Top Crypto News in 2023: Breakthroughs in Blockchain & Crypto Market

The post Top Crypto News in 2023: Breakthroughs in Blockchain & Crypto Market – A Year in Review appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

It would not be an exaggeration to call 2023 the game-changing year for crypto! The momentum was evident with an enhanced regulatory landscape and growing global adoption. At the G-20 summit, nations showcased their commitment to the digital financial future, emphasizing the need for cohesive crypto regulations. Notably, Bitcoin reached a notable $40,000 mark as the year concluded. For crypto experts, 2023 validated their beliefs. Factors like institutional interest, market recovery, and the buzz around Bitcoin ETFs took center stage.

Let’s explore the key events that shaped 2023 in the crypto world.

Reflecting on Crypto’s Vibrant Journey

Anything can happen in a year when it comes to crypto! The year began with a solid $1 trillion market cap, reflecting renewed investor optimism. The industry forged ahead amid challenges, including crypto setbacks, company closures, regulatory shifts, and product innovations. As 2023 wraps up, Bitcoin’s upward momentum stands out. Coinpedia’s ‘Top News of 2023’ offers a comprehensive overview of these critical developments, ensuring readers are well-informed.

2023 Highlights: A Global Overview

Forecasts indicate the crypto market could grow by USD 1.81 billion from 2022 to 2027. Let’s delve into the contributions of various regions to this growth and spotlight notable developments that influenced their crypto landscapes.

Crypto in the United States of America

The United States stands as a dominant force in the global crypto arena, generating a revenue of US $17,960 million in 2023 alone.
Notably, US-based crypto enterprises ramped up their lobbying efforts, allocating $18.96 million within the initial three quarters of 2023—a figure surpassing their total spend for the entire 2022.
In the aftermath of the FTX incident last year, numerous crypto entities have been enhancing their presence in Washington to bolster their public image.
However, the year brought challenges, with Sam Bankman-Fried facing fraud charges from the Manhattan federal court.
Amidst intensifying regulatory oversight by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the industry witnessed heightened lobbying activities, especially after the SEC’s legal actions against Coinbase and Binance in June 2023.
The tide turned in favor of the crypto sector in July 2023 when the House of Representatives passed two pivotal bills, bringing clarity to existing crypto regulations.

Crypto in Europe

Europe boasts a substantial crypto user base, with approximately 31 million users within the European Union.
Noteworthy regions leading the crypto charge include Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia, trailed by the UK and Spain.
The Netherlands emerged as a pivotal international crypto hub in 2023.
The year witnessed a landmark moment in May when Europe introduced the world’s inaugural comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto assets, propelling industry growth.
Further, the EU rolled out new tax regulations in October, mandating crypto firms to disclose customer holdings to tax authorities automatically.
Concluding the year on a positive note, Robinhood Markets extended its crypto trading services to EU customers, offering access to over 25 cryptocurrencies sans commissions.

Crypto in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Region

The Asia-Pacific region showcased remarkable crypto momentum in 2023.
In July, a strategic alliance between Crypto.com and LINE Xenesis aimed to accelerate crypto adoption across APAC.
By September, institutional adoption of crypto assets in Asia was on the rise.
2023 witnessed a perceptible shift in focus towards Asia, overshadowing the U.S. due to its evolving regulatory climate. Notably, SEBA bank expanded its crypto banking services to Asia in March.
The eastern Asian segment emerged as the world’s fifth most active crypto market, contributing to 8.8% of the global crypto activity.
Throughout the year, Asia remained steadfast in championing crypto clarity amidst the regulatory ambiguities observed in the U.S.

Crypto in Australia

Down Under, the Australian government signaled its commitment to refining the crypto regulatory landscape.
As of 2023, 31.6% of Australians are crypto holders.
Making significant strides, Australia secured a position among the top 10 crypto-ready nations by September 2023.
The second annual Crypto Summit hosted by the Australian Financial Review in October emphasized consumer protection, awareness, and regulatory clarity as central themes.

Top Crypto Trends of 2023: A Coinpedia Overview

Coinpedia report has a compiled version of the top five cryptocurrency trends in 2023. This is how it goes!

