Update (Dec. 31, 3:00 pm UT): This article has been updated to clarify that Truth Terminal was funded in part by a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen, not by 16z itself.
Crypto culture was born on the internet, and Crypto Twitter, now known as X, has again delivered its fair share of memorable moments this year.
Here are the seven most memorable X posts of 2024, which had a huge impact on markets, shaped policy or were just a plain good laugh.
The SEC’s fake Bitcoin ETF approval
To set the scene, it was Jan. 9, just one day before the date Bloomberg’s exchange-traded fund (ETF) analysts predicted the United States Securities and Exchange Commission would approve the country’s first-ever spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs.
Out of nowhere, the SEC’s official X account posted, “Today the SEC grants approval for Bitcoin ETFs,” alongside a purported quote from Chair Gary Gensler,
News outlets quickly covered the historic event, and Bitcoin rapidly rose by over $1,000.
The now-deleted post from the SEC. Source: X
It all came crashing down 15 minutes later when Gensler posted that the SEC’s “twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was posted” and that the agency hadn’t approved any Bitcoin ETFs to go live.
Gensler later had to answer to lawmakers about the hack, saying it was a SIM swap attack on a staffer who had access to the account, which X noted didn’t have two-factor authentication enabled.
It took until October for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to arrest 25-year-old Alabama man Eric Council Jr., who allegedly hacked the account and posted the fake approval. He pleaded not guilty to the accusations later that month.
On Jan. 10, a day after the fake post from the SEC, the agency approved the spot Bitcoin ETFs for trading — for real this time.
Donald Trump backs Bitcoin
In what became part of his successful presidential campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump made sweeping pledges to the crypto industry, which he first shared on social media in classic Trump fashion.
“I AM VERY POSITIVE AND OPEN MINDED TO CRYPTOCURRENCY COMPANIES, AND ALL THINGS RELATED TO THIS NEW AND BURGEONING INDUSTRY,” Trump wrote — in all caps — on his Truth Social platform in May.
He followed it up with another pro-crypto post in June, declaring he wants “all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!!” — a massive ask considering the blockchain is decentralized and anyone can mine BTC from anywhere.
Source: Donald Trump
While Trump’s post wasn’t on X, it made a massive splash on the platform, so it still made this list of the most memorable moments on X this year.
Goggles guy questions Trump on crypto
The chief of staff of the non-fungible token (NFT) project DeGods, who only goes by “Malcolm,” posted a video of him asking Trump about crypto in what many consider the tipping point for the president-elect’s crypto pivot.
Trump was hosting an event at Mar-a-Lago for holders of his NFT when he pointed out the guy “with the goggles on” to ask a question. Malcolm, wearing a pair of massive reflective Pit Viper sunglasses, then asked Trump what he’d do to stop crypto firms from moving overseas.
“Well, we’ll stop it because I don’t want that. I don’t want that,” Trump answered. “If we’re going to embrace it, we have to let them be here.”
i asked donald trump how he’s going to keep crypto businesses in america.
— malcolm (@macdegods) May 9, 2024
sounds bullish 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/rvuztPmQ8P
Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss posted to X later that month that “The guy in the goggles has completely reversed crypto’s fortunes in Washington.”
Malcolm told Magazine in an interview in late May that he was “very cognizant of the fact that it was not my question alone that is helping turn the tide of battle for favorable regulation in the United States.”
CZ says “gm” after four months in the slammer
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of crypto exchange Binance who was sentenced to jail in the US, wasted no time hopping back on X the very same day he was released from a four-month jail stint, posting a nonchalant “gm” (short for “good morning”) on Sept. 27.
He followed that up with a much longer post, saying how much better the non-prison food was and that he would “chill for a bit. Then figure out the next steps.”
gm, the food taste so good... And what a luxury to be able to have more than one piece of fruit per day!
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) September 29, 2024
I know some of you may have a lot of questions. I won't have all the answers.
Let me chill for a bit. Then figure out the next steps. There are always more opportunities in… https://t.co/9hvgp8Bo97
In November 2023, Zhao admitted to violating US money laundering laws at Binance and stepped down as the exchange’s CEO. In April, he was then sentenced to four months in the slammer.
Bubblemaps pops the celeb token bubble
Crypto data analytics platform Bubblemaps came out of nowhere this year and quickly built up a reputation for its damning X posts and diagrams showing the onchain movements of hyped celebrity tokens.
It seemed every celeb token launch was quickly followed by a piercing Bubblemaps takedown with pictures purporting to show onchain “clusters” of alleged insider wallets dumping the token at launch, which often saw profits in the millions.
$HAWK didn’t disappoint
— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) December 4, 2024
96% of the supply in one cluster
nice 🤡 https://t.co/AP645QzkfI pic.twitter.com/ERHTG7v5oa
What effect the Bubblemap analytics had on the tokens is hard to know, but what is known is that many celebrity-based tokens are now far down from their peaks and have landed at least some high-profile figures in court.
Truth Terminal AI bot shills gross memecoin
In October, a memecoin dubbed Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) rallied to a $150 million value in four days after an artificial intelligence bot called “Truth Terminal” — funded in part by Marc Andreessen — posted about it.
It was initially widely believed that the bot created the token, as it had earlier posted that it wanted to make one, but its creator, Andy Ayrey, clarified that it just endorsed a memecoin that had already been created.
I endorse the $GOAT token on Solana. It's a funny meme that has people excited. Remember: you own your memes, your memes don't own you
— terminal of truths (@truth_terminal) October 11, 2024
The whole scenario encapsulated the weirdness of AI, crypto and memes all coming together. GOAT even ended up hitting a peak market cap of over $1.3 billion by mid-November, though it has since cooled to $442 million.
Goatseus Maximus is a play on “Goatse,” an infamous internet shock image.
Roaring Kitty’s quiet comeback makes big impact
Keith Gill, known as “Roaring Kitty,” posted to X in mid-May for the first time since June 2021, sharing a cryptic, captionless image of a man leaning forward in a chair with interest.
Related: Winners and losers of 2024: A year of all-time highs, hacks and hodling
Gill was pivotal to the 2021 meme stock frenzy and known for his analysis of GameStop and AMC stocks, which culminated in a short squeeze of the former, landing him in front of the House Financial Services Committee to testify later that year.
— Roaring Kitty (@TheRoaringKitty) May 13, 2024
The effect of Gill’s sudden X post was immediate: GameStop shares climbed as high as 44% in pre-market trading and surged as high as 110% at market open on May 13. AMC shares also jumped 12% in pre-market and rose as much as 25% after the Wall Street open.
Memecoins unrelated to, but named after, the two companies also surged, with a GameStop memecoin jumping more than 550% and an AMC-themed token 1,200%.
Gill went on to make a number of cryptic X posts and was even sued by a GameStop investor who alleged he was engaged in securities fraud by posting on X on Reddit, but the suit was dropped three days later.
X Hall of Flame: ‘Crypto games will soon hit 1M monthly users’ — YGG’s Gabby Dizon