In 2024, Bitcoin, with a current market capitalization of nearly $1.9 trillion, settled more than $19 trillion in transactions over its network, a significant leap from the $8.7 trillion transacted in 2023. This monumental increase doubled silver’s market cap of $1.6 trillion, demonstrating a turn-around after two years of declining transaction volume post-2021.
Pierre Rochard, the Vice President of Research at Riot Platforms, affirmed Bitcoin’s dual purpose using the 2024 data. He stated, “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.”
2024 proved to be a year of significant milestones for Bitcoin, with the advent of the Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in the United States, a new all-time high of nearly $108,000, and the halving event in April 2024.
Moving on to 2025, the total computing power buttressing the Bitcoin protocol, known as the hashrate, hit a record-breaking 1,000 exahashes per second (EH/s) on January 3, 2024. Although a slight dip was observed, with data from CryptoQuant showing a decrease to around 775 EH/s, Bitcoin continues to exhibit robust performance.
The geographic distribution of Bitcoin’s hashrate dominance was at the forefront of discussions in 2024. Over 40% of the global hashrate was accounted for by US-based Bitcoin mining pools. Foundry USA and MARA Pool, US-based mining pools, jointly made up over 38.5% of all blocks mined that year.
While the increase in hashrate within the United States was substantial, China-based mining pools continued to command the majority of Bitcoin’s hashrate. However, achieving an accurate measure of this dominance is convoluted due to the dispersed and unidentifiable nature of Bitcoin mining. Furthermore, mining pool operators who are based in one country often rely on computing power from individual miners based globally while VPNs allow users to disguise their IP address, adding a layer of obscurity in deciphering miners’ exact location.