2024 Public Blockchain Industry Annual Report: From Infrastructure Competition to Application Breakthrough

By: blockbeats|2024/12/31 12:45:04
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Original Article Title: "2024 Public Blockchain Industry Annual Report: From Infrastructure Competition to Application Breakthrough"
Original Author: Stella L, Footprint Blockchain Analytics

2024 marks a significant milestone for the public blockchain industry, as the industry focus shifts from technical competition to practical application implementation. In this year, the public chain market capitalization grew by 105.3% to reach $28 trillion. The price of Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 and achieved institutional adoption through ETFs, the Ethereum Layer 2 network expanded to over 200 chains, and Bitcoin Layer 2 TVL grew by 1,277.6%. These developments all demonstrate the industry's transition from technical experimentation to real-world practical application. The public blockchain industry is currently undergoing a shift from being primarily technology-driven to being increasingly demand-driven by applications.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, all data in this report is as of December 20, 2024.

Market Dynamics: Growth and Transformation

In 2024, the public blockchain industry experienced unprecedented growth, with several key indicators showing significant expansion.

The total market capitalization of public chains grew by 105.3% to reach $28 trillion. Bitcoin's dominance rose to 69.8%, while Ethereum's share decreased from 20.4% to 15.2%. BNB Chain and Solana maintained their shares at 3.5% and 3.3%, respectively, with other platforms accounting for 8.1%.

2024 Public Blockchain Industry Annual Report: From Infrastructure Competition to Application Breakthrough

The DeFi sector also demonstrated strong growth momentum in 2024, with the total value locked (TVL) reaching $102.8 billion by the end of the year, an 88.6% year-on-year increase. Among the top 10 public chains by TVL, Bitcoin and TON showed the most significant growth, both exceeding 2,000%. Aptos, Sui, and Solana also performed well, with growth rates of 754.4%, 677.1%, and 321.3%, respectively. However, Tron and Avalanche saw decreases in their TVL.

The Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem experienced a noticeable trend of centralization in 2024. Arbitrum maintained its leading position with a TVL of $10.6 billion and a market share of 41.1%, a decrease from 50.8% in 2023. Base emerged as the dark horse of the year, ranking second with a $5.8 billion TVL (22.5% share), while Optimism ranked third with a $4 billion TVL (15.8%). These three platforms collectively held 79.1% of the Ethereum L2 DeFi TVL, with previous competitors such as Blast, zkSync, and Starknet experiencing a decline in market share.

Meanwhile, the ecosystem continues to expand, with currently 50 Rollups and 70 Validium & Optimium running on the mainnet, along with approximately 90 chains about to launch, bringing the total number of Ethereum L2 chains to over 200.

Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechain ecosystems have experienced explosive growth, with a total locked value of $2.6 billion, representing a significant increase of 1,277.6% compared to 2023. Core leads with $0.79 billion TVL (30.3% market share), followed by Bitlayer ($0.50 billion, 19.4% share) and BSquared ($0.33 billion, 12.7% share). This growth is not only reflected in TVL but also in the number of active chains, which has more than doubled over the past year, reaching nearly 20 chains.

Competitive Landscape: Leaders and Challengers

In 2024, the competitive landscape of the public chain ecosystem underwent significant changes, characterized by Bitcoin's increased dominance, Solana's recovery, and the rise of emerging challengers.

Bitcoin: From Store of Value to Financial Infrastructure

In 2024, Bitcoin achieved remarkable growth, with a price increase of 129.2% and a market cap growth of 131.7%. This growth was primarily driven by institutional adoption of spot ETFs, the April halving event, and post-election positive sentiment in the United States. In addition to surpassing the $100,000 price milestone, the Bitcoin ecosystem saw two key developments:

Institutional Adoption Boost: The successful issuance of spot ETFs in January fundamentally changed the institutional access landscape, with BlackRock's product quickly reaching a $20 billion scale. Bitcoin surpassed silver and Saudi Aramco, becoming the seventh-largest global asset, marking a shift from a speculative asset to a recognized store of value.

BTCfi Emergence: The Bitcoin ecosystem expanded beyond price growth through innovative financial products. Babylon's Bitcoin staking project, Solv Protocol's cross-chain solution, and Core's Fusion upgrade all showcased a maturing ecosystem. Cross-chain functionality made progress through BOB Network's integration with Optimism and the BEVM's "Super Bitcoin" framework, although standardization still faces challenges.

