Author: Zoltan Vardai, CoinTelegraph; Compiled by: Five Baht, Golden Finance

Bitcoin’s historic rise to the $100,000 milestone was a year marked by many major cryptocurrency stories, further elevating the Legitimizing the status of the industry.

This year’s events have brought a resurgence to many prominent crypto projects that had faced difficulties, including Ripple Labs, which scored a major legal victory over strong growth forecasts from U.S. securities regulators.

In addition to all-time highs, 2024 saw renewed interest in blockchain from some of the world's largest institutions, such as BlackRock, which launched a variety of cryptocurrency-based products.

Additionally, President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election has boosted investor interest in risk assets such as cryptocurrencies, as an improving environment is expected to bring more regulatory transparency , especially for tokens like XRP.

Ripple Labs and XRP Token Set to Win in 2024

Despite more than four years of regulatory battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), XRP Token is gaining ground among powerful holders The group has proven its resilience.

XRP and BTC, 1-year chart. Source: Cointelegraph

The XRP token is up more than 251% over the past year, more than double Bitcoin’s 117% return. This makes XRP the second-best performing currency among the top ten cryptocurrencies, according to Cryptobubbles data.

Top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Source: Cryptobubbles

Bitget Wallet Chief Operating Officer Alvin Kan said that in addition to the financial returns of XRP tokens, Ripple Labs has also achieved some achievements in the past year.

He noted:

“In 2024, Ripple and XRP will become important milestones in the cryptocurrency field. After overcoming legal challenges, Ripple has consolidated its position in the field of cross-border payments. status, with more than 300 ”

Ripple scored a major legal victory in July 2023, when a federal judge ruled that XRP was not a security, involving digital asset exchanges. Programmatic sales.

This marks a major victory for Ripple as the SEC lawsuit seeks to force Ripple to stop offering its XRPToken, provided it is a security and therefore requires additional regulation.

However, the SEC also managed to score a victory of its own, as a federal judge ruled that XRP was a security when sold to institutional investors because it met the conditions set out in the Howey test.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020. In August 2024, a judge ruled that the company should be liable for a $125 million civil penalty. The commission appealed the ruling and Ripple filed a cross-appeal, keeping 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 asking the court to review its findings regarding Ripple’s sale of XRP on exchanges and the personal conduct of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. XRP sale decision.

Trump’s upcoming inauguration, and his choice of Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Paul Atkins, have reignited investor hopes for a future in a country more conducive to innovation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may drop legal proceedings against Ripple Labs under crypto regulation.

Memecoin Resurgence: 1.600% PEPE and 1.400% WIF Rally to Attract More Retail Investors

Memecoin has also seen a notable resurgence, becoming one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies this year and creating $ New Crypto Millionaires.

The top cryptocurrencies so far this year.

So far this year, the Solana-based Dogwifhat meme token is up over 1.273%, making it the second-best performing token among the top 100 cryptocurrencies. Followed by Pepe, up 1,229%, ranking third.

PEPE and WIF, 1-year charts.

It was reported on December 14 that a savvy memecoin trader benefited from Pepe’s rally, turning his $27 investment into $52 million after holding the coins for 600 days .

Writer and blockchain expert Andy Lian said that although 2024 will be a revolutionary year for the entire encryption industry, memecoin is a major development.

He said:

“Memecoin is often considered speculative and boring, but by integrating humor, culture and financial innovation, it has found new relevance in 2024. pictureCoins like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Neiro have gained traction, with Dogecoin even influencing the United States through Elon Musk’s appointment as the Department of Efficiency (D.O.G.E.). ”

Lian added that memecoin proved that community-driven projects have great potential for development.

Bitget Research principal analyst Ryan Lee wrote that some cryptocurrency traders will Pepe Considered the Dogecoin of this cycle, it has also gained traction due to Musk’s continued social posts:

“Dogecoin could see a breakout due to Elon Musk’s continued influence Putting Dogecoin in the spotlight often triggers price spikes. Positive sentiment in the broader cryptocurrency market, and Meme coins in particular, provided additional impetus. ”

Excerpt from Donald Trump’s DOGE statement shared by Elon Musk on X.

< p>On November 27, Dogecoin overturned Porsche's market capitalization after Musk participated in the creation of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which further sparked interest in the RWA token. It is expected that by 2030 Achieving Trillions of Dollars Annual Growth

There are also big things happening in the real world asset (RWA) tokenization space, thanks to its promise to bring traditional finance on-chain and create more liquidity for investment products and accessibility.

RWA tokenization refers to financial and other tangible assets minted on an immutable blockchain ledger, increasing investor accessibility and trading opportunities in these assets. .

Edwin, co-founder and CEO of Brickken Mata noted that the launch of BlackRock Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) is a pivotal moment in the RWA tokenization space:

“BlackRock’s launch of BUIDL on Ethereum is a defining moment, demonstrating Learn how blockchain can provide real, tangible value to the financial world. This is more than just a technology experiment—it restores credibility and trust to the blockchain ecosystem. ”

BlackRock’s Tokenized Treasury Fund has a market capitalization of over $500 million and is the first fund to reach this milestone in July 2024.

BlackRock’s BUIDL overtakes Franklin Online US in late April Money Fund (BENJI), became the world’s largest tokenized treasury bond fund less than six weeks after its launch on March 15, and the build has held the top spot ever since.

BUIDL. The price is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and daily accrued dividends are paid directly to investors every month through a partnership with Securitize, a real-world asset tokenization platform..

Tokenized funds bring more transparency, liquidity and accessibility to already trusted financial products, Mata added:

“The crypto industry is known for its speculative BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has faced criticism for its nature and lack of integration with the traditional financial system. BlackRock) is proving that blockchain can enhance, not replace, traditional finance.”

In other noteworthy developments in the RWA space, Tezos launched the world’s first uranium market on the blockchain. , giving retail investors access to tokenized uranium for the first time ever.

Additionally, RWA is unlocking new investor opportunities in the $700 billion reinsurance space with the launch of Nayms, a crypto-native (re)insurance marketplace leveraging RWA tokenization for tokenization Investors are provided with insurance risk.

The RWA industry could grow more than 50 times by 2030, according to forecasts from some of the largest financial institutions and business advisory firms in a Tren Finance research report.

Most companies predict that the RWA industry could be worth $4 trillion to $30 trillion.

RWA tokenization, market size forecast to 2030. Source: Train Finance

If the industry achieves the median forecast of around $10 trillion, its current value will increase by more than 54 times.

2024 marks a significant recovery for the crypto industry in terms of valuation and mainstream trust. Ripple’s legal victory and growing interest in memecoins and RWAs demonstrate the industry’s growing legitimacy to retail players and regulators around the world.