Trend	Deduction
Bear Market Trends	The crypto market experienced a ‘Crypto Winter’ phase early in 2023.Bitcoin climbed back above the $22,000 mark in January.After steep falls, Bitcoin crossed the $40,000 mark as the year ended.
NFTs and Blockchain Expansion	The interest in NFTs surged by over 1000% over the last five years.Gaming became the robust sector for NFTs.Web 3.0 became accessible and more clear as a concept.
Regulatory Shifts	The G20 summit highlighted the need for crypto regulations with leaders committing to the swift implementation of a reporting framework for crypto assets.The pressing regulations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission paved the way for a more regulated crypto environment.
Fallout from FTX collapse continued
Ethereum 2.0 Launch	Ethereum transitioned from PoW to PoS, aiming for reduced energy consumption and improved scalability.

Top Headlines: Detailed Monthly Recap of 2023

Month	Top News
January	Bitcoin traded at just above $23,000 after touching the eight-month high of $25,000 in February. Kraken exchange agreed to shut down its U.S. cryptocurrency staking service and pay $30 million as a penalty.Coinbase shares fell as SEC took down Kraken.
February	Bitcoin traded at just above $23,000 after touching the eight-month high of $25,000 in February. Kraken exchange agreed to shut down its U.S. cryptocurrency staking service and pay $30 million as a penalty. Coinbase shares fell as SEC took down Kraken.
March	Bitcoin soared to the highest mark of $26,000 since June 2022.Binance suspended UK customer withdrawals and deposits amid regulatory pressure.U.S. SEC threatens to sue Coinbase over a certain list of illegitimate crypto products.Silicon Valley Bank collapsed.Arbitrum launched its native token, ARB.
April	Crypto Exchange Bittrex violated federal laws, SEC charged in lawsuitBitcoin rebounded above the US $30,000 mark after Gary Gensler was criticised in a congressional hearing.ARK Invest refiled Bitcoin ETF.
May	Bittrex filed for bankruptcySEC faced legal challengesBloomberg reported the Department of Justice investigation of Binance for Russian sanctions.
June	The SEC sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for a U.S. Securities violation.SEC sued Coinbase Blackrock filed for the spot Bitcoin ETFBitcoin ETF was refiled by Fidelity, WisdomTree, VanEck, & more
July	Crypto hacks and exploits cost traders $303 million in July, marking it as the worst month of 2023.US Committed approved pro-crypto billThe Crypto market showed sluggish sentiments leading to Bitcoin, and Ether dips.XRP ruled not a security!Sam Altman launched eyeball scanning crypto coin, Worldcoin.
August	High market volatility led to low Bitcoin and Ether values.Crypto investments reached $660 million PayPal launched PYUSD stablecoin
September	Nomura launched a Bitcoin fund.Bitcoin ended September with the first quarterly loss of 2023, down by 11% since June 2023.
October	Bitcoin reached above the $35,000 mark.Crypto losses decreased by 85% in October.First Ethereum Futures ETF launched
November	Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty on all seven criminal fraud counts.Blackrock filed for Spot Ethereum ETF.Binance settled for $3.4 billionBitcoin climbed above $36,000 for the first time in 2023.
December	Bitcoin ends the year with a $40,000 mark for the first time since April 2022Ethereum emerged as a key blockchain for tokenized real-world assets.Bitcoin miners saw a rise of 400% in transaction revenue in 2023.

Blockchain in 2023: A Year of Growth and Innovation

Experts predict 2024 will witness a harmonious integration of AI and blockchain technologies. Notable progress was achieved in 2023, notably by the introduction of zero-knowledge (zk) rollups.

Enhanced Inter-Chain Connectivity

Interoperability Boost: 2023 showcased significant strides in blockchain interoperability.
Key Collaborations: Initiatives like Chainlink’s CCIP and LayerZero’s alliances with giants like Google Cloud and JP Morgan underscored the drive towards seamless cross-chain operations.

Tokenization: Bridging Traditional and Digital Assets

2023 witnessed a surge in tokenizations, bringing many real-world assets onto the blockchain, further blurring the lines between the physical and digital realms.

NFT Boom

Expanding Horizons: Blockchain technology embraced NFTs with an array of innovative applications.
Market Dynamics: The NFT trading volume rapidly increased in Q1 2023. However, fluctuations ensued, influenced by factors like Blur’s incentives and airdrops.
Market Leaders: While OpenSea initially dominated the NFT royalty arena, Blur emerged as a formidable competitor by mid-February.

The total value locked (TVL) share of top blockchains in 2023 looked as mentioned above.