Ethereum: Layer 2 Driving Ecosystem Evolution

2024 was a pivotal year for Ethereum's transformation into a Layer 2-centric ecosystem. Despite a 55.8% price increase to $3,744, Ethereum faced complex challenges of redefining its role and staying relevant amidst Layer 2 adoption growth. The successful launch of a spot ETF in July garnered some institutional acceptance, but Ethereum's price performance lagged significantly behind Bitcoin.

The Ethereum mainnet underwent the "Cancun Upgrade" to achieve significant changes, successfully reducing Layer 2 transaction costs and improving scalability. However, the shift in activity to Layer 2 led to a decrease in Ethereum's own transaction fee revenue, sparking discussions about Ethereum's long-term sustainability. The Ethereum Foundation responded through various measures, including implementing Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844), developing cross-L2 communication standards, and strengthening security requirements for Layer 2 solutions.

The Layer 2 ecosystem demonstrated significant growth and integration throughout the year. Notable newcomers enriched the ecosystem, including World Chain, Uniswap's Unichain, and Sony's Soneium. This evolution highlighted Ethereum's transition from a pure execution layer to a diversified Layer 2 ecosystem of settlement and security providers. While questions around revenue models and competitive dynamics persist, Ethereum's ongoing development in developer activity and innovative scaling solutions showcased its adaptability.

Solana: The Third Giant

2024 witnessed Solana's strong comeback, with a 70.8% price increase and a 90.9% market cap growth. In November, the coin price broke $260, setting a new all-time high. This resurgence began with the January Jupiter airdrop, and Solana's ecosystem saw unprecedented activity. Solana established itself as a hub for retail trading, nurturing a vibrant meme and DeFi community. Beyond meme culture, Solana made advancements in various areas: re-staking protocols, modular Layer 2 solutions, and stablecoin innovation. The ecosystem's expansion through SVM chains like Eclipse, Soon, Atlas, and Sonic further extended its influence.

Rise of Emerging Powers: TON, Sui, and Base

TON: Social Integration-Driven Platform Growth

The Open Network (TON) showed significant growth in 2024, with the Toncoin price rising by 149.6% and market cap increasing by 84.3%. TON's success was primarily driven by its deep integration with Telegram, effectively bridging the gap between traditional social networks and blockchain technology. The platform simplified the crypto experience through Telegram wallet functionality and blockchain integration, providing easy access for millions of users to games, memes, and DeFi applications, establishing a model for mass adoption.

Sui: From Move Language Pioneer to Ecosystem Leader

Sui demonstrated outstanding performance, with the token price skyrocketing by 461.6% and market cap increasing by 1,363.8%. This success reflects market confidence in Move language technology and ecosystem development. Sui focuses on the DeFi and gaming sectors, including Telegram game integration and innovative SuiPlay0X1 game console development, showcasing its comprehensive ecosystem growth strategy. The platform's emphasis on user experience and protocol development has created a positive network effect, attracting the participation of developers and users alike.

Base: Institutional Background Driving Rapid Growth

Base's significant growth was driven by several key factors. Coinbase notably lowered the entry barrier for mainstream users through its user-friendly smart wallet. The platform gained substantial momentum from successful social apps like friend.tech and Clanker, while the popularity of memecoins further boosted Base's on-chain activities. The implementation of the "Cancun Upgrade" significantly reduced transaction fees, enhancing Base's appeal to developers and users.

Key Trends in the 2024 Public Chain Industry

A Proliferation of New Chains

In 2024, many projects launched their own public chains. DeFi giant Uniswap announced Unichain; the gaming platform Treasure DAO developed a ZK-based Layer 2; the NFT sector saw the launch of Abstract by Pudgy Penguins; and the Web3 platform Galxe introduced Gravity. Furthermore, innovative new chains like Monad, Berachain, and HyperLiquid entering the scene reflect the public chain industry's shift towards specialized blockchain infrastructure.

Institutional Adoption: From Exploration to Strategic Integration

Institutional Engagement Transformation

2024 marks a decisive shift in institutional adoption from experimental blockchain initiatives to strategic implementation. Financial institutions are leading this transformation, with BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF quickly reaching a $20 billion scale, PayPal expanding PYUSD to Solana. Tech giants are demonstrating deeper engagement through innovative means: Sony launching the Soneum chain for entertainment applications, and Google Cloud expanding its Web3 gateway services. Infrastructure developments are particularly noteworthy, with Circle launching native USDC on Sui, and Visa integrating with Solana for settlements.

