2024 Crypto Industry Review and Outlook: The Rise of Stablecoin Payments and the Huge Potential of BTC L2
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2024 Crypto Industry Review and Outlook: The Rise of Stablecoin Payments and the Huge Potential of BTC L2
AI applications shift from speculation to value-driven outcomes, with security attacks becoming more targeted.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insights
In this 2024 year-in-review report, we focus on key technological directions: blockchain security, stablecoin payment solutions, AI applications, exchanges, and BTCFi.
We selected these areas not only because they represent the future of the crypto industry, but also because they are fields in which we have deeply participated and built over the past year—and where we will continue to invest R&D resources moving forward. We remain committed to advancing innovation and development across these domains.
TL;DR
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From Binance’s market share dropping significantly (50.9% → 42.5%) to $TRUMP achieving over $10 billion in market cap within 24 hours, the market is redefining exchange competitiveness. Traditional scale advantages are giving way to efficiency-driven models, signaling a structural shift in the 2025 exchange landscape: a three-way competition among top-tier CEXs, innovative mid-sized exchanges, and emerging DEXs.
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Although compromised addresses increased by only 3.7% in 2024, total losses surged 67%, with the largest single theft reaching $55.48 million. Attackers have shifted from "spray-and-pray" tactics to precision "sniper-style" attacks, targeting high-value accounts with more professional and stealthy techniques—making defense far more challenging.
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Bitcoin L2 is underestimated. Due to Bitcoin L1's lack of programmability, all innovation and capital must concentrate on L2—a stark contrast to Ethereum’s shared L1/L2 development model. This will unlock a trillion-dollar market. Moreover, all applications—including those requiring high security—must be built on Bitcoin L2, meaning its security standards must exceed those of Ethereum L2.
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Stablecoins are transitioning from crypto-native tools to mainstream payment infrastructure. Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge marks a pivotal moment, as fintech giants begin reshaping payment systems using stablecoins to reduce costs and expand market reach.
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The deeper significance of Stripe’s acquisition lies in its evolution from a payment interface provider to an infrastructure operator. By acquiring a stablecoin settlement pipeline, Stripe can bypass traditional intermediaries and conduct autonomous clearing.
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The stablecoin payment market is being restructured. Full-service infrastructure providers like Bridge gain scale through consolidation, while regional API providers pursue differentiation through pricing, coverage, and compliance. Supporting players like Cobo focus on customized digital wallet tech, risk control, compliance management, and one-stop resource integration—enabling enterprises to rapidly deploy cross-border stablecoin payment capabilities.
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The current AI space is inflated with hype, but practical, execution-capable AI agents will ultimately prevail. The most successful AI agents will possess their own decentralized payment solutions—just as real businesses require bank accounts.
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The market opportunity for AI agents lies in creating tangible value and demonstrating execution capability—the key being product-market fit (PMF). DeFi and gaming are the most promising application areas for AI agents, and dedicated decentralized payment systems will become essential infrastructure for agent autonomy.
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AI infrastructure platforms must deliver speed, scalability, and unique functionality. Like leading projects on public blockchains, frameworks depend on high-quality agents built atop them. Over time, the line between frameworks and launchpads may blur, transcending single-function limitations.
Stablecoins and Crypto Payments
Stablecoins are undergoing a transformation—from crypto-native assets into foundational components of mainstream payment infrastructure. This shift manifests at two levels: bottom-up market demand and top-down infrastructure innovation.
On the demand side, in emerging markets such as Brazil and India—where financial infrastructure is underdeveloped—stablecoins have moved beyond mere cryptocurrency use cases. As shown in a joint research report by Castle Island Ventures, residents now rely on stablecoins for savings, remittances, payments, and inflation hedging. This grassroots adoption demonstrates stablecoins’ role as essential financial infrastructure.
On the infrastructure side, Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge signals that major fintech players are actively rebuilding payment rails. Through Bridge’s API services, Stripe has dramatically reduced transaction costs—for example, sending USDC on Base now costs less than $0.01 per transaction, compared to an average of $44 for traditional cross-border payments. Additionally, Stripe extends its reach into regions across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East where legacy financial systems are weak.
