What Happened to Bitcoin and Crypto in 2023?

2023 has been a rollercoaster for Bitcoin, altcoins, and the entire cryptocurrency market, marked by regulatory upheavals, institutional developments, and significant price movements.

Indeed, the industry has faced challenges and opportunities, which reflect the nature of this new financial sector.

In the year What happened to cryptocurrencies in the first half of 2023

Bitcoin hit an annual low of $16,680 in January, setting an interesting tone for the crypto market. However, this early year was full of significant events.

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) made headlines in February when it shut down Kraken's staking program, forcing the company to pay a $30 million fine. This move underscores the growing demand for regulatory services from regulators.

March saw the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a significant event in the financial sector that has an indirect impact on the crypto market. That same month, Ethereum-based layer-2 solution, Arbitrum, launched the ARB token, adding to the growing number of innovations in the blockchain space.

April saw ARK Invest upgrade its Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund), demonstrating its continued interest in tying the cryptocurrency to traditional financial instruments. This trend continued until May, when the Department of Justice investigated Binance for alleged violations of Russian sanctions.

June was a tumultuous month. The SEC has filed charges against both Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, and Coinbase for US securities violations.

The rest of the year was equally challenging but prosperous.

In contrast, BlackRock offered a Bitcoin ETF for the space, joined by Fidelity, Wisdom Tree, VanEck and Bitwise in July — a clear indication of institutional interest in Bitcoin. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink also made a bold statement that Bitcoin “could revolutionize finance.”

“Instead of investing in gold to hedge against inflation, hedge against a country's crisis, or the decline of your currency wherever you live – let's be clear, Bitcoin is a global asset, not based on any single currency and therefore can represent an asset that people can play with as an alternative.” ” added Fink.

In the same month, in July, XRP is not safe, an important decision for Ripple and the wider market.

Moreover, August saw PayPal launch its PYUSD stablecoin and Coinbase introduce its Layer-2 network base. Notably, Impact Theory's settlement with the SEC marks the first enforcement action against NFTs (no-nonsense tokens).

In September, Japan's largest investment bank Nomura launched a Bitcoin fund, which indicates the growing acceptance of crypto in traditional finance. October saw the launch of the first Ethereum Futures ETF and Paul Tudor Jones reaffirmed his bullish stance on Bitcoin.

“I like gold and bitcoin together. I think you probably hold a larger percentage of your portfolio than you do historically because here in the United States we're going through both challenging political times and going through — obviously we have. The geopolitical situation,” Jones said.

November was dramatic, with Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of seven counts of felony fraud. BlackRock offered an Ethereum ETF in its place, and Binance settled for $4.3 billion, with CEO Changpeng Zhao stepping down.

The year ended on a high as Bitcoin retook $44,000 for the first time since April 2022. Followed by a year of highs and lows, regulatory challenges and significant strides in institutional adoption. This tumultuous but transformative year will set the stage for the future direction of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market as a whole.