Cryptocurrency list
In 2023, the SEC brought 46 enforcement actions related to cryptocurrencies, a 53% increase over 2022. High-profile cases included charges against Binance, Coinbase, and other major exchanges for operating as unregistered exchanges netent software. These cases were part of the SEC’s efforts to regulate the growing crypto market, especially as its assets have been brought within regulated exchanges through the holdings of mutual and exchange-traded funds.
The SEC has the authority to produce rules that govern the fair and orderly conduct of securities market participants, including digital currencies that meet the definition of securities, encompassing a significant part of the cryptocurrency market. Crypto banks, exchanges, broker-dealers, investment advisors, and other entities that handle crypto assets will be breaking the law and opening themselves up to costly and potentially operationally ruinous legal trouble if they violate these rules.
In recent years, there has been growing interest in the development of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). CBDCs differ from cryptocurrencies and digital or virtual currency in that they are centralized, issued, and potentially directly managed by central banks, as opposed to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies. The Biden administration perceives “significant advantages” from establishing a CBDC or a digital version of the U.S. dollar, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell advocates for the release of a CBDC to reduce the need for alternative coin use in the nation.
See Basel Institute on Governance, “Quick Guide 1: Cryptocurrencies and Money Laundering Investigations” (August 2023), available at See also Chainalysis, “Crypto Money Laundering: Four Exchange Deposit Addresses Received Over $1 Billion in Illicit Funds in 2022” (Jan. 26, 2023), available at
Cryptocurrency exchange
Coinbase was founded in 2012 to enable people to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin. Fast-forward to today, Coinbase is a publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange geographically decentralized with no headquarters and available in 100+ countries. It stands out for providing a user-friendly trading experience, robust security, and a range of advanced features for experienced traders.
In the grand chessboard of the financial world, cryptocurrencies have emerged as a game-changing piece. As we move forward in 24, the realm of cryptocurrencies continues to evolve, with top crypto exchanges serving as the gateway to this new digital frontier. But with a multitude of exchanges to choose from, how can one discern the knights from the pawns?
Will Baker is a U.S. Navy veteran who is a full-time staff Associate Editor at Investopedia. Will has experience in writing, covering investing and complex trading strategies. Prior to Investopedia, Will was the content writer for Simpler Trading. He holds a bachelor’s from the University of Central Florida.
Coinbase was founded in 2012 to enable people to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin. Fast-forward to today, Coinbase is a publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange geographically decentralized with no headquarters and available in 100+ countries. It stands out for providing a user-friendly trading experience, robust security, and a range of advanced features for experienced traders.
In the grand chessboard of the financial world, cryptocurrencies have emerged as a game-changing piece. As we move forward in 24, the realm of cryptocurrencies continues to evolve, with top crypto exchanges serving as the gateway to this new digital frontier. But with a multitude of exchanges to choose from, how can one discern the knights from the pawns?
Cryptocurrency prices
In September 2021, there were around 117.5 million ETH coins in circulation, 72 million of which were issued in the genesis block — the first ever block on the Ethereum blockchain. Of these 72 million, 60 million were allocated to the initial contributors to the 2014 crowd sale that funded the project, and 12 million were given to the development fund.
In an update on the progress of the Merge, on April 13, 2022, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko tweeted an update on the progress of the Merge, stating that they are “definitely in the final chapter of PoW on Ethereum.” He also mentioned that users can expect it to occur a few months after June, although no exact date was provided. This came on the back of the first mainnet shadow fork — to test the transition to PoS on Ethereum — that was successfully implemented on April 11, 2022.
ENS provides a solution to this problem of long and confusing crypto addresses by assigning human-readable names to machine-readable identifiers such as Ethereum addresses, metadata, other cryptocurrency addresses and content hashes. With ENS, the long address above could become something as simple as “Alice.eth,” and you can receive any type of cryptocurrency or NFT via your ENS domain.
Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency and enjoys the most adoption among both individuals and businesses. However, there are many different cryptocurrencies that all have their own advantages or disadvantages.