For Stripe, this acquisition represents not just cost optimization, but a strategic transformation—from a payment gateway provider to an “infrastructure operator.”
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From Dependence to Autonomy
Prior to acquiring Bridge, Stripe functioned primarily as a front-end interface, dependent on traditional financial networks like Visa and Mastercard. This reliance introduced multiple intermediaries—banks, payment networks, clearinghouses—each adding fees and delays. With Bridge, Stripe now owns its own backend “pipeline,” enabling direct settlement via stablecoins and bypassing traditional intermediaries. This marks a leap from interface provider to infrastructure operator. -
From Complexity to Simplicity
Take cross-border payments: previously, companies sending stablecoin USD to Latin America had to manage chain-on/off ramps, fiat infrastructure, KYC processes, multi-currency liquidity, and compliance—all complex and resource-intensive tasks. Bridge packages these complexities into simple APIs. Businesses can now access full payment functionality with minimal technical overhead, abstracting away underlying infrastructure and regulatory burdens.The stablecoin payment ecosystem is being restructured. Full-service providers like Bridge gain scale through integration with tech giants; regional or vertical-specific API providers compete on price, service scope, and compliance quality; and supporting infrastructure providers like Cobo specialize in customizable digital wallet technology, risk & compliance management, and end-to-end integration—helping enterprises quickly build robust cross-border stablecoin payment systems.
The Rise of DEXs and New-Gen Exchanges
The dominance of top-tier exchanges is eroding. In previous bull runs, large exchanges captured nearly all incremental profits due to economies of scale. However, recent data shows this monopoly is weakening.
Binance, for instance, has seen its listing advantage diminish. According to 0xScope’s recent 2024 CEX Market Report, Binance’s spot trading market share declined year-over-year from 50.9% to 42.5%. The average return of newly listed tokens dropped about 10%, with an overall average return of -36%. This underperformance stems from Binance’s suboptimal listing strategy—favoring high-market-cap projects launched late, resulting in poor price momentum. Meanwhile, agile mid-sized platforms and DEXs are rising fast, reshaping the competitive landscape.
A deeper analysis reveals that exchange competitiveness is shifting from “scale-driven” to “efficiency-driven.” Especially in emerging sectors like meme coins and community-led launches, exchanges that act swiftly and capture market alpha often experience explosive volume growth within 24–48 hours. A virtuous cycle of “early mover advantage → positive reputation → user growth” is redefining exchange dynamics.
Beyond efficiency, technological innovation is narrowing the gap between exchanges. The FTX collapse heightened awareness around counterparty risk, increasing demand for asset security. Notably, this bull market is largely driven by institutional capital, which is highly sensitive to risk and compliance. As such, institutions have traditionally favored top-tier, licensed CEXs.
However, new technical solutions like Superloop are challenging this assumption. Even without massive compliance budgets, smaller exchanges can now achieve equivalent security levels through technology. Superloop’s asset mapping system ensures complete isolation: users’ actual assets are held by custodians, while exchanges operate only with equivalent “mapped quotas.” This allows institutional users to enjoy CEX liquidity while keeping assets securely managed by professional custodians—eliminating the risk of misappropriation at its root.
As traditional CEX dominance wanes, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are surging. With maturing on-chain trading infrastructure, more users and liquidity are migrating to DEXs. Beyond inherent advantages in transparency and self-custody, DEXs are now outperforming traditional CEXs in real-world metrics like transaction cost and liquidity depth. Innovations like HyperLiquid’s hybrid order book-AMM model further blur the lines between CEX and DEX, driving the entire industry toward greater efficiency and transparency.
In niche markets like meme coin trading, DEXs demonstrate clear superiority. The explosive debut of Trump’s $TRUMP token exemplifies this. Entirely bypassing centralized exchanges, $TRUMP achieved a multi-billion-dollar market cap within hours through decentralized platforms and community momentum. Massive inflows of SOL and USDC from CEXs to DEXs to purchase $TRUMP serve as undeniable proof. This behavior highlights CEXs’ sluggish response to emerging trends and underscores DEXs’ operational agility and user empowerment.