Institutional Investment Paradigm Shift

The public chain sector showed a strong recovery in 2024, with 174 funding events raising a total of $1.7 billion, a 137.1% increase from the previous year. It is worth noting that institutional investment strategies have shifted from pure infrastructure to application-driven innovation. Early-stage funding events accounted for 21.4% of total funding events, while Series A and Series B rounds accounted for 31.8%, reflecting a maturing ecosystem.

Venture capital investment philosophies have undergone a significant evolution, prioritizing user-facing applications over traditional infrastructure development. This is reflected in significant investments in consumer-facing projects: Monad raised $225 million to optimize user experience, while Celestia and Berachain each received $100 million for application-focused infrastructure.

From Technical Competition to Application Innovation

The public chain industry underwent a fundamental shift in 2024, moving from a technology-driven approach to an application-focused strategy. This transition challenged the previous industry mindset of "build it, and users will come" mentality. Despite significant advancements in technical capabilities, increased network capacity did not directly translate into corresponding user growth. For example, despite being "hardware-limited," Ethereum's base layer boasts a higher "user operations per second" (UOPS) than most Layer 2 solutions, highlighting the complex relationship between technical capabilities and actual adoption.

This reality has prompted the ecosystem to strategically pivot. Blockchain platforms are increasingly focused on identifying specific user needs and building targeted solutions rather than pursuing pure technological advancement. This "find users first, then build" approach is evident in several successful initiatives. Social finance integration has proven to be a particularly effective strategy, with TON's Telegram integration and Base's friend.tech showcasing how familiar social platforms can drive blockchain adoption. By simplifying user experience through account abstractions and familiar authentication methods, the barrier to entry for mainstream users has significantly decreased.

The evolution of meme culture in the blockchain space further exemplifies this shift towards application-oriented development. What initially started as purely speculative activity has evolved into an effective user acquisition channel, particularly on platforms like Solana and Base. These networks have successfully leveraged meme-driven initiatives to drive ecosystem growth while fostering sustainable community engagement. The success of these user-centric approaches indicates that sustainable growth in the blockchain space increasingly relies on understanding and serving user needs, rather than solely advancing technological capabilities.

Outlook for 2025

As the blockchain industry transitions from technical experimentation to practical implementation, 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year of transformation.

Regulatory Clarity

There is hope for a significant improvement in the regulatory landscape, especially in the United States. A more clear regulatory framework is expected to benefit the entire industry, particularly with advancements in stablecoin legislation. This regulatory clarity is expected to facilitate institutional blockchain adoption through the proliferation of regulated products and services, while fostering competition among jurisdictions in crypto regulation.

Public Chain Specialization

Public chain specialization has become a dominant trend, shifting from generalized Layer 1 competition to purpose-specific architectures. With the support of cross-chain infrastructure, application-specific chains and optimized execution environments will experience significant growth. The "Rollup as a Service" (RaaS) sector is poised to expand, offering enterprises and projects more convenient custom blockchain solutions.

Technological Innovation and AI Integration

In 2025, technological innovation will transition from mere breakthroughs to application-oriented infrastructure upgrades. The implementation of Proto-Danksharding will double Blob capacity, propelling Layer 2 scalability into a new phase; the development of chain abstraction technology will bring about a more intuitive user experience; standardized cross-chain communication will streamline interoperability.

At the infrastructure level, we anticipate seeing more development being driven by practical needs. A modular blockchain technology stack will mature, providing specialized solutions for data availability, settlement, and execution layers. Notably, the deep integration of AI technology with blockchain will reshape the infrastructure landscape: from enhancing user interfaces to realizing complex on-chain AI agents, from decentralized model training to supporting social finance integration, these innovations will underpin more sophisticated applications while maintaining security and decentralization, laying a solid foundation for the next wave of blockchain innovation.

Conclusion

The past year has demonstrated that sustainable growth relies not only on technological capabilities but also on meaningful user adoption and practical utility. With increasing regulatory clarity, advancements in technical infrastructure, and growing institutional involvement, the foundation for blockchain technology to achieve meaningful large-scale adoption is now in place. The focus has shifted from "what's technically possible" to "what's practically valuable," defining the next stage of industry growth in 2025.

