Author: Zoltan Vardai, CoinTelegraph; Translated by Wu Zhu, Golden Finance
Bitcoin's historic rise to the $100,000 milestone has seen many major cryptocurrency stories this year, further legitimizing the industry's status.
This year's events have brought a revival to many prominent crypto projects that faced difficulties, including Ripple Labs, which achieved major legal victories in strong growth forecasts from U.S. securities regulators.
In addition to setting historical highs, 2024 has seen renewed interest in blockchain from some of the world's largest institutions (such as BlackRock), which have launched various cryptocurrency-based products.
Moreover, the victory of elected President Donald Trump in the 2024 election has boosted investors' interest in risk assets like cryptocurrencies, as the expected improvement in the environment is anticipated to bring more regulatory transparency, especially for tokens like XRP.
Ripple Labs and the XRP token will achieve victory in 2024.
Despite a regulatory battle lasting over four years between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the XRP token has proven its resilience among a strong holder community.
XRP and BTC, 1-year chart. Source: Cointelegraph
Over the past year, the XRP token has risen over 251%, more than double Bitcoin's 117% return rate. Data from Cryptobubbles shows this has made XRP the second best-performing currency among the top ten cryptocurrencies.
Top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Source: Cryptobubbles
Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet, noted that aside from the financial returns of the XRP token, Ripple Labs has also achieved several accomplishments over the past year.
He pointed out:
"In 2024, Ripple and XRP will become important milestones in the cryptocurrency field. After overcoming legal challenges, Ripple solidified its position in the cross-border payments sector, collaborating with over 300 financial institutions and boasting a market cap exceeding $30 billion."
Ripple achieved a significant legal victory in July 2023 when a federal judge ruled that XRP is not a security, relating to the procedural sales involving digital asset exchanges.
This marks a significant victory for Ripple, as the SEC's lawsuit sought to force Ripple to cease offering its XRP token on the premise that it is a security and thus requires additional regulation.
However, the SEC has also successfully achieved its own victories, as a federal judge ruled that XRP is a security when sold to institutional investors, as it meets the criteria set by the Howey test.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple in December 2020. In August 2024, a judge ruled that the company should pay a civil fine of $125 million. The commission appealed the ruling, and Ripple filed a cross-appeal, leaving the civil case ongoing at the time of publication.
On October 16, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a type C civil appeal requesting the court to review its decision regarding Ripple's sale of XRP on exchanges and the personal XRP sales of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen.
Trump's upcoming inauguration, along with his chosen chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, has reignited investor hopes that the SEC may drop its legal action against Ripple Labs under a more favorable regulatory environment for crypto innovation.
Memecoin Revival: 1,600% increase in PEPE and 1,400% rise in WIF attract more retail investors
Memecoins have also experienced a significant revival, becoming one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies this year and creating new crypto millionaires in the process.
Top cryptocurrencies so far this year.
So far this year, the Solana-based Dogwifhat meme token has risen over 1,273%, becoming the second best-performing token among the top 100 cryptocurrencies. Next is Pepe, which increased by 1,229%, ranking third.
PEPE and WIF, 1-year chart.
Reports on December 14 indicated that a savvy memecoin trader benefited from Pepe's rebound, turning a $27 investment into $52 million after holding these tokens for 600 days.
Writer and intergovernmental blockchain expert Andy Lian stated that while 2024 is a revolutionary year for the entire crypto industry, memecoin is a significant development.
He stated:
"Memecoins are often regarded as speculative and boring, but by integrating humor, culture, and financial innovation, they found new relevance in 2024. Tokens like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Neiro have gained attention, with Dogecoin even influencing U.S. politics through Elon Musk's appointment to the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.)."
Lian added that memecoins have proven that community-driven projects have significant growth potential.
Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research, wrote that some cryptocurrency traders view Pepe as this cycle's Dogecoin, gaining attention due to Musk's ongoing social media posts:
"Dogecoin may see a breakthrough as Elon Musk's continued influence keeps Dogecoin in the spotlight, often triggering price surges. The positive sentiment in the broader cryptocurrency market, especially for meme coins, provides additional momentum."
An excerpt of Donald Trump's DOGE statement shared by Elon Musk on X.
On November 27, after Musk's involvement in creating the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, Dogecoin surpassed Porsche's market cap, further sparking interest.
RWA tokenization is expected to achieve trillions of dollars in growth by 2030.
The RWA tokenization space has also seen major events, thanks to its commitment to bringing traditional finance on-chain and creating more liquidity and accessibility for investment products.
RWA tokenization refers to financial and other tangible assets minted on immutable blockchain ledgers, increasing investors' accessibility to these assets and trading opportunities.
Edwin Mata, Co-Founder and CEO of Brickken, pointed out that the launch of BlackRock's institutional digital liquidity fund (BUIDL) is a key moment in the field of RWA tokenization:
"The launch of BUIDL on Ethereum by BlackRock is a decisive moment, showcasing how blockchain can provide real, tangible value to the financial world. This is not just a technological experiment - it restores credibility and trust to the blockchain ecosystem."
BlackRock's tokenized government bond fund has a market value exceeding $500 million, making it the first fund to reach this milestone by July 2024.
BlackRock's BUIDL surpassed the Franklin Online U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI) at the end of April, becoming the largest tokenized government bond fund in the world, less than six weeks after its launch on March 15. Since then, BUIDL has maintained the top position.
The price of BUIDL is pegged to the dollar at a 1:1 ratio and pays daily accrued dividends directly to investors monthly through a partnership with the real-world asset tokenization platform Securitize.
Tokenized funds bring more transparency, liquidity, and accessibility to already trusted financial products, Mata added:
"The crypto industry faces criticism for its speculative nature and lack of integration with traditional financial systems. The world's largest asset management company, BlackRock, demonstrates that blockchain can enhance rather than replace traditional finance."
In other notable developments in the RWA space, Tezos launched the world's first uranium market on the blockchain, allowing retail investors to access tokenized uranium for the first time in history.
Moreover, with the launch of Nayms, RWA is releasing new investor opportunities in the $700 billion reinsurance sector; Nayms is a crypto-native (re)insurance marketplace that provides insurance risk for tokenized investors.
According to predictions from some of the largest financial institutions and business consulting firms in the Tren Finance research report, the RWA industry could grow over 50 times by 2030.
Most companies predict that the market size of the RWA industry could reach $4 trillion to $30 trillion.
RWA tokenization, market size forecast by 2030. Source: Train Finance
If the industry achieves a median forecast of around $10 trillion, its current value would grow by more than 54 times.
The year 2024 marks a significant recovery for the crypto industry in terms of valuation and mainstream trust. Ripple's legal victory and the growing interest in memecoins and RWA demonstrate the industry's increasing legitimacy among global retail participants and regulators.
