The cryptocurrency sector recorded $19 trillion in transactions settled over the Bitcoin (BTC) network in 2024. This is more than double the $8.7 trillion seen the previous year. As a result of the current figure, the digital asset industry has experienced a reversal of two years of declining transaction volume, which began after 2021.
Bitcoin Recovers From Harsh Crypto Winter of 2022
Pierre Rochard, the vice president of research at Riot Platforms, shared data that revealed that Bitcoin transaction volume peaked in the 2021 bull market.
It saw approximately $47 trillion in transactions completed but suddenly began to decline sharply in 2022 and 2023. It is worth recalling that 2022 was a significant year for the broader cryptocurrency industry, which faced a harsh crypto winter.
Rochard states, “The Bitcoin network finalized more than $19 trillion worth of BTC transactions in 2024, decisively proving that Bitcoin is both a store of value and a medium of exchange.”
Bitcoin Experienced a Monumental 2024
Last year was pivotal for the flagship cryptocurrency, from the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States to the halving event held in April and hitting a new All-time-high (ATH) of above $100,000. The new year is already looking good for the Bitcoins network as its hashrate hit a new ATH recently.
On January 3, the total computing power securing the Bitcoin protocol was at 1,000 exahashes per second (EH/s).
However, it fell back to around 775 EH/s a few hours later. Last year, only Bitcoin mining pools in the US accounted for more than 40% of the global hashrate. Ongoing debates exist about the country controlling the most computing power on the Bitcoin network.
Debate on Bitcoin Hashrate Dominance Between US and China
Ordinarily, it is difficult to develop an accurate gauge of hashrate dominance. This is because of the pseudonymous and geographically distributed nature of Bitcoin mining.
There is a possibility that certain mining pool operators and companies are headquartered within a country while relying on hashrate contributed by individual miners across the world.
Moreover, they could also utilize Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to obfuscate their IP addresses. However, China-based mining pools control a more significant percentage of the hashrate on the Bitcoin network than the US.