Top Tokens That Made Headlines in 2023

Token	Opening value	Closing value	News
DOGE	$0.07022	$0.09315	The price of Dogecoin has increased by 32.52% since 2022.Dogecoin is not as influential as it was. However, it remains a prominent name in crypto!
AVAX (Avalanche)	$10.87	$45.72	Avalanche remained a positive blockchain in 2023 despite all the fluctuations.They are the second highest gainer of 2023 with 313.58% for the year.Avalanche attracts interest from developers and investors alike.
ADA (Cardano)	$0.2498	$0.6056	Battled accusations from US’ SEC of being a security.ADA boasts an impressive 145% year-to-date increase.Cardano network’s serious validators foster its growth despite the challenges.
USD Coin (USDC)	$0.9999	$1	USDC market cap shrunk by over half in comparison to 2022.Regulatory environment contributed to USDC’s decline.
XRP (Ripple)	$0.3388	$0.6189	XRP gained significant momentum in 2023.A U.S judge ruled that Ripple Labs’ sales of XRP didn’t breach security laws.The SEC lawsuit against Ripple Labs and the executives is still on!The cross-border payments have driven XRP’s growth in 2023.
BNB	$244.14	$270.65	BNB underperformed in comparison to all major crypto tokens in 2023.Negative press surrounding Binance led to the downfall in BNB’s price.
SOL (Solana)	$9.9822	$102.88	SOL emerged as a top performer in 2023.Solana became the highest gainer in the top 10 currenciesSolana’s success is wholly because of its thriving community, cheaper transactions and quicker speed.
USDT (Tether)	$0.9997	$1	USDT emerged as number 1 stablecoin in 2023.Tether holds a market cap of over $91.26 billion.Tether has demonstrated the highest level of utility among all cryptocurrencies
ETH (Ethereum)	$1,200.96	$2,291.59	ETH continued to be a top contender in the crypto space in 2023.Ethereum 2.0 made a noise in 2023.
BTC (Bitcoin)	$16,625.08	$44,186.1800	Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $857.5 billion in 2023Bitcoin halving is due in 2024.Bitcoin closes the year with 164.69% increase!

Bitcoin’s Monthly Recap of 2023

Highest value: $44,186.1800 on December 8, 2023

Lowest value: $16,528.2000 on January 1,2023

Month	Closing Value
January	$23,139.28
February	$23,147.35
March	$28,478.48
April	$29,268.81
May	$27,219.66
June	$30,477.25
July	$29,230.11
August	$25,931.47
September	$26,967.92
October	$34.667.78
November	$37,712.75
December	$43,016.12

Did You Know? Bitcoin remains the most Googled currency in 2023!

Top Crypto Personalities in 2023

Name	2023 NewsFlash
Sam Bankman-Fried,Founder and former CEO, FTX	During the FTX collapse, SBF gained a lot of followers on social media.
Elon Musk,CEO, Tesla	Alpha crypto investorLed to Dogecoin’s exponential growth
Changpeng Zhao,CEO, Binance	Emerged as an undisputed leader of the packHas a following of nearly 9.1 million on platforms like X.
Vitalik Buterin,Co-founder, Ethereum	One of the most influential personalities on social mediaContributed to the development of Ethereum, continues to shape the future of decentralised applications.
Jack Dorsey,Co-founder, X	Dorsey played a dual role on social media and blockchain technology.
Michael Saylor,Co-founder, MicroStrategy Inc	His vocal support for Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset got him into the limelight
Cathie Wood,Founder of ARK	Wood’s investment strategies and forward-thinking approach have earned her a spot among top influential figures in the crypto space in 2023

Top influential crypto people in 2023 on social media

Here is a list of top crypto influencers to follow in 2023:

Popular Crypto Hacks of 2023

Hack	Amount	Date	Indices
Mixin Network	$200 million	September 23,2023	Hack targeted platform’s cloud service provider’s database
Euler Finance	$197 million	March 13,2023	Flash loan attackThe liquidity issue within euler’s eToken function let to the exploitation by the attackerAttacker manipulated token conversionsCaused a decline in several currencies and 45% drop in EUL token valueLater, hacker named Jacob, returned 54,000 ETH and $10 million in DAI via encrypted messages
Multichain	$126 million	July 6,2023	Hack seemed like rug pullOver $125 million in crypto was withdrawn leading to losses from Fantom,dogecoin, Moon River Bridges, affecting assets like wETH, wBTC etc
BonqDAO	$120 million	February 1, 2023	Oracle breach caused the exploitExploiter tampered with an oracle in a smart contract, manipulating the AllianceBlock token prices
Atomic Wallet	$100 million	June 3,2023	The incident was tied to Lazarus group
CoinEx Hack	$70 million	September 12,2023	Hackers compromised private keys on CoinEx
Curve Finance	$60 million	July 30,2023	The platform initiated recovery, successfully regaining portions attributing to 73% recovery The hack targeted liquidity pools, the ones containing users’ stablecoins
Kyber Networks	$54.7 million	November 22	Attack capitalized on double liquidity counting within the protocol. It is counted as DeFi’s most sophisticated hacks
Stake.com	$41 million	September 4, 2023	Attack targeted Ethereum, BNB smart chain, and Polygon networks
Kronos Research	$26 million	November 19, 2023	Unauthorised access to API keys led to the hack.

