2023 is coming to an end, and the cryptocurrency world has experienced a year of ups and downs. There have been many major events, including technological innovation, legal decisions, regulatory adjustments, and personnel scandals. Today, let's take a look at ten of these major events and see how they have affected the entire industry.
Big players enter the market
- BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, officially submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Bitcoin ETF in June of this year. Subsequently, other major traditional asset management companies, including Invesco and Ark Investment, also submitted related applications, causing a sensation in the market. If approved, this would be an important step for cryptocurrencies to enter the institutional market and further enhance the recognition of Bitcoin.
Legal decisions
- Ripple won a phased victory in its two-year-plus lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The court ruled that Ripple's XRP token is not a security and does not need to comply with the SEC's strict regulations. This ruling was good news for the cryptocurrency industry.
- Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of FTX exchange, who was once hailed as a cryptocurrency genius, was convicted of fraud and money laundering by a U.S. court and faces up to 125 years in prison.
- Do-Kwon, the founder of Terra, a key figure in the 2022 crash, was finally arrested after a year of absconding, providing the possibility for victims to recover their losses.
Security incidents
- Two trading platforms owned by Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, were hacked in succession this year, with a total loss of over $1.15 billion. Although Sun promised to fully compensate users for their losses, this incident also highlighted the security loopholes of cryptocurrency platforms.
Personnel scandals
- Binance founder and former CEO Zhao Changpeng was sued for alleged market manipulation and money laundering, and resigned from his CEO position in November of this year after reaching a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. This incident had a certain impact on Binance's reputation and market position, and further highlighted the regulatory pressure on the cryptocurrency industry.
Technological innovation
- The emergence of Ordinals and crypto inscriptions technologies has opened up new possibilities for Bitcoin-based NFTs. These technologies allow users to carry additional data in Bitcoin transactions, which can store information such as images and text permanently on the Bitcoin blockchain. This technological innovation has added new vitality to the application scenarios of Bitcoin and has also sparked endless imagination about its future development.
- The Shanghai upgrade of Ethereum is also a major event that has been eagerly anticipated this year. After the upgrade, Ethereum will open up staking functionality, allowing users to deposit their ETH into smart contracts to earn rewards. This will not only improve the supply and demand balance of Ethereum, but also inject new vitality into its ecosystem.
- The global currency experiment project WorldCoin, initiated by Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, was officially launched. The project aims to build a cryptocurrency that is owned and operated by people around the world and to create a universal basic income. Its decentralization and universality have attracted widespread attention.
Regulatory adjustments
- Hong Kong announced the issuance of the first batch of cryptocurrency trading licenses in June of this year, marking its determination to regulate cryptocurrencies. This attracted global top exchanges to set up shop in Hong Kong, and also laid the foundation for Hong Kong to build an international cryptocurrency center.
The cryptocurrency market in 2023 was volatile, but technological innovation and clearer regulations have set the stage for endless possibilities in 2024.
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