CoinEx Research Team's December 2024 Report Reveals the Pivotal Month for the Crypto Market. Bitcoin Breaks the $100,000 Milestone, Mainly Driven by the Optimistic Sentiment Following Trump's Presidential Election. The Report Also Discusses the Hawkish Stance of the Fed, Stablecoin Inflows, and Emerging Trends like AI Agents and Hyperliquid, Setting the Bullish Tone for 2025.

Bitcoin's Milestone Achievement

In December 2024, Bitcoin broke the $100,000 milestone for the first time, achieving a historic landmark. This surge was primarily driven by the expectation of pro-Altcoin policies that may be introduced by the newly elected US President, Donald Trump. On December 5th, the Bitcoin price soared to a record high of $108,000, before retracing to $94,000. This consolidation is in line with the market's expectation of a year-end adjustment and suggests the potential for further gains in the first quarter of 2025 after Trump's official inauguration. Analysts remain optimistic, projecting Bitcoin prices to reach $150,000 to $200,000 in the first quarter of 2025, with the specific trajectory depending on global liquidity and the inflow of institutional capital.

Impact of Global Central Bank Policies

The Federal Reserve's hawkish policy, despite a 25-basis-point rate cut, hinted at a reduced pace of rate cuts in 2025, which has increased market volatility, leading to significant adjustments in both traditional and Crypto markets. Inflation concerns have further heightened uncertainty and raised more questions and expectations about the economic policies that Trump is likely to introduce.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has chosen to act cautiously in the face of increased economic uncertainty, maintaining its interest rate at 0.25%. However, the potential for future rate hikes remains a key factor to monitor, as this could disrupt market liquidity and the flow of capital in arbitrage trades.

AI Agents: Revolutionary Innovation in Web3

The discussion around AI Agents gradually heated up in the fourth quarter of 2024 and further solidified their position in the market in December. These AI Agents have transformed from conceptual hype to a functional framework with practical applications, and have even launched consumer-facing applications. The CoinEx research team, in their report "AI Agents in the Crypto World: Revolutionary Evolution from Web2 to Web3", has explored in detail their technical architecture and investment potential. This topic is expected to continue to dominate the Web3 space in 2025, creating new growth opportunities for the market.

Expansion of the Hyperliquid Ecosystem

Hyperliquid has become the leader in the on-chain derivatives market, achieving exponential growth in the fourth quarter of 2024. Its token price soared from $6 to $27, and even broke through $35 at its peak, achieving a 3.5-fold increase. During this period, the token price even exceeded $35, pushing the fully diluted valuation (FDV) to $35 billion, demonstrating its strong fundamentals and community support. The ecosystem has attracted high-profile projects such as Solv Protocol, further enhancing the appeal of its token generation event (TGE). In addition, its sub-tokens such as HFUN also performed impressively, rising 360% in the fourth quarter.

Stablecoins: The Pillar of Liquidity

Stablecoins have maintained a strong liquidity structure, with inflows of nearly $13 billion in December. Despite the volatility of Bitcoin and the adjustment in the Altcoin market, the influx of new investors has kept the growth of stablecoins strong. This healthy liquidity structure supports the current bull market and suggests that an Altcoin season may be on the horizon in 2025.

Outlook for 2025

The cryptocurrency market ended the year with strong performance in December, laying the foundation for the potential in 2025. Investors should continue to monitor central bank policies, liquidity changes, and the development of emerging trends such as AI Agents and on-chain derivatives.

In recent years, financial crimes such as fraud have become one of the most concerning social issues for governments globally. As the world's largest virtual asset exchange, Binance has been actively leveraging its influence and investing significant resources, working with law enforcement agencies around the world to crack down on criminals. In Taiwan, the number of cases responded to by the Binance Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for Taiwanese law enforcement agencies grew 16% year-over-year in 2024, continuing a two-year consecutive increase since 2022. Meanwhile, Binance has also held or participated in a total of 10 virtual asset investigation training courses or seminars in Taiwan to help enhance law enforcement personnel's knowledge and skills related to virtual assets.

Binance is committed to collaborating with global law enforcement agencies to bring offenders to justice and create a secure and trustworthy ecosystem for the global crypto community. Its approaches include responding to requests from global law enforcement agencies at the industry's fastest speed, and providing specialized investigation assistance for the most serious illegal activities. On the other hand, to bridge the knowledge gap brought by the rapid technological development, Binance has also actively organized law enforcement training programs, providing the necessary knowledge and skills for global law enforcement personnel to investigate virtual asset cases.

Looking back on 2024, Binance responded to over 64,800 law enforcement requests globally and served more than 14,800 registered law enforcement personnel. The increase in the number of cases responded to in Taiwan also reflects the resources Binance has invested in Taiwan and its unwavering commitment to safeguarding the community. Furthermore, Binance has collaborated with Taiwanese law enforcement agencies to successfully transfer the suspected illicit assets of suspects to the "Prosecutor's Office Virtual Asset Management Platform" designated wallet address, setting an international precedent for a cryptocurrency exchange in Taiwan.

Moreover, the expert team composed of former law enforcement elites also conducted a total of 100 virtual asset law enforcement training programs globally last year. In Taiwan, Binance has actively provided lectures and exchanges for various agencies such as district prosecutors' offices, the Investigation Bureau, and the Ministry of National Defense, accumulating a total of 20 sessions over the past two years, with the participation of more than 2,000 law enforcement personnel, receiving widespread acclaim from law enforcement personnel.

Hsu Hsuan-jung, a representative of the Binance Asia Pacific regional team, stated, "As virtual assets thrive, the resulting social issues have become a challenge that the public and private sectors must actively address together. We believe that Binance's powerful resources in combating financial crimes, including a dedicated team and a robust risk control system, can help Taiwan connect with the international community and build a safer crypto-financial environment. We also look forward to deepening our collaboration with the Taiwanese government in the future, with the aim of keeping illicit actors out of the Web3 ecosystem."

Binance has always put users first. According to statistics, in 2024, Binance prevented potential losses of $4.2 billion for users due to fraud and protected 2.8 million users from malicious actors. In addition, it also assisted in the recovery and freezing of $88 million in stolen assets. To prevent fraud, Binance also takes the initiative to intervene and warn users of potential risks. Last year, Binance proactively called potential victims 30,000 times, and on average sent 15,000 personalized warning messages to users per day. If fraud unfortunately occurs, Binance also quickly helps victims recover their assets, with an average of 800 successful fraud loss recovery cases per month in 2024.