1. Polymarket Accurately Predicts the 2024 U.S. Election Outcome

In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the decentralized prediction market platform Polymarket once again demonstrated its remarkable foresight, successfully predicting the final outcome through the collective intelligence of market participants. Even before Election Day, market contracts on Polymarket supporting a Trump victory saw a significant increase in trading volume, with predicted probabilities reaching as high as 75%, far surpassing the results of traditional polling agencies.

Polymarket’s co-founder stated that this success not only highlights the potential of prediction markets but also provides the public with a more transparent and dynamic reference for public opinion trends. With the gradual development of regulatory frameworks, prediction markets are expected to become an important tool for global decision-making support, offering forward-looking data insights across various fields.

2. Ethena Launches a New Type of Stablecoin

In 2024, the crypto-financial sector witnessed an innovative breakthrough with the launch of Ethena’s proprietary stablecoin on its decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. This new stablecoin, based on the Ethereum network, utilizes a unique mechanism designed to address issues of transparency, decentralization, and capital efficiency that have plagued traditional stablecoins.

The core advantage of the Ethena stablecoin lies in its innovative dual-asset model and dynamic collateralization mechanism. Unlike traditional fiat-pegged stablecoins, Ethena’s stablecoin is backed by multiple crypto assets, such as ETH and stETH, with a smart contract that dynamically adjusts the collateralization ratio to ensure price stability while enhancing capital efficiency. Furthermore, the platform introduces a “self-balancing algorithm” that automates the mitigation of liquidation risks, minimizing the impact of market volatility on users.

Ethena’s stablecoin not only ensures fully on-chain transparency but also empowers a decentralized governance system, allowing token holders to participate in decision-making processes, thereby strengthening community engagement and trust. As of the time of writing, Ethena’s stablecoin supply has surpassed $5.9 billion, rapidly becoming a significant component of the DeFi ecosystem, with applications spanning liquidity mining, payments, and cross-chain transfers.

3. FriendTech: From Rapid Rise to Gradual Cooldown

In 2024, the crypto-social platform FriendTech experienced a dramatic cycle, rising rapidly in popularity before experiencing a decline, making it one of the most discussed topics in the crypto space this year.

FriendTech launched its v2 version and introduced its token early in the year, quickly attracting a large user base. The platform allowed users to “tokenize” their social relationships, enabling fans to purchase “social shares” of specific users to gain exclusive interaction rights. The influence of celebrity culture and the rise of the influencer economy contributed to FriendTech’s rapid success, drawing millions of users in a short period.

However, as market enthusiasm gradually waned, the platform’s model began to reveal some inherent issues. First, the high volatility and speculative nature led many users to view social tokens as short-term profit tools rather than long-term community bonds. Additionally, the manipulation of social share prices by some top users, coupled with high platform fees, sparked dissatisfaction among users. By mid-year, FriendTech’s user growth stagnated, with daily active users plummeting. As of the latest update, the protocol’s total value locked (TVL) has fallen below $4 million.

4. PumpFun Leads the MEME Coin Craze

In 2024, with the continued boom of the MEME coin market, the decentralized platform PumpFun rapidly emerged as a leader in the MEME coin launch space, leveraging its unique advantages. The platform enables developers to easily and efficiently create and promote MEME coins while providing investors with a secure and reliable trading environment.

PumpFun’s core competitive edge lies in its fast-launch tools and community support mechanisms. Developers can deploy tokens quickly without requiring a complex technical background, and the platform’s built-in social interaction features help attract attention, significantly shortening the time from concept to market. Additionally, the platform introduced smart liquidity management and anti-malfeasance mechanisms, effectively reducing market manipulation and scam risks, earning the trust of users.

As of November 7th, PumpFun’s total revenue stood at 1.14 million SOL, approximately $212 million, with 672,243 SOL sold at an average price of $160.5, totaling around $108 million.

