Cryptocurrency Matures After Roller Coaster
After the 2022 collapse of FTX and multiple lending platforms, cryptocurrency entered a regulatory reckoning. Bitcoin ETFs were approved in the US in 2024, bringing institutional capital into the market. Ethereum completed its transition to proof-of-stake, reducing energy consumption by 99.95 percent. Stablecoins are being regulated as financial instruments. The technology continues to evolve, with applications in payments, identity, and decentralized computing, but speculative trading still dominates market activity.