Bitcoin ascendancy, WazirX chaos, and India’s blockchain evolution: Crypto events that marked 2024

So, which crypto events and catastrophes defined the year that is coming to an end? Let’s take a look.

2024 is a year that many crypto investors will toast even decades from now. After the U.S. voted Donald Trump back into the White House, Bitcoin rose till it crossed $100,000 in price for the very first time, signalling traders’ excitement and hopes for the coming year.

At the same time, it was a year of pain and hurt for thousands of India-based crypto investors who were impacted by one of the largest crypto hacks on record, and have since been waiting months for a resolution that is yet to materialise.

So, which crypto events and catastrophes defined the year that is coming to an end? Let’s take a look.

The July 18 cyber-attack against a WazirX and Liminal multi-signature wallet did not just whisk away more than $230 million in assets; it also upended the lives of thousands of investors as crypto withdrawals were halted on the platform. While investors tried to get back access to their crypto or involve the Indian authorities, WazirX’s leadership instead pushed for a moratorium and decided to undergo restructuring in Singapore, insisting this was the fastest way to get customers some of their recoveries. The suspected perpetrators, the fate of the stolen funds, the reason why the Indian authorities are yet to publicly assist investors. . .all these remain mysteries for WazirX’s customers.

As crypto investors in other parts of the world were able to capitalise on Bitcoin’s rocketing prices in November, WazirX’s investors—the number of registered users goes into the millions—have no choice but to painfully wait for a foreign court to help decide their fate.

The Bitcoin Halving is a roughly once-in-a-four-year event that sees the mining reward for the top cryptocurrency being cut in half, so Bitcoin miners get fewer coins for processing transactions and the asset automatically becomes more scarce. The Bitcoin Halving took place this year around April 19-20, with both investors and miners tracking the developments with bated breath.

Though many believed or hoped that the Bitcoin Halving would result in momentous price gains for the top coin, this was not really the case and prices largely remained within the already established range at the time.