Here we take a look at the key events in 2024 that shaped the crypto markets and a peek in to what 2025 might hold in store .

My personal reason for getting involved in the crypto industry, some 7 years ago, was because I didn’t want to say to my son in 10 years time – “I could have been a part of that revolution”  – because that’s exactly what all of us are witnessing. A financial revolution.

In 2024 Crypto has delivered the most important gift of all and it’s not BTC at $100K or Sol, XRP or Dot going parabolic. 2024 has delivered the start of the Mainstream Adoption of Digital Assets. 2025 will see the continued endorsement of this unique, safe and fast asset, as it starts to snowball at a pace unseen. Of that I am certain!

What were just some of the key 2024 events that led to the collective mindset switch?

1. Without doubt January was huge. Eleven of the largest asset managers in the world all getting permission to create and offer for sale BTC ETF’s. It wasn’t just that this (boring to crypto natives) asset was available, it was that through their collective investment base of over 1 billion people they were endorsing Cryptocurrency in the most important way possible – on their balance sheet. Crypto could ask for no finer advertisement and the world responded.
2. In February BTC Rallied from $42K up to $60k and took a breath for a few months before the next big event.
3. The BTC Halving in April. Many suspected this would kill the BTC rally that started on June 22, 2023, as miners across the globe prepared for a 50% cut in their rewards. It may have taken a little while to digest but 2024 did what every other halving has done, signalled the next leg of the bull market. Satoshi was seen grinning on US television with the realisation that yet again his algorithm was right!! Was that him or not?
4. Donald Trump – all praise the saviour, who in July went to the Nashville BTC Conference and told supporters he would sack Gary Gensler if elected (they normally resign when a new candidate takes office anyway). Create BTC as a reserve currency (The US already hold over 150,000 BTC coins) and make a regulatory framework that is consistent with the US being the world leader in Digital assets. Now this one he is certainly working on with some very crypto friendly appointments to key roles. By month end he had moved the dial from $55K back to $68K and almost a new high.
5. The US election was the next catalyst and with a resounding Trump victory the world started to relax. Interest rates looked destined to decrease, crypto had a powerful friend and South Korea led the way in driving the alt market with huge gains in Sol, XRP and Dot. This powered US confidence and soon BTC followed suit, dragging the real laggard of the year Ethereum, with it.
6. In the true tradition of a Santa Claus rally BTC broke the 100K barrier and Ethereum exceeded $4K. Neither were able to sustain those levels by year end, but I think we all expected a little profit taking as the many new Institutional traders took some well-earned annual profits.
7. One of the biggest changes in 2024 was the trading seen since the inception of both BTC & ETH, ETF’s, so much more action in spot, options and futures than ever before. At the lead up to quarter dates for options the tail could be seen wagging the dog as option writers tried to cover. For many it was a whole new world out there and if you got it right volatility was your friend.

So what of the future? Well, from an Algoz perspective we don’t really mind. Our algorithms work equally well in either direction and as systematic traders, we let them do “their thing”, it seems to be working rather well; more about that later.

However, as we have managed to call it right since mid 2023 (see newsletters on our website – date stamped), let’s have a go at seeing what the next 12 months might hold.

• Firstly, a pattern has emerged with BTC since 2011, that is, every bull run has lasted 3 years, followed by a down year. 2023 was the first in the new series, 2024 has followed it up, so it’s not unreasonable to expect 2025 to follow suit.
• At the start of this piece, I mentioned mainstream adoption. That is genuinely happening. In Q4 we onboarded 3 Tradfi clients who had never dealt in crypto before, multiply this by every other asset manager in crypto and you see my point. It did take us 9 months of due diligence to get them comfortable but they now have a “toe in the water” – this of course will only increase, creating more demand, as we keep delivering strong returns. By way of further proof of the quickening pace take a look at these crypto bullish announcements from late December
  • Singapore grants 13 crypto licenses.
  • Trump appoints Bo Hines, Executive Director of  his “Crypto Council”.
  • Germany passes legislation for full crypto MICAR integration.
  • Tether announces USDT Virtual asset acceptance in Abu Dhabi.
  • AMP – Australia’s largest retirement fund – buys $27 million in BTC
  • Hong Kong grants 4 more crypto licenses.
  • Blackrock’s latest report advises 1-2% allocation to BTC ETF’s.
  • The US state of OHIO looks to enable a dedicated Bitcoin Fund.
• BTC may well have a 3 month breather as we get people used to this new level at $90-105K – every big landmark figure has needed a consolidation period. It might not last 3 months but it may take a little while. Once this is accepted its easy to see that $120K might only be months away. Don’t be disappointed if ETH doesn’t follow. It’s hard to make a strong business case now for this as both XRP and SOL seem to have stolen their pitch. Ethereum does have another upgrade coming but the last one (Dencun) in March, really didn’t make a big impact. BTC was up circa 115% and ETH 45% for the year.
• More and better Regulation will make Crypto an even safer place to trade, heightening the awareness and increasing the appetite of Tradfi. Algoz has a big announcement in January on exactly this point – more to follow.
• And finally – currently only 8% of the world’s population has a digital wallet. That is now growing exponentially and is following the same path as internet adoption. There is one thing we know for certain – there can only ever be 21 million Bitcoins and currently that price is circa $100K – so what price will it be when 25% of the world has a Digital wallet at the end of 2025 and then when 50% of the world has a digital wallet? There simply isn’t enough Digital Gold to go around – is there? So, for everyone who thinks they missed the boat – think again you are still a pioneer.

It was also a huge year for Algoz. Here is a brief summary of our key milestones.

1. We completed our Pilot of 12 investors using our unique Quant Pro Custody protection and then expanded our base. Showing everyone that there is a “safer, better way to trade crypto.
2. We announced our strategic partnerships with both Zodia and Bitfinex as we strengthened our investment products.
3. Algoz Strategy & Revenue Director, Stephen Wundke appointed to the Hedgeweek Crypto Advisory Board.
4. A further partnership was announced with Wincent to ensure our investors would have a seamless transition from FIAT to Crypto, using only regulated entities throughout the journey.
5. In November we delivered upgrades to our key strategies, a triumph for our R&D and trading team who tested these upgrades in the live environment for 7 months as we evolved our algorithms to take into account the new trading conditions in the marketplace.
6. Algoz features in the “Battle of the Quants” in London to a packed tradfi audience, as we explain how we look to mitigate exchange and management counterparty risk.
7. Our AUM reached an all time High at the end of 2024 and looks like exceeding $50 million in January as we are experiencing a large number of onboardings over the Christmas period. Our next target is $100 million by the end of Q2, start of Q3
8. Our flagship strategy AiQP followed up 2023 returns of 50.9% with 32.2%, giving a two year average of over 40% and right in our target range. A rock-solid strategy delivering fabulous returns with controlled drawdowns.
9. Our Momentum strategy followed the 2023 figure of 101% with another 77% net of fees.
10. And our Market Neutral strategy with its exceptionally low drawdowns (less than 5%) delivered over 17% net of all fees.

Our year end tear sheets are now available for all funds and for those who invested with us using BTC or ETH as their base currency, it really has been a special year for you and your fellow investors.

We will also be out in Miami for Hedgefund Week from 27th-30th January, if you would like to meet up don’t hesitate to get in touch.

It has been an incredibly exciting year for all of us at Algoz. We have some very big announcements due out in early 2025 and we will continue in our aim to make a safer, better way to invest in crypto whilst we work to keep delivering great risk adjusted returns to our investors.