Original Article Link

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Never Underestimate the Significance of the US Stablecoin 'Infrastructure Bill'

Original Title: "Never Underestimate the Significance of the US Stablecoin 'Genius Act'"Original Author: 0xTodd, Partner at Nothing Research


If the US stablecoin bill, the "GENIUS Act," passes smoothly this time, its significance will be tremendous. I even think it's significant enough to enter the top five in Crypto history.



Although abbreviated as the GENIUS Act, which translates directly to the Genius Act, it is actually the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, which translates to "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Dollar Stablecoins."


The proposal is lengthy, with several key points summarized for everyone:


· Mandatory 1:1 Full Asset Backing: Assets include cash, demand deposits, and short-term US Treasuries. At the same time, misappropriation and rehypothecation are strictly prohibited.


· High-Frequency Disclosure: Reserve reports must be published at least monthly, introducing external audits.


· Licensing Requirement: Once the circulating market cap of the issuer's stablecoin exceeds $100 billion, it must transition into the federal regulatory system within a specified timeframe, adopting banking-grade regulation.


· Introduction of Custody: The custodian of the stablecoin and its reserve assets must be a regulated qualified financial institution.


· Clear Definition as a Payment Medium: The bill explicitly defines stablecoin as a new type of payment medium, primarily regulated by the banking regulatory system, rather than restricted by the securities or commodities regulatory system.


· Embracing Existing Stablecoins: A maximum 18-month grace period after the bill's enactment, aimed at encouraging existing stablecoin issuers (such as USDT, USDC, etc.) to promptly obtain licenses or become compliant.


After finishing the main content, let's talk about the significance of this matter with an excited heart.


Over the years, when others asked, "After working in the Crypto industry for 16 years, what application have you created?"


In the future, you can confidently tell others—Stablecoins.


First, Clearing Concerns is a Prerequisite


Some people have held opposing views. In the past, people's impression of stablecoins was that they were an opaque black box. Every few months, there would be FUD — whether Tether's assets were frozen or Circle had a significant black hole deficit.


In fact, if you think about it, Tether easily rakes in billions of dollars a year just from the interest on those underlying government bonds. Circle, slightly less, also made a $1.7 billion profit last year.


They basically made money while standing there. From a motivational standpoint, they have no malicious intentions. In fact, they are the most eager for compliance.


Now, this opaque black box will become a transparent white box.


In the past, the only complaint was that Tether's funds might have been frozen by the United States. Now, they will be directly placed into U.S. compliant custodial institutions, with high-frequency disclosures, so you can rest assured.


【No need to worry about a rug pull】 is such a huge advantage—I think especially all Crypto people understand this.


Second, Mastering the Standard is Very Important


Stablecoins were once almost on the verge of being overtaken by CBDCs. In any country, if a central bank digital currency really exists, it is highly likely not built on a blockchain, at most it is built on some internal central bank consortium chain, which to be honest, is meaningless.


When CBDCs were at their peak, that was the most dangerous time for stablecoins.


If CBDCs had become a reality back then, stablecoins today would have been relentlessly suppressed into a dark corner, and blockchain would only be able to play a minimal role.


The remaining half-dead stablecoins would even have to learn the standards of central bank digital currencies, completely relinquishing their standard-setting power.


And now, stablecoins have won (or are about to).


Instead, everyone should learn the 【Blockchain + Token】 standard.


Nowadays, many blockchains actually have no meaningful applications on top, only stablecoin transfers. For example, with Aptos, the only scenario I use Aptos for is transfers between Binance and OKX.


And now, stablecoins will be legislated, what does that mean?


That's right, blockchain will become the only standard.


In the future, every stablecoin user will be the first to learn how to use a wallet.


As an aside, I actually think Ethereum's concerted push for EIP-7702 is quite forward-thinking. While other chains are all about memes, thank you Ethereum for sticking to account abstraction.



EIP-7702 is about Account Abstraction, which can support, for example:


· Social Account Registration Wallet

· Paying GAS with Native Coin

· And more


This paves the way for future new users to heavily use stablecoins, solving the last-mile problem.


Third, Deposit Enters a New Era


Furthermore, once stablecoins receive legislative support, deposits and withdrawals will become even easier.


