banishing the fears of a lack of tangible backing that had dogged it since its launch in 2008.
The ETF was followed months later by Donald Trump throwing his weight behind Bitcoin while on an ultimately successful campaign trail, and it was Trump’s victory in November that put the afterburners on, leading to the year ending in spectacular style; Bitcoin smashed through $100,000 in December, a milestone that many thought some years off.
The opening up of Bitcoin ETFs to the biggest market in the world and the headlines generated by Bitcoin adding a zero to its price ensure that 2024 was probably the most transformative year in its history.
