Statue of Justice beside a crowned Bitcoin over a globe and dark shades on a coin.

Crypto News: April 2024

The year is off to quite the start in the crypto world, with Bitcoin mooning like crazy. Anyone who bought the dip anywhere in 2022 or 2023 is probably backflipping with their computer chair still attached to their backside now that prices have tripled since the bottom. Crypto news April 2024 would not be complete without spending a few paragraphs on that.

We’ll also cover the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and a contest for a million-dollar meme. Let’s start with some amazingly good news, shall we?

1. Bitcoin’s Miraculous Resurrection

In 2021, Bitcoin hit a peak of around $64,000. A year before that, a single Bitcoin was valued at around $16,000. Who knew then what Bitcoin could become for crypto investors? The run up was epic and unbelievable. New millionaires were made left and right. Bottles were popped, Bugattis were bought, and pictures of the good life hit the ‘gram.

After that, the price fell again. Hard.

Bitcoin millionaires were unmade just as fast as they had been made in the first place. The price of a single Bitcoin in early 2023 tumbled to about $16,000 once more.

Now, we’re reporting the Bitcoin news April 2024 offers. The price of Bitcoin has reached record highs, even breaking the $70K mark! Players in our Bitcoin casino are happily gambling with gains once thought to be something only available to those with time machines.

It seems like Bitcoin just can’t be stopped or held down for very long.

So, this year, what are experts projecting? Coinpedia has the price futures ranging from $35,000 to $120,000. (A bold prediction, we know.) One Motley Fool analyst stuck his neck out a bit more and published a crypto news projection on Nasdaq.com stating confidently that the price will go over $100K. Bitcoin hitting six figures in 2024 is entirely possible, and $100,000 is a clear benchmark that many are rooting for as Bitcoin rises like a phoenix again and again from price troughs.

Two things seem likely: 1) crypto investors must buckle up for what could be a wild ride, and 2) people should not be buying into any cryptocurrency plays with money they can’t afford to have tied up for a year or more. That could be what it takes to survive the peaks and valleys of a hot, but volatile, market.

2. Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years

Sam Bankman in a suit standing between two other men, with dynamic orange streaks overlay

Sam Bankman-Fried, as the co-founder of the now-bankrupt FTX crypto exchange, has known the highest of heights. Only two short years ago, he was listed in Forbes’s top 50 richest Americans alive. Now, he will be learning about the lowest of lows, as he has been sentenced to 25 years in prison following his conviction on seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

Essentially, he took billions from the FTX exchange and sent it to another company he controlled, Alameda Research. When doubts arose about the veracity of FTX’s financials, there was a run on the exchange. Since adequate cash reserves were not maintained, funds were insufficient to enable customers to withdraw their money. This caused the collapse of a firm that had been an industry leader and poster child for the success and stability of crypto to the broader market.

The current CEO of FTX, who operates the company while Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeds, describes the situation by saying, “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.”

Hopefully, this event will be like the 1929 stock market crash; leading to proper lessons being learned to shore up the long-term stability of crypto exchanges. We can imagine how this ultimately will be a teachable moment about how NOT to do crypto, and how other industry leaders can do better.

Remember: the crash brought us valuable market protections. Of course, this will be in tension with the freedom most seek from cryptocurrency, so the process will undoubtedly be an interesting one as we seek together to avoid another FTX in the future.

3. A New Million-Dollar Meme Coin

Bitcoin on a reflective surface with blue digital background and orange glow

Meme haters, read no further. This one is just for the meme lords.

In other crypto news, BNB Smart Chain is hosting a meme coin contest from April 10th to May 9th. To enter, developers must launch a new meme coin on the BNB Smart Chain network. The prize can scale up to $1 million based on total trading volume. This means that if something goes viral, the prize could get quite large. Although, we have to imagine that the founder of a successful meme coin is ultimately going to cash in a lot more than that when the coin pumps.

After all, “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”

(But in reality, a million dollars is very, very cool. Especially when it’s your first million dollars.)

For the crypto geeks out there who always want to learn something new: Binance Smart Chain (BSC) is a blockchain network that runs in parallel with Binance Chain. The goal is to offer high transaction capacity alongside smart contract functionality.

We hope to see at least one of your glorious memes trading in the contest. Shout us out on Insta or X and we just might scoop up some penny crypto as early investors.