Let's imagine a scenario: previously, hindered by the gray nature of stablecoins, but after the bill passes, many traditional brokerages can support stablecoins themselves. The money from a US stock investor can be converted into stablecoins in minutes and instantly deposited into Coinbase. Believe it or not.



Let's imagine another scenario: if the brilliant bill smoothly passes through the House of Representatives, next, you will see:


Due to the extremely lucrative nature of this trading, existing stablecoin leaders and newly entering traditional giants will crazily start promoting their stablecoin products.


And an outsider, due to these promotions, will start using stablecoins. And then one day, after finding out that the wallet account has been created, will explore Bitcoin inside. Is mining Bitcoin difficult?


Stablecoins are a huge Trojan horse. The moment you start using stablecoins, you unwittingly step half a foot into the Crypto world.


Fourth, Conclusion


As a large reservoir for digesting US debt, although stablecoins cannot directly absorb debt, they at least provide ammunition for the US debt secondary market. These functions are quite important, and slowly, stablecoins are becoming a part of the US debt market's body. Therefore, once the US legislation is passed and experiences the benefits, there is no turning back.


And, we are also confident that stablecoins are indeed one of the great innovations in our industry. People who have used stablecoins will find it hard to return to the traditional cash-banking system.


Once the bill is passed, users can't go back. In the future, concerns are about to be resolved, standards will be mastered, and the era of large deposits seems to be on the horizon.


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$COIN Joins S&P 500, but Coinbase Isn't Celebrating

On May 13, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Coinbase would officially replace Discover Financial Services in the S&P 500 on May 19. While other companies like Block and MicroStrategy, closely tied to Bitcoin, were already part of the S&P 500, Coinbase became the first cryptocurrency exchange whose primary business is in the index. This also signifies that cryptocurrency is gradually moving from the fringes to the mainstream in the U.S.



On the day of the announcement, Coinbase's stock price surged by 23%, surpassing the $250 mark. However, just 3 days later, Coinbase was hit by two consecutive events: a hack where employees were bribed to steal customer data and a demand for a $20 million ransom, and an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the authenticity of its claim of having over 100 million "verified users" in its securities filings and marketing materials. These two events acted as mini-bombs, and at the time of writing, Coinbase's stock had already dropped by over 7.3%.


Coincidentally, Discover Financial Services, being replaced by Coinbase, can also be considered the "Coinbase" of the previous payment era. Discover is a U.S.-based digital banking and payment services company headquartered in Illinois, founded in 1960. Its payment network, Discover Network, is the fourth largest payment network apart from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.


In April, after the approval of the acquisition of Discover by the sixth-largest U.S. bank, Capital One, this well-established digital banking company of over 60 years smoothly handed over its S&P 500 "seat" to this emerging cryptocurrency "bank." This unexpected coincidence also portrayed the handover between the new and old eras in Coinbase's entry into the S&P 500, resembling a relay race scene. However, this relay baton also brought Coinbase's accumulated "external troubles and internal strife" to a tipping point.


Side Effects of ETFs


Over the past decade, cryptocurrency exchanges have been the most stable "profit machines." They play a role in providing liquidity to the entire industry and rely on trading fees to sustain their operations. However, with the comprehensive rollout of ETF products in the U.S. market, this profit model is facing unprecedented challenges. As the leader in the "American stack," with over 80% of its business coming from the U.S., Coinbase is most affected by this.



Starting from the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, traditional financial capital has significantly onboarded users and funds that originally belonged to exchanges in a more cost-effective, compliant, and transparent manner. The transaction fee revenue of cryptocurrency exchanges has started to decline, and this trend may further intensify in the coming months.


According to Coinbase's 2024 Q4 financial report, the platform's total trading revenue was $417 million, a 45% year-on-year decrease. The contribution of BTC and ETH's trading revenue dropped from 65% in the same period last year to less than 50%.


This decline is not a result of a decrease in market enthusiasm. In fact, since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, the inflow of BTC into the U.S. market has continued to reach new highs, with asset management giants like BlackRock and Fidelity rapidly expanding their management scale. Data shows that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) alone has surpassed $17 billion in assets under management. As of mid-May 2025, the cumulative net inflow of 11 major institutional Bitcoin spot ETFs on the market has exceeded $41.5 billion, with a total net asset value of $1214.69 billion, accounting for approximately 5.91% of the total Bitcoin market capitalization.


