The year 2024 brought significant developments to the crypto industry: another Bitcoin halving, the launch of various cryptocurrency ETFs, and excitement surrounding the U.S. political transition boosted market growth.
Throughout 2024, Bitcoin’s price rose by 125%, while the S&P 500 index gained 25%.
During this period, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies nearly doubled, from $1.724 trillion to $3.417 trillion.
Leaders
Several publicly traded companies in the crypto industry had particularly successful years.
MicroStrategy: +417.23%
MicroStrategy (MSTR), an IT company known for its large systematic investments in Bitcoin, was the undisputed leader. Its market capitalization grew by 417.23% to $87.23 billion.
As of December 23, MicroStrategy held 444,262 BTC on its balance sheet, according to founder Michael Saylor. The return on investment since the beginning of the year was 73.7%.
Core Scientific: +169.55%
Core Scientific, a data center operator for Bitcoin mining, ranked second with a 169.55% gain. Its market capitalization reached $4.18 billion.
In November, the company reported a self-mining hashrate of 19.3 EH/s, with an additional 1 EH/s contributed by client equipment. In July, Core Scientific secured a $300 million deal to acquire 3-nm mining chips from Jack Dorsey’s Block project.
Bitdeer Technologies: +122.26%
Cloud computing and mining provider Bitdeer Technologies secured third place, with its market cap reaching $3.29 billion—a 122.26% increase.
The company reported a total hashrate of 20.7 EH/s, with its self-mining operations accounting for 8.2 EH/s. In September, Bitdeer completed testing of its proprietary Bitcoin mining chip, SEAL02.
Terawulf: +112.63%
Terawulf (WULF), a developer of energy infrastructure for Bitcoin mining, came in fourth. Its market cap rose by 112.63% to $2.4 billion.
As of November, Terawulf’s self-mining hashrate was approximately 8.4 EH/s. In October, the company announced the issuance of $350 million in convertible bonds to fund stock buybacks.
Hut 8: +61.22%
The fifth spot was taken by Hut 8, a mining company whose market cap grew by 61.22% to $2.27 billion.
As of November 2024, Hut 8 managed equipment with a total hashrate of 21 EH/s, including 5.7 EH/s in self-mining operations. In October, the company introduced a new ASIC miner, U3S21EXPH, developed in collaboration with Bitmain.
Laggards
Amid the overall growth in the crypto market and positive dynamics in the S&P 500, several public crypto companies faced losses, significantly reducing their market capitalizations.
Gryphon Digital Mining: -95.23%
Bitcoin miner Gryphon Digital Mining led the anti-ranking, with its market cap falling by 95.23% to $22.25 million.
In August, Gryphon reported a self-mining hashrate of 0.94 EH/s. Its Q3 2024 revenue from Bitcoin mining was $3.7 million—71% less than the $5.2 million reported the previous year.
Argo Blockchain: -84.62%
UK-based crypto miner Argo Blockchain took the second spot for declining capitalization, which dropped by 84.62% to $42.70 million.
The combined hashrate of the company’s data centers in Texas and Quebec was 2.7 EH/s.
Greenridge Generation: -76.96%
The market cap of Greenridge Generation fell by 76.96% to $19.79 million.
As of September 2024, the company had a total hashrate of 3.1 EH/s, with 1.3 EH/s allocated to internal cryptocurrency mining.
Bitfarms: -48.94%
Canadian mining company Bitfarms lost 48.94% of its market cap this year, with the current figure standing at $798.53 million.
In November, Bitfarms reported a total hashrate of 12.8 EH/s. In July, the company adopted a shareholder rights plan to prevent a hostile takeover by competitor Riot Platforms.
Hive Digital (HIVE): -37.9%
Another Canadian miner, Hive Digital, saw its market cap decline by 37.9% to $403.9 million.
As of November, Hive’s peak hashrate was 5.7 EH/s, with an average of 5.3 EH/s. In July, the company announced the construction of a 100 MW mining data center in Paraguay.
Context
In December, MicroStrategy’s stock was included in the Nasdaq-100 index.