In 2024, the crypto industry witnessed considerable advancements with several projects delivering significant protocol upgrades and products. Here are ten notable developments:
The Avalanche network’s “Avalanche 9000” Etna upgrade marked a substantial milestone. Launched on December 16, this update simplified the creation of subnets and revamped staking requirements, reducing subnet deployment costs by 99.9% and decreasing network fees substantially.
Sui protocol incorporated the Mysticeti consensus engine, achieving remarkable efficiency with a consensus latency reduction to 390 milliseconds and gaining momentum against Ethereum due to enhanced transaction throughput.
The Sonic Chain, launched by Sonic Labs under the Fantom Foundation, introduced a mainnet with sub-second finality and a 10,000 TPS capacity, offering a seamless bridge to Ethereum.
Hyperliquid launched a huge token airdrop, distributing 310 million HYPE tokens valued at $1.2 billion. The introduction of native staking allowed users to secure the network effectively.
Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade reduced fees on layer-2 networks by up to 99%, though it had mixed community reactions due to its impact on layer-1 fee structures.
Cardano’s Chang hard fork established decentralized onchain governance, enabling ADA holders to vote on the network’s direction.
Near Protocol’s Nightshade 2.0 upgrade introduced stateless validation, significantly lowering entry barriers for validators and boosting the NEAR token’s value.
Movement Network’s mainnet launch employed the Move Virtual Machine, highlighting its sub-second finality and user-friendly programming language.
Chainlink debuted the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), facilitating cross-chain token transfers and smart contract communications, adopted by several blockchain networks.
The Stacks network completed the Nakamoto Upgrade, ensuring 100% Bitcoin finality and surpassing records for smart contract creation.
These advancements illustrate the strides made by key players in the blockchain and cryptocurrency landscape throughout 2024.