Chart showing the trend of net outflows for Grayscale among the 11 institutions


Institutional investors and some retail investors are shifting towards ETF products, partly due to compliance and tax considerations. On one hand, ETFs have much lower trading costs compared to cryptocurrency exchanges. While Coinbase's spot trading fee rate varies annually in a tiered manner but averages around 1.49%, for example, the management fee for IBIT ETF is only 0.25%, and the majority of ETF institution fees fluctuate around 0.15% to 0.25%.



In other words, the more rational users are, the more likely they are to move from exchanges to ETF products, especially for investors aiming for long-term holdings.


According to multiple sources, several institutions, including VanEck and Grayscale, have submitted applications to the SEC for a Solana (SOL) ETF, with some institutions also planning to submit an XRP ETF proposal. Once approved, this may trigger a new round of fund migration. According to a report submitted by Coinbase to the SEC, as of April, the platform's trading revenue from XRP and Solana accounted for 18% and 10%, nearly one-third of the platform's fee revenue.



However, the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs passed in 2024 also reduced the fees for these two tokens on Coinbase from 30% and 15% to 26% and 10%, respectively. If the SOL and XRP ETFs are approved, it will further undermine the core fee revenue of exchanges like Coinbase.


The expansion of ETF products is gradually weakening the financial intermediary status of cryptocurrency exchanges. From their original roles as matchmakers and clearers to now gradually becoming mere "on-ramps and off-ramps" for funds, exchanges are seeing their marginal value squeezed by ETFs.


Robinhood Takes a Stand, Traditional Brokerages Join the Fray


On May 12, 2025, SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins gave a keynote speech at the Tokenization and Cryptocurrency Working Group roundtable. The theme of his speech revolved around "It is a new day at the SEC," where he indicated that the SEC would not approach enforcement and regulation the same way as before but would instead pave the way for cryptocurrency assets in the U.S. market.



With signs of cryptocurrency compliance such as the SEC's "NEW DAY" declaration, an increasing number of traditional brokerages are attempting to enter the cryptocurrency industry. One of the most representative cases is the well-known U.S. brokerage Robinhood, which began expanding its crypto business in 2018. By the time of its IPO in 2021, Robinhood's crypto business revenue accounted for over 50% of the company, with a significant boost from the Dogecoin "moonshot" promoted by Musk.


In Q1 2025 earnings report, Robinhood showcased strong growth, especially in revenue from cryptocurrency and options trading. Fueled by Trump's Memecoin, cryptocurrency-related revenue reached $250 million, nearly doubling year-over-year. Consequently, Robinhood Gold subscription users reached 3.5 million, a 90% increase from the previous year, with the rapid growth of Robinhood Gold providing the company with a stable source of income.



Meanwhile, RobinHood is actively pursuing acquisitions in the cryptocurrency space. In 2024, it announced a $2 billion acquisition of the long-standing European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. Additionally, Canada's largest cryptocurrency CEX, WonderFi, which recently went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, also announced its integration with RobinHood Crypto. After obtaining virtual asset licenses in the UK, Canada, Singapore, and other markets, RobinHood has taken a proactive approach in the compliant cryptocurrency trading market.



Furthermore, an increasing number of brokerage firms are exploring the same path. Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers, and others are also dipping their toes into cryptocurrency trading, with some having applied for or obtained the VA license from the Hong Kong SFC. Although their user bases are currently small, traditional brokerages have a natural advantage in user trust, regulatory licenses, and low fee structures. This could pose a threat to native cryptocurrency platforms in the future.



User Data Breach: Is Coinbase Still Secure?


In April 2025, security researchers discovered that some Coinbase user data was leaked on the dark web. While the platform initially responded by attributing it to a "technical misinformation," it still raised concerns among users regarding its security and privacy protection. Just two days before Dow Jones Indexes announced Coinbase's addition to the S&P 500 Index, on May 11, 2025, Coinbase received an email from an unknown threat actor claiming to have obtained customer account information and internal documents, demanding a $20 million ransom to keep the data private. Subsequent investigations confirmed the data breach.


Cybercriminals obtained the data by bribing overseas customer service agents and support staff, mainly in "non-U.S. regions such as India." These agents abused their access to Coinbase's internal customer support system and stole customer data. As early as February this year, blockchain detective ZachXBT revealed on X platform that between December 2024 and January 2025, Coinbase users lost over $65 million to social engineering scams, with the actual amount potentially higher.