Crypto hack volumes shrunk by 50% in comparison to 2022

Deductions:

2023 recorded around 160 attacks, similar to the previous year, but the total amount stolen reduced dramatically to USD 1.7 billion from nearly USD 4 billion in 2022
This news is indicative of improved security measures within the industry.
The attacks were primarily private key thefts.

Brands Embracing Crypto in 2023

Crypto used for: Accepting tokens from:

AMC	Movie tickets	Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin	2021
AT&T	Online bills	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin + more	2019
CheapAir	Flight tickets and hotels	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin + more	2013
Dish	Online bills Pay-per-view	Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash	2014
ExpressVPN	Pay your ExpressVPN subscription	Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, USDC, BUSD, PAX, GUSD	2014
Microsoft	Digital products from the Microsoft Store	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin + more	2014
Newegg.com	Purchases made on Newegg.com	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin + more	2014
Overstock.com	Goods purchased on Overtock.com	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple	2014
PayPal	Pay with crypto at any merchant that enables crypto checkout through PayPal	Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum	2014
Rakuten	Pay with crypto at Rakuten services like Rakuten Travel and Rakuten Mobile and load your Rakuten wallet for use at participating retailers	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash	2019
Starbucks	Coffee and anything else in the store	Bitcoin, Ethereum	2021
Tesla	Select items from the Tesla online shop	Dogecoin	2021
Time Magazine	Time Magazine subscription	Bitcoin	2021
Twitch	Buy Twitch “bits”	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin + more	2014

Here is a list of brands accepting crypto in 2023. Ferrari is new to the list, which has started accepting cryptocurrency payments for its luxury sports cars in the U.S. in October 2023.

2023 Crypto Regulation Milestones to Remember

	Pointers	Date
SEC’s staking crackdown	U.S. SEC started taking a keen interest in staking.The news reached its peak when Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong marked concerns on social media, hinting at the SEC’s desire to eliminate staking for U.S. retail customers.It got confirmed with the SEC announcing a $30 million settlement with Kraken over its U.S. staking program.Kraken was compelled to stop its U.S. staking operations. Signaling a clear message from regulators that staking activities would face heightened scrutiny. This crackdown raised questions about the future of staking in the U.S. and prompted the industry to reevaluate its compliance strategies.	February 2023
SEC against Stablecoins	The SEC took legal action against two issuers, with Paxos being ordered to cease issuing Binance’s BUSD.This move, initiated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and a Wells Notice from the SEC, powered regulatory measures against stablecoins.The regulatory scrutiny raised concerns about the future of stablecoin projects and the need for a clear regulatory framework to ensure their stability and compliance with existing laws.	June 2023
CFTC vs. DeFi	In September 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) made its presence felt. The CFTC’s enforcement actions focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols in the U.S. This generates a shadow over the decentralized space.Charges were levied against three protocols for illegally facilitating leveraged and margined retail commodity transactions.Deridex and Opyn faced additional charges for failure to register with the CFTC and implement customer identification programs. This move by the CFTC raised crucial questions about the regulatory future of DeFi in the U.S	September 2023
SEC vs Binance and Coinbase	It was huge on the whole industryThe biggest exchanges were targeted by the SECThey and were rendered as unauthorized security exchanges.	June 2023
Binance and CZ case	It was huge on the whole industry. The biggest exchanges were targeted by the SEC and were rendered as unauthorized security exchanges.	November 2023

2023 was a defining year for cryptocurrency. With clear regulations coming into play, we now better understand the industry’s direction. It’s encouraging to see more countries embracing digital assets. Coinpedia’s report offers a detailed look at 2023’s key moments and developments. As we move into 2024, optimism prevails, and we look forward to continued growth in the crypto world.