As you all know, over the last month the bibcrypto-markettopped $800 billion in total value. This development revival is driving forces regulatory breakthroughs, Layer 2 scaling solutions and the rapid expansion of decentralized finance (DeFi). Bitcoin’s price increased over $100,000 by December 2024, indicating a strong market rebound in the digital asset sector. By early 2025, around 7.5% of the world’s population will be using some form of cryptocurrency on a regular basis.

In January 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) similarly approved 11 Bitcoin spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This decision provided a major turning point, making future entry to cryptocurrency investments more accessible and legitimate. The overall regulatory climate in the United States is continuing to get better, increasing confidence for institutional and retail investors alike.

Layer 2 solutions, a type of blockchain interoperability, operate on top of primary blockchain networks such as Ethereum. They make a huge difference in transaction efficiency. Fast forward to April 2025 and Ethereum’s Layer 2 networks, including Optimism and Arbitrum, were ubiquitous. More than 13 million unique residential or business addresses were actively connecting through these networks. Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem has done well recently, hitting an all-time high in unique addresses.

In fact, the DeFi sector has made an incredible comeback. By late 2024, the Total Value Locked (TVL) increased to almost $140 billion. This growth is a strong testament to the increasing usefulness and adoption of the decentralized financial services.

I think that’s exactly right because we’ve seen stablecoins just explode. Today, we see them used extensively for cross-border payments, particularly in areas such as Latin America and Africa. In 2024, stablecoins accounted for over $32 trillion in transactions worldwide, about $6 trillion of which were used for cross-border transfers.

Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework fully rolled out by December 2024. It set a high standard as the first uniform and far-reaching regulation of its kind across all EU member states. This added regulatory clarity has gone a long way to legitimizing and standardizing crypto operations within the European Union.

Additionally, adoption of crypto for payments has soared too, with approximately 15,174 global merchants now accepting crypto payments. Familiar names like Microsoft, Tesla, AT&T, Starbucks, Shopify, and PayPal are all major companies that accept digital currencies.

In either case, MicroStrategy has become a major player in the crypto space. They are the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with the 3D-printed bus manufacturer holding approximately 555,450 BTC. The company's continued investment in Bitcoin reflects growing institutional confidence in the asset's long-term value.