By 2025, the exchange sector is expected to settle into a tripartite structure: dominant CEXs, innovative mid-tier exchanges, and rising DEXs—each carving out distinct value propositions across different market segments.
Bitcoin L2 Is Underestimated
Bitcoin Layer 2 is undervalued, and BTCFi is poised for repricing. L2 is not only key to expanding Bitcoin’s utility and transforming it from “digital gold” into a multifunctional currency—it is also critical to sustaining long-term network security. Unlike Ethereum L2, Bitcoin L2 operates under a larger capital base (“All in L2”) and faces higher security demands. These factors will fundamentally reshape its valuation framework, ultimately unlocking a trillion-dollar market.
While Bitcoin’s native design prioritizes security and decentralization, serving solely as “digital gold” is insufficient. Even for store-of-value functions, users require stronger privacy, self-custody, and scalability—all of which must be delivered via Bitcoin L2. Without L2, users would resort to centralized alternatives (such as custodial services, multisig custodians, or wrapped tokens on other chains), undermining Bitcoin’s core principles.
More importantly, Bitcoin faces declining block rewards, threatening long-term security. Demand for L2 settlement and data availability naturally increases transaction fees, helping sustain network security.
Compared to Ethereum L2, Bitcoin L2 holds several unique advantages:
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Larger market size and capital volume:
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As the world’s largest crypto asset, Bitcoin’s base market cap is over 4.9 times that of Ethereum. Yet Bitcoin L1 lacks programmability, preventing direct support for DeFi, privacy tools, and other advanced applications. Thus, all innovation must occur on L2. This stands in sharp contrast to Ethereum, where innovation and capital are distributed across both L1 and L2. In Bitcoin’s case, all incremental capital flows exclusively to L2. This “All in L2” dynamic, combined with Bitcoin’s much larger base valuation, makes “BTC L2 flipping ETH L2” a realistic possibility.
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Shenyu predicts that the BTCFi sector could reach tens of billions in market cap in the short term, potentially exceeding $1 trillion long-term—even surpassing Ethereum’s historical peak.
2. Higher Security Requirements for BTC L2
Ethereum L2 and Bitcoin L2 differ in focus. Ethereum L2 prioritizes speed and low-cost transactions, whereas Bitcoin L2 emphasizes security. Because Bitcoin L1 lacks programmability, virtually all applications—including high-stakes financial operations—must run on L2. This means Bitcoin L2 must handle even the most security-critical use cases and bear full responsibility for securing them.
For risk-sensitive traditional institutions, proven security is non-negotiable. To meet this need, companies are actively building stronger security infrastructures for Bitcoin L2. For example, Cobo leverages MPC multisig technology and Babylon’s BTC Staking API to enhance Bitcoin L2 security—helping developers and users mitigate risks and build trust in BTC L2 solutions.
Crypto Security: Attackers Shift to High-Value Precision Strikes
In 2024, a single heist reached $55.48 million, underscoring the severity of crypto security threats. While the number of compromised addresses rose only 3.7%, total losses spiked 67% to $494 million. This indicates attackers have pivoted to precision targeting of high-value accounts, making threats more focused and dangerous.
Data from Scam Sniffer shows that Wallet Drainer attacks (malware deployed on phishing sites) caused $494 million in losses in 2024, up 67% YoY. The threat landscape has evolved from broad attacks to targeted strikes, with 30 incidents exceeding $1 million each—totaling $171 million in losses. The largest single theft hit $55.48 million, while the number of affected addresses grew just 3.7% to 332,000, confirming attackers are focusing on high-value targets.
Attack methods have also become more sophisticated. Adversaries continuously innovate, exploiting wallet standardization processes, legitimate contracts, and XSS vulnerabilities to evade detection. Signature manipulation has expanded beyond simple Permit calls to include various functions like setOwner. AI-generated phishing content is increasingly convincing. Notably, Wallet Drainer attacks decreased in the second half of 2024, suggesting a shift toward stealthier vectors like malware.