5. Hyperliquid Emerging in Decentralized Derivatives Trading

In 2024, the decentralized derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid officially launched, quickly capturing market attention with its exceptional performance and innovative trading experience. On December 6th, Hyperliquid reached a historic high with a single-day trading volume of $6.23 billion. At the same time, the platform saw a single-day liquidation volume of $177 million, marking the third-highest in its history.

As of December 9th, year-to-date, Hyperliquid’s total fee revenue is estimated to reach up to $99.41 million.

6. TON mini-games suddenly became popular and then declined. Telegram founder was arrested

TON mini-games suddenly became popular in mid-2024, represented by NOTCOIN DOGE Hamster, attracting hundreds of millions of third world users around the world. Governments of countries such as Iran even criticized TON mini-games for polluting the minds of the people. The TON ecosystem also began to develop rapidly, especially the cooperation with USDT attracted widespread attention. But with the arrest of Telegram founder in France, the TON ecosystem also seemed to have entered a period of low tide.

7. PENDLE’s Innovative Design Fuels the Growth of the Interest Rate Swap Market

In 2024, the crypto-finance project PENDLE achieved a significant breakthrough in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space with its unique interest rate swap design. Through its Time Decoupling mechanism, the platform divides yield-bearing assets into two components: the underlying asset and future yield rights, introducing a new level of flexibility and liquidity to the interest rate trading market.

PENDLE’s core advantage lies in its yield tokenization model. Users can split yield-bearing assets (such as staking rewards from ETH or liquidity pool returns) into immediate and future yields, which can then be freely traded on the secondary market. This innovation significantly lowers the entry barriers for the interest rate market, allowing both individuals and institutions to more efficiently hedge risks or implement yield optimization strategies.

By the end of 2024, PENDLE’s total value locked (TVL) surpassed $4.3 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing projects in the DeFi sector. Additionally, the platform’s “liquidity mining” program and “dynamic fee adjustment” mechanism further attracted a large number of users. PENDLE’s token price increased by over 300% during the year, delivering outstanding performance.

8. EigenLayer Sparking a Revolution in the Restaking Space

In 2024, the innovative crypto project EigenLayer officially launched, pioneering the concept of “restaking” and providing a groundbreaking solution for capital efficiency and security within blockchain ecosystems. With its cutting-edge technology and strong community support, EigenLayer quickly stood out in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, becoming the infrastructure of choice for many emerging projects.

The core innovation of EigenLayer lies in its Restaking Protocol, which allows users to reassign their staked assets (such as staked ETH) to provide security guarantees across multiple networks. This model not only enhances capital utilization efficiency but also offers more accessible security services to new projects while reducing reliance on a single native token.

As of the latest report, EigenLayer’s total value locked (TVL) has surpassed $15.2 billion, making it the third-largest protocol on Ethereum. Several well-known protocols, including Layer 2 solutions, data availability networks, and oracle projects, have integrated with EigenLayer, positioning it as a vital tool for security and liquidity optimization.

9. Optimism Superchain Expands, with Exchanges and Enterprises Joining

In 2024, Optimism, Ethereum’s Layer 2 scaling solution, made significant strides with its “Superchain” ecosystem, attracting more top global exchanges and enterprises, further solidifying its leadership position in the blockchain industry.

The Superchain is a modular architecture proposed by Optimism, designed to achieve more efficient scaling and enhanced interoperability through interconnected Layer 2 chains. By the end of the year, several major exchanges and renowned companies, including Coinbase, Kraken, Sony, and Worldcoin, announced their participation in the Superchain, leveraging its low-cost and high-throughput features to optimize on-chain services.

10. The Boom of AI-agent and Crypto at the End of 2024

Although the discussion of Crypto+AI has been going on for a long time, AI-agent suddenly stood out and received widespread attention. At the end of 2024, the cryptocurrency circle was ignited by AI-agent, which has become the hottest topic in the cryptocurrency circle. Many popular tokens with AI-agent themes continue to emerge. Virtualprotocol on the Base chain aims to become an AI factory built for games and the metaverse, allowing easy deployment of AI-agents and sharing of tokens and revenue. AI agents like Clanker have proven their potential through practical applications.

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