Among the victims was a well-known figure, 67-year-old Ed Suman, an established artist in the art world for nearly two decades, having been involved in the creation of artworks such as Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" sculpture. Earlier this year, he fell victim to an impersonation scam involving fake Coinbase customer support, resulting in a loss of over $2 million in cryptocurrency. ZachXBT critiqued Coinbase for its inadequate handling of such scams, noting that other major exchanges have not faced similar issues and recommending Coinbase to enhance its security measures.


Amidst a series of ongoing social engineering incidents, although there has not been any impact on user assets at the technical level so far, it has raised concerns among many retail and institutional investors. Especially institutions holding massive assets on Coinbase. Just considering the U.S. BTC ETF institutions, as of mid-May 2025, they collectively hold nearly 840,000 BTC, and 75% of these are custodied by Coinbase. If we price BTC at $100,000, this amount reaches a staggering $63 billion, which is equivalent to the nominal GDP of two Iceland in the year 2024.


Visualization: ChatGPT, Source: Farside


In addition, Coinbase Custody also serves over 300 institutional clients, including hedge funds, family offices, pension funds, and endowments. As of the Q1 2025 financial report, Coinbase's total assets under management (including institutional and retail clients) reached $404 billion. The specific amount of institutional custodied assets was not explicitly disclosed in the latest report, but it should still be over 50% based on the Q4 2024 report.


Visualization: ChatGPT


Once this security barrier is breached, not only could the rate of user attrition far exceed expectations, but more importantly, institutional trust in it would undermine the foundation of its business. Therefore, after a hacking event, Coinbase's stock price plummeted significantly.


CEXs are All in Self-Rescue Mode


Facing a decline in spot trading fee revenue, Coinbase is also accelerating its transformation, attempting to find growth opportunities in derivatives and emerging assets. Coinbase acquired a stake in the options platform Deribit at the end of 2024 and announced the official launch of perpetual contract products in 2025. This acquisition fills in Coinbase's gap in options trading and its relatively small global market share.



Deribit has a strong presence in non-U.S. markets, especially in Asia and Europe. The acquisition has enabled Coinbase to gain a dominant position in bitcoin and ethereum options trading on Deribit, accounting for approximately 80% of the global options trading volume, with daily trading volume remaining above $2 billion.


Meanwhile, 80-90% of Deribit's customer base consists of institutional investors, with their professionalism and liquidity in the Bitcoin and Ethereum options market highly favored by institutions. Coinbase's compliance advantage, coupled with its already robust institutional ecosystem, makes it even more suitable. By using institutions as an entry point, it can face the squeeze from giants like Binance and OKX in the derivatives market.



Facing a similar dilemma is Kraken, which is attempting to replicate Binance Futures' model in non-U.S. markets. Since the derivatives market relies more on professional users, fee rates are relatively higher and stickiness is stronger, making it a significant source of revenue for exchanges. In the first half of 2025, Kraken completed the acquisition of TradeStation Crypto and a futures exchange, aiming to build a complete derivatives trading ecosystem to hedge the risk of declining spot transaction fee income.


With the surge of Memecoin in 2024, Binance, OKX, and various CEX platforms began massively listing small-market-cap, highly volatile tokens to activate active trading users. Due to the wealth effect and trading activity of Memecoins, Coinbase was also forced to join the battle, successively listing popular tokens from the Solana ecosystem such as BOOK OF MEME and Dogwifhat. Although these coins are controversial, they are frequently traded, with fee rates several times higher than mainstream coins, serving as a "blood-boosting" method for spot trading.


However, due to its status as a publicly traded company, this practice is a riskier endeavor for Coinbase. Even in the current crypto-friendly environment, the SEC is still investigating whether tokens like SOL, ADA, and SAND constitute securities.


In addition to the forced transformation strategies carried out by the aforementioned CEXs, they are also starting to lay out RWAs and the most talked-about stablecoin payment fields, such as the PYUSD launched through a collaboration between Coinbase and Paypal, Coinbase's support for the Euro stablecoin EURC by Circle that complies with EU MiCA regulatory requirements, or the USD1 launched through a collaboration between Binance and WIFL. In the increasingly crowded trading field, many CEXs have shifted their focus from just the trading market to the application field.


The golden age of transaction fees has quietly ended, and the second half of the crypto exchange platform game has silently begun.


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