The Institutional Era (2024–2026): Spot ETFs, Halving, and Beyond

2024 was the year crypto became fully accessible through traditional brokerage accounts. The launch of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, combined with the fourth Bitcoin halving and major Ethereum upgrades, made it the most important year for crypto infrastructure since 2015. **Q1 2024:** • January 10, 2024: SEC approves 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs (vote 3-2; Chair Gary Gensler joined Republican commissioners). Trading begins January 11, 2024. First-day volume: $4.6 billion. • Issuers: BlackRock IBIT, Fidelity FBTC, Ark 21Shares ARKB, Bitwise BITB, Grayscale GBTC (converted from trust), Invesco/Galaxy, Valkyrie, VanEck, Franklin, WisdomTree, Hashdex. • March 11, 2024: BlackRock launches BUIDL — its tokenized US Treasury fund on Ethereum. Reaches $1B+ AUM in 6 months; $2B+ by March 2026. • March 13, 2024: Ethereum Dencun upgrade activates EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding). Blob-carrying transactions reduce L2 fees ~90% overnight. • March 14, 2024: Bitcoin ATH at $73,750. **Q2 2024: Halving and Roger Ver indictment.** • April 19/20, 2024 (block 840,000): Fourth Bitcoin halving. Block reward drops from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Daily issuance drops from ~900 BTC to ~450 BTC. • April 24, 2024: DOJ shuts down Samourai Wallet. Founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill arrested. • April 30, 2024: Roger Ver ("Bitcoin Jesus") indicted by DOJ for tax evasion. Alleged $48-50M tax loss after renouncing US citizenship in 2014 while not disclosing 130,664 BTC ($73.7M at the time). • May 3, 2024: $68 million wBTC address poisoning attack. • May 14, 2024: Alexey Pertsev convicted in Netherlands for Tornado Cash money laundering ($1.2B in illicit flows). 64-month sentence. • May 23, 2024: SEC approves spot Ethereum ETFs (19b-4 forms). **Q3 2024: ETH ETFs and major hacks.** • July 23, 2024: Spot Ethereum ETFs begin trading. Issuers include BlackRock ETHA (would hit $10B AUM in ~1 year, third-fastest in ETF history), Fidelity FETH, Bitwise ETHW, 21Shares CETH, VanEck ETHV, Invesco/Galaxy QETH, Franklin EZET, Grayscale ETHE/ETH. • July 18, 2024: WazirX hack — ~$235M stolen by Lazarus Group/DPRK. • August 2024: Sky Protocol/MakerDAO rebrand. SKY token replaces MKR (24,000:1); USDS replaces DAI. • August 19, 2024: FinCEN officially withdraws the controversial unhosted wallets rule first proposed December 2020. **Q4 2024: Trump victory.** • November 5, 2024: Donald Trump wins US presidential election. Crypto markets rally on expectations of pro-crypto policy. • November 26, 2024: 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in Van Loon v. Treasury that Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts are not "property" under IEEPA. Major win for crypto privacy advocates. • December 2024: Bitcoin breaks $100,000 for the first time ($101,237). • December 31, 2024: Do Kwon (Terra/LUNA founder) extradited from Montenegro to the US after multi-year fight. **Adoption metrics 2024:** • Cumulative spot BTC ETF inflows year-1: ~$36 billion • Bitcoin year-end price: $93,429 • Total crypto market cap year-end: ~$3.2 trillion • Bitcoin daily transactions averaged 570,000 (peaked ~753,584 on April 23, 2024 with Runes launch) • DeFi TVL: ~$112B → ~$257B (+129% growth) • Crypto VC investment: $11.5B (across 2,153 deals) • Web3 jobs: ~66K added (+47% YoY) • Number of cryptocurrencies: ~9,000+ active 2024 marked the transition from "crypto vs traditional finance" to "crypto as part of traditional finance." Pension funds, mutual funds, and registered investment advisors could now hold Bitcoin exposure through familiar instruments. The institutional bridge was finally built.