The use of cryptocurrency for payments has seen significant growth, as evidenced by Binance Pay’s expanding user base and transaction volume in 2024.

According to data provided by Binance and analyzed by CryptoQuant, the number of Binance Pay users tripled from the previous year, reaching 41.7 million. This rapid adoption highlights the increasing role of crypto in everyday transactions.

Stablecoins Lead the Charge

The total transaction volume processed through Binance Pay in 2024 stood at $72.4 billion, the report found. This is a notable rise from $2.5 billion in 2021.

Stablecoins, particularly Tether (USDT), dominated Binance Pay transactions as it accounted for 80% of the total payment volume, which equated to $57 billion. Top crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB) followed suit, contributing $6.6 billion, $2.4 billion, and $2.2 billion, respectively, and represented 9%, 3%, and 3% of the total transaction value.

Another popular stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), exhibited notable year-over-year growth, with a 1,338% increase in transaction count and a 48% rise in transaction volume.

Broader market trends indicate a rise in high-frequency token transactions on Binance Pay, with Solana (SOL) leading the surge. In fact, CryptoQuant found that SOL payments reached $724 million in 2024 and represented a 656% year-over-year increase. During the same period, Bitcoin transactions rose by 73% to $6.6 billion, while Ethereum payments grew by 69% to $2.4 billion. USDC and BNB also recorded notable growth, increasing by 48% and 29%, respectively.

Binance Pay’s expansion aligns with the overall growth of the crypto market and Binance’s increasing role in facilitating transactions. This trend is further validated by a significant rise in Binance’s cryptocurrency reserves. The USD value of its Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and USDC reserves exceeded $100 billion in 2024, marking a 137% increase from the start of the year when reserves stood at $43 billion.

The increasing use of Binance Pay reflects a larger global trend as cryptocurrency ownership continues to rise.

Crypto Adoption

Global cryptocurrency ownership witnessed a 13% increase in 2024, rising from 583 million in January to 659 million in December, according to a report by Crypto.com. Bitcoin ownership grew by 13.1%, reaching 337 million users and accounting for over 51% of all crypto owners. Ethereum saw a 13.6% increase, with owners rising from 125 million to 142 million, and represented 21.7% of global ownership.

Additionally, between 300,000 and 1.2 million people may have invested in BTC through US spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Institutional interest and pro-crypto policies from US President-elect Donald Trump were major factors driving BTC adoption. The report observed that ETH’s growth was fueled by Ethereum Layer 2 network rallies following the Dencun upgrade and the launch of spot Ethereum ETFs, which contributed to increased investor participation.

After the significant volatility experienced on Friday following the Bybit hack, BTC’s price has calmed and stands just inches above $96,000.

Most altcoins are also quite sluggish on a daily scale, while ETH has gained 3%, which is somewhat surprising, given its role in the aforementioned attack.

BTC Stands Above $96K

After last Friday’s unsuccessful attempt to break $99,000, the primary cryptocurrency spent the previous weekend trading sideways at around $97,000. The business week began on the wrong foot as the asset dropped to $95,500 on Monday and even further south on Tuesday – to $93,500. This became its lowest price point in over two weeks.

However, the bulls managed to intervene at this point and didn’t allow another correction. In contrast, bitcoin started to recover some ground and went on the offensive on Friday. Following positive news from Coinbase in regards to its lawsuit against the SEC, BTC’s price climbed to a 13-day peak of $99,500.

As the community was preparing for another charge at $100,000, the landscape in the entire crypto industry changed as Bybit was compromised in what has become the largest hack against a digital asset company when $1.5 billion in ETH was siphoned from one of its hot wallets.

BTC reacted immediately, with its price tumbling by over four grand in hours. Nevertheless, it managed to bounce off on Saturday and jumped above $96,000 where it currently stands as well.

Its market cap has remained at $1.910 trillion, while its dominance over the alts has taken a hit and is down to 57.5%.

OM on the Run

Most larger-cap alts are with minor gains over the past 24 hours. This includes BNB, DOGE, ADA, TRX, LINK, XLM, AVAX, LTC, and SUI. Ethereum and Toncoin have added more than 3% of value within the same timeframe and now sit above $2,800 and close to $3.8, respectively.

However, OM has stolen the show from the larger-cap alts. Mantra’s native token has soared by roughly 12% in the past day and now trades well above $8.5.

Minor losses are evident from XRP, SOL HBAR, WBT, HYPE, MNT, ONDO, and a few others.

The total crypto market cap has remained at essentially the same spot as yesterday, at just over $3.320 trillion on CG.

The cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, which just suffered a major security incident, is now launching a recovery bounty program. The team wants to give back 10% of the funds that anyone is able to recover, according to a press release shared with CryptoPotato.

As reported previously, Bybit suffered a security breach, resulting in the theft of over $1.4 billion in ETH. The attack was carried out by the infamous Lazarus group, an organization allegedly run by the North Korean government.

In any case, speaking on the matter was Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of bybit, who said:

We want to officially reward our community, who lent us their expertise, experience, and support through the Recovery Bounty Program and our efforts to make this difficult lesson a valuable one does not stop here. Bybit is determined to rise above the setback and fundamentally transform our security infrastructure, improve liquidity, and be a steadfast partner to our friends in the crypto community.

He also added:

Within 24 hours of the event, we were overwhelmed with support from some of the best people and organizations in the industry, and we do not take it for granted. We have shared in a dark moment of crypto history, and we’ve proven we are better than the malicious actors.