With the rise of account abstraction and automated agents—especially the surge of on-chain agents in EVM ecosystems—security architectures face unprecedented challenges. Incremental security upgrades can no longer keep pace with evolving threats. Enterprise-grade security standards are becoming the norm, such as threshold signature schemes based on Cobo’s MPC (multi-party computation), which combine intelligent risk control with high performance. This reflects a broader shift in crypto security—from static defense to dynamic engagement with adversaries—requiring proactive, comprehensive systems to counter ever-evolving threats.
AI x Crypto: From Hype to Value Realization
The crypto market is shifting from meme coin speculation to practical AI agent applications. DeFi and gaming are the most promising domains for AI agents, and specialized decentralized payment systems will become crucial infrastructure for agent autonomy. Despite current market froth, AI agents with real utility and execution power will emerge as winners. The most successful ones will have their own decentralized payment rails—just as real businesses need bank accounts. This will be a challenging yet highly rewarding frontier.
The crypto space is undergoing a paradigm shift—from speculative meme coins toward functional AI agents—driven by growing recognition of AI’s transformative potential. While the meme coin market remains large ($120.3 billion), the AI agent sector ($15.8 billion) is rapidly gaining traction, attracting significant investment and innovation.
Competition in AI x Crypto centers on three categories:
• Agents: Analogous to apps, performing specific tasks like trading, data analysis, or content generation.
• Frameworks: Provide tools and environments for developing and deploying agents—akin to “factories.” A framework’s success depends on the quality of agents built upon it.
• Launchpads: Offer funding and visibility for agent projects—like “casinos.” Long-term, the boundary between frameworks and launchpads may fade.
Yet today’s AI industry is rife with bubbles. Most agents lack practical utility, and both frameworks and launchpads face saturation. It’s estimated that 99% of AI projects will eventually fail. Speculative AI agents will vanish, and infrastructure will undergo major consolidation.
To succeed, AI infrastructure platforms must offer speed, scalability, and distinctive features. As with leading blockchain projects, each successful framework may incubate one or two breakout agents, creating value and driving token appreciation.
The true market opportunity for AI agents lies in delivering real-world value and operational capability—the essence of product-market fit (PMF).
If judged by practicality and value creation, DeFi may be the first category to achieve PMF for AI agents. DeFi agents can simplify complex crypto operations by translating natural language intent into executable commands, streamlining user interactions with protocols. Their evolution will progress through three stages: basic interaction → autonomous execution → intelligent research—ultimately becoming expert investment advisors offering data-driven decision support.
Game NPCs provide another ideal testing ground for AI agents. By granting NPCs independent economic identities, autonomous decision-making, and social behaviors, AI agents can greatly enhance immersion and gameplay depth.
From DeFi to game NPCs, AI agents are evolving from simple executors to autonomous decision-makers. True autonomy means agents operating independently in the real world—such as paying for their own compute resources. This can be achieved by introducing economic constraints into AI systems. For example, in Nous Research’s model, agents “die” when they cannot afford inference costs, incentivizing efficient task prioritization. Such evolution challenges existing financial infrastructure and fuels demand for decentralized payment solutions.
To support AI agent autonomy, decentralized payments will become the next critical layer of AI infrastructure. Current financial systems are designed for humans, with strict KYC requirements and complex compliance workflows that hinder AI agent development. The market needs specialized solutions enabling efficient inter-agent transactions and asset management. Companies like Coinbase, Skyfire, and Stripe are already entering this space—signaling new growth opportunities in decentralized payments.
Finally, we recommend our “Exchange Boss Intelligence Brief,” which delivers two types of critical insights:
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Daily AI-powered data analytics: Powered by GMGN API, it tracks wallet activity, meme coin trends, and rising tokens in real time. Automatically updated daily, so you never miss a market move.
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Deep analyst insights: Our team—known for accurately identifying early opportunities with 200%+ returns—publishes exclusive research and analysis on emerging trends.
In the fast-moving crypto market, information is advantage. We hope this report helps exchanges better understand the landscape and seize opportunities.
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