Title: The Top 10 Crypto Moments That Made 2023
Author: BitMEX
Translated by: Sharon, BlockBeats
This year, the cryptocurrency industry has experienced a unique year. As 2023 comes to a close, we look back at the top ten events of 2023 and how they have shaped our industry.
TL;DR:
The market entered a bear market at the beginning of 2023, facing the aftermath of FTX and a challenging macroeconomic background;
The bank crisis in March, the collapse of banks like Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, and Credit Suisse brought a ray of hope to the cryptocurrency industry’s winter;
As traditional financial giants like Blackrock and Fidelity applied for Bitcoin spot ETFs, the price of Bitcoin accelerated its recovery;
The market returned to Bitcoin, with Ordinals reaching historic highs, driving Bitcoin’s on-chain transactions to new highs;
The US SEC faced increased pressure after disputes with Kraken, Coinbase, and Ripple to clarify cryptocurrency regulation, followed by over 40 countries announcing their regulatory frameworks;
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was convicted of seven charges and faces up to 115 years in prison;
Binance pleaded guilty, paying a $4.3 billion fine to the US Department of Justice, and Zhao Changpeng resigned as CEO;
Solana’s ecosystem surpassed Ethereum through the launch of new projects and improvements, leading to a 500% increase in SOL value;
Meme coins like PEPE, SHIB, DOGE, and BONK made a comeback;
Pre-IEO listings became popular, with BitMEX at the forefront.
Traditional Finance Tragedy
Aftermath of 2022
Bank Crisis
Building Bitcoin
Emergence of Bitcoin Spot ETFs
Rise of Bitcoin Ordinals
Cryptocurrency in Court
Battle of Kraken, Coinbase, and Ripple
SBF’s Trial – Live on X
“Binance Big Dog”
Resurgence of Meme Coins
Solana’s Momentum
Crazy Comeback of Meme Coins
Pre-IEO Futures Gain Popularity
Outlook for 2024
As a college graduate, SBF, who once founded the dominant cryptocurrency exchange FTX, became a convicted felon within a year, convicted of seven charges including money laundering and securities fraud, facing up to 115 years in prison.
The trial of SBF is a moment of deep understanding for the crypto industry. This action restored confidence in the consequences of misconduct and emphasized the urgent need for transparency and accountability in the industry.
Like others, BitMEX closely monitored the entire trial process. In addition, our team found an opportunity for our users – launching a prediction market, a unique crypto derivative that allows our traders to bet on outcomes of “interesting” events related to current affairs.
As the final blow to the crypto industry this year (not surprisingly), Binance and its former CEO Zhao Changpeng (CZ) became the next targets in court. On November 21, the US Department of Justice announced a settlement regarding alleged money laundering and unauthorized fund transfers by Binance US and CZ.
Binance was fined $4.3 billion, CZ was forced to resign as CEO, and his fate remains uncertain. Compared to the FTX scandal, this was not a major blow to cryptocurrency prices, but it was generally seen as a positive sign of growing adoption and the last check before ETF approval.
With Bitcoin’s recovery in the past quarter, the altcoin market has also risen, with tokens like Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), and Cosmos (ATOM) having their moments of glory this year.
The altcoin that garnered much attention this year was Solana’s meme coin. Solana had previously been hit hard by the FTX scandal but began a significant recovery in Q3.
SOL, Solana’s native token, reached its bottom in Q1, but like many other tokens, this did not stop them from building. Their efforts eventually paid off, and despite various unfavorable factors, SOL peaked at $94 in December, more than 500% higher than the beginning of the year.
This was mainly due to improvements within the Solana ecosystem and the launch of projects, such as Jito Network, which sparked a DeFi summer frenzy through reintroducing airdrops, mining, NFT casting, and more.
This year was marked by the meme token frenzy, proving that the hype around DOGE in 2021 may not have been an anomaly. In the second half of this year, meme coins once again caused a stir, closely related to the recovery of Bitcoin prices.
Some notable meme coins include PEPE, SHIB, and BONE, with BONK, Solana’s first dog coin, rising to a market value of $2 billion within just six weeks from airdrops to members of the Solana ecosystem.
Innovation in the crypto space is unparalleled, as is the launch of its products. One concept that emerged on major exchanges this year was Pre-IEO futures listings. Pre-IEO is more advanced than IEO, allowing traders to profit from participating in token price discovery. These products have gained popularity as they allow traders to gain exposure before tokens are listed without participating in airdrops or becoming early investors in projects.
At BitMEX, we launched Pre-IEO futures contracts at the beginning of the year, benefiting from our product team’s continuous efforts to provide traders with the best trading experience. Just this year, we listed over seven Pre-IEO futures contracts:
SEIUSDTQ23 – Sei Network
CYBERUSDTQ23 – Cyber Network
TIAUSDTZ23 – Celestia
MEMEUSDTX23 – Memecoin
PYTHUSDTZ23 – Pyth Network
BLASTUSDTZ24 – Blast Network
ACEUSDTZ23 – Fusionist
The cryptocurrency bull market is just beginning. Looking back at the market cycles from 2015 to 2019, it seems that 2024 may bring a new wave of growth.
Most importantly, the interest of traditional financial giants in Bitcoin spot ETFs, real-world assets (RWA), and blockchain technology indicates the convergence of traditional finance with emerging finance. Bitcoin’s recent price surge depicts an upward path for cryptocurrencies, and 2024 is expected to be a key year for the industry’s evolution.
At BitMEX, we see 2023 as a time for building and preparing for the next bull market. This means launching more contracts, platform functions, and upgrades to provide our users with the best trading experience.
Looking back at some of our 2023 statistics:
Welcomed thousands of new traders and increased platform liquidity for the 2024 bull market;
Launched over 70 derivative contracts, including Prediction Markets and pre-IEOs;
Introduced more than 5 professional trading platform features, including chart trading, sub-accounts, multi-charts, dynamic messages, and realized profits and losses;
Achieved a 95% reduction in order book latency through trading engine updates;
Introduced a guild system – our view on competitive trading – which has distributed over $100,000 in rewards to date.