Check Out Top 5 Crypto Newsmakers of 2024 Here
For lack of a better word, 2024 was historic for the crypto community as several major events were witnessed in this roller-coaster of a year.
The year 2024 marked several key milestones for the crypto community, be it Bitcoin Halving that resulted in further consolidation of the mining industry or Bitcoin finally breaking the $100,000 barrier in the bull run or the overall market cap of Crypto industry rising to $3.78 Trillion from $1.2 T in 2023 or a 78-year-old maverick politician winning the U.S. Presidential elections, literally riding on the crypto wave.
The year was also not short of drama as we witnessed jailing of Sam Bankman Fried of FTX and CZ of Binance and intense criticism of Nischal Shetty of WazirX who withheld funds worth Rs 2500 crore. Various memecoin projects also came under criticism for promoting self-harm, violent behaviour or for orchestrating rugpull scams. 2024 also saw a tug of war between the crypto community and securities and exchange commission (SEC) over regulations in US.
In 2024, crypto mattered. Period.
In this article, we bring to you the top five news makers from 2024 who made a huge impact on the crypto economy and the global crypto village, marking their footprints through the sands of time.
5. Changpeng Zhao (CZ)
For Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, the founder of Binance, 2024 was a roller coaster ride, as the world saw the crypto maverick getting jailed for four months for failing to comply with US regulations and then, emerge from prison in his new ‘Walter White’ look.
CZ or Changpeng Zhao has been instrumental figure in crypto world but in 2024, he was cornered by the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that accused Binance of flouting financial laws and its management of clients’ money. This came at the same time as other regulators in the U.S. began cracking down on crypto exchanges.
There were indications that CZ may be charged in criminal cases and this gave rise to rumour that he wanted to resign. Nevertheless, CZ remained in the news cycle throughout 2024 as Indian users of WazirX also urged him to intervene and help them with funds. However, much to their dismay, CZ out rightly refused to help in the matter.
4. Elon Musk
Tech Mogul, maverick Billionaire, owner of X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX and Tesla, and now the head of Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.), Elon Musk, has had an eventful year in 2024.
One of the loudest supporters of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Musk remains an unconventional and highly influential figure, who chose Trump’s libertarian view on the economy as the perfect fit for his vision on technological and space transformation. In 2024, Musk invested in Trump’s campaign, both emotionally and materialistically, holding opulent fundraisers and leveraging his contacts in the tech and crypto industries.
In 2024, Musk was continually speaking about popular memecoin Dogecoin as an ideal asset for the future of money. He took it a step further by declaring that he will formally join the D.O.G.E team with Vivek Ramaswamy. A fierce proponent of free speech, Musk has come under fire for allowing hate speech and racism to penetrate X.
3. Nayib Bukele
President of El Salvador, former young Businessman, and probably the first Crypto or Bitcoin enthusiast president in history, Nayib ‘Chivo’ Bukele is on number third in the list of top crypto news makers of 2024.
Bukele is known as the “coolest dictator” on the internet; a reformer who brought radical changes to the law and order and economic conditions of Central American nation El Salvador, otherwise ravaged by gang violence and corruption. Be it imprisonment of over 70,000 suspected gang members, enforcing of tougher laws and a countrywide campaign against violence means Bukele made a point to turn El Salvadaor into a safe country again.
Apart from his zero tolerance image, Bukele and his government has heavily invested in Bitcoin. During his presidency, Nayib legalized Bitcoin as a currency and also suggested using the country’s volcanoes for green mining. His bold initiatives are revolutionizing how countries can engage with Bitcoin mining in a greener way.
Bukele also met Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk in September at the company’s Gigafactory in Austin Texas 2024. They took several hours deliberating on Artificial intelligence , Cryptocurrency among other fields, respecting each other’s views. Bukele is wildly popular across Latin America and is seen as one of the most impactful leaders of the youth today.
2. Donald Trump
Until July in 2024, Trump was trailing behind Joe Biden, barely four months before the U.S. presidential elections kicks off. Trump had shown support for the crypto community in U.S. but it was a relationship still in nascent stage with both sides shying away from each other.
Then during a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, Trump was shot at by a 20-year-old assassin, as he barely survived with an ear wound. The assassination attempt changed the trajectory of the U.S. presidential elections as Elon Musk and later, the crypto community came out in his full support.
Trump also made efforts to reach out to the community, as he promised to turn America into Bitcoin capital of the world, mine every single Bitcoin in America and create a Bitcoin strategic reserve asset. He also promised to fire SEC chair Gary Gensler, highly unpopular with the crypto community, on the first day of him assuming office in 2025.
In fact, Trump’s victory against Kamala on November 4 and 5 was instrumental in Bitcoin reaching unprecedented heights and finally breaking the $100,000 barrier. Post his victory, Trump announced setting up of D.O.G.E. under Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and has promised extensive plans to promote the crypto investors’ interests.
1. Satoshi Nakamoto
The real OG of blockchain, Satoshi Nakamoto, credited as the creator of Bitcoin, refuses to fade away from the public memory, even 15 years after disappearing into oblivion. Satoshi remained the top newsmaker in the crypto community in 2024 as there were several attempts made to expose his/her/their identity.
From an HBO documentary claiming developer Peter Todd to be the real Satoshi to a jester organizing a chaotic press conference in London, everyone wanted to see the face behind Nakamoto but the mystery continues till date. There were also fears that Satoshi might face jail time if at all their identity is brought to public.
As Bitcoin reached unprecedented heights in the 2024 bull run, Satoshi’s BTC fortunes turned over $100 Billion. The man, the legend remains elusive till date even as the world wonders who that fabled creator is.
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