Despite the best efforts of the Biden Administration and Capitol Hill Democrats to control and stymie the crypto ecosystem, it continues forward – American mainstream adoption now totals over 53 million users of crypto and NFTs. As wars rage and global tensions increase, as governments fail to address basic social issues, and central bank policies undermined currency values, it’s become apparent that the crypto ecosystem, and particularly blockchain technology, is the next evolutionary, and logical, step for the digital domain.

Two crypto assets, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) comprise 70% of the market capitalization of all digital assets. That being said, BTC’s original purpose of being a global decentralized currency has now morphed into it becoming an investment asset. It is now apparent that 2024 will be pivotal as the traditional financial giants await the SEC’s OK on a BTC spot ETF and the further tokenization of real-world investment assets.

Spearheaded by BlackRock Investments ($9.42 trillion under management) the SEC approval of a BTC ETF is set in stone and will be announced next month. Called the ‘Cointucky Derby‘ the first companies to get approval will be the big winners in the race to offer a BTC ETF to its customers.

BTC celebrates its 15th anniversary next month and in April it will have its pre-programmed halving – normally very positive for BTC’s intrinsic value as it lowers the supply of BTC in circulation. So, coupled with the expected January ETF approval (making BTC part of many mainstream investment portfolios) points to a dramatic price rise for BTC in 2024, which could easily surpass its all-time high of $69,000.

Cryptos present a unique diversification option for investors. They are easily invested in and trade globally 24/7/365. Currently, early adoption is being replaced by mass acceptance. There exist many on-ramps for the average investor and custodial and cold wallets are much easier to use. New investment vehicles will arise, for example, I can see the debut of a spot Ethereum ETF later in 2024.

Huge technological break throughs in blockchain development and scalability will also occur in 2024 which will spur the transition from Web2 to Web3, as Web3 apps become easier to use and offer self-sovereignty through digital identity – further accelerating adoption.

Another exciting area for Web3 use and adoption is in gaming. Web3 gaming will take off in 2024 as developers provide the technology and resources to foster a robust crypto-based gaming community.

2024 will be the year the normies began to use the crypto ecosystem in earnest. The movers and shakers in Web3 are young, hungry, and smart. They are pragmatic about the technology and truly believe permissionless is better than permission and decentralized is better than centralized. When you think about it BTC is the perfect example. In the traditional world it’s the big players that get first dibs on stocks and other investment vehicles and the little guy comes in much later to pick up the crumbs. With BTC, it was the little guys that went in first and enjoyed the financial benefits of early entry.

By: Jim Lavorato, President, 4M Performance (4mperformance.com)