8 Best Blockchain Innovations in 2024: Beyond Crypto

Since Bitcoin launched in 2009, blockchain has gone from a niche technology to the foundation of an emerging financial system.

Today, it is not just a playground of digital currencies but a new maturing ecosystem encompassing everything from decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to autonomous AI agents to secure healthcare data systems.

Techopedia explores what we consider the best blockchain innovations in 2024 — the key developments and trends that emerged throughout the year, covering everything from central bank digital currencies to the constant strength of memecoins.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. 8 Best Blockchain Innovations in 2024
3. The Bottom Line
4. FAQs
5. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. 8 Best Blockchain Innovations in 2024
3. The Bottom Line
Show Full Guide
4. FAQs
5. References

8 Best Blockchain Innovations in 2024

1. CBDC Pilots Took Off Everywhere

According to data released by the Atlantic Council, 137 countries and currency unions — representing 98% of global GDP — are exploring a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in some form.

The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria have formally launched their own CBDCs, while the European Central Bank is exploring the development of a digital euro that will be available to anyone located in the Euro area.

CBDCs are picking up momentum among central banks as they offer a new avenue to provide consumers with access to readily available digital currency rather than having to rely on cash alone.

The European Union’s website claims that one of the main reasons the digital euro is needed is that there is a lack of a European digital payment option that covers the entire euro area.

Every G20 country is currently exploring a CBDC, and 19 of them are classed as in the advanced stages of CBDC exploration.

13 G20 countries, including Brazil, Japan, India, Australia, Russia, and Turkey, are in the pilot stage.

The Digital yuan (e-CNY) saw transaction volume reach 7 trillion e-CNY ($986 billion) in 17 provincial regions across sectors including education, healthcare, and tourism.

2. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Exploded

While DeFi platforms first gained traction in 2021, the field has exploded with innovation across 2024 as consumers look to a new generation of tech providers for a cost-effective alternative to traditional banks.

Research from Mordor Intelligence estimates that the decentralized finance market was valued at $46.61 billion in 2024 and estimates it will reach $78.47 billion by 2029.

The market cap for decentralized platforms reached $108 billion as of December 30, 2024, with the top 5 DeFi coins in the market, including Lido Staked Ether, Chainlink, Uniswap, Aave, and Dai.

Part of the reason for the interest in DeFi platforms is that they provide a way to cut out intermediaries like banks and financial service companies, which charge hefty transaction fees.

No middlemen, lucrative yield options, and easy cross-border transactions all mean DeFi is where the crypto natives are.

At the same time, components like smart contracts help to support lenders and borrowers by automatically calculating interest rates or allowing automatic transactions based on conditions, leading to a future of programmable money.

3. Tokenized RWA Delivered

This year, we’ve also seen many consumers begin tokenizing real-world assets and investing in tradeable tokens. A report produced by the Tokenized Assets Coalition values tokenized assets at $176 billion in value as of 2024.

The report also states that major institutions like McKinsey and Citi estimate the tokenized asset market will reach anywhere between $2 trillion to $30 trillion in value in the next decade.

Even global investment company BlackRock has been trying to get in on the action, launching BUIDL — the BlackRock Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund — in March 2024, a tokenized fund issued on the public blockchain.

But why is tokenized RWA gaining so much momentum? One reason is that it offers investors greater liquidity. Not only can they invest in digital assets, but thanks to fractional ownership, they can also buy segments of larger assets.

4. Healthcare Adopted Blockchain

The healthcare industry continually experiments with blockchain to help improve the circulation of patient data.

According to Towards Healthcare, the global blockchain in the healthcare market reached a value of $1.37 billion in 2024 and will reach a value of $25.52 billion in 2034. Supply chain management was the top use case, although use in clinical trials and eConsent is expected to grow.

Blockchain is a natural fit for many healthcare providers as it offers an interoperable solution they can use to permissionlessly and securely transfer data between multiple systems. Many providers struggle to manage data stored across different facilities.

5. Stablecoins Dominated, TradFi Got Involved

Stablecoins have surfaced as one of the big winners of 2024, with Pantera Capital noting that stablecoins accounted for over 50% of blockchain transactions, up from just 3% in 2020.

PC estimates the total transaction volume of stablecoins will exceed $5 trillion for the year.

One of the reasons for this growth is that stablecoins are easy to use for cross-border payments and instant settlement, combined with non-volatility and yield opportunities.

TradFi institutions such as Citibank are eagerly eyeing the sector, and asset management firm State Street reportedly exploring its own stablecoin and deposit token as part of a broader move into the digital asset sector.

We would be remiss to ignore how TradFi flew to adopt Bitcoin ETFs and Ethereum ETFs right at the start of the year, demonstrating how much easier it has become for traditional investors to allocate a part of their wealth to cryptocurrency.

6. Coinbase / Base Rose to Fame

2024 was also a big year for the Ethereum layer-2 network Base. Coinbase originally launched Base at the end of 2023, but over 2024, Base’s TVL grew to over $3.5 billion, while its transaction value increased from approximately 500,000 in March to over 7.5 million daily transactions by December.

Base has gained popularity because it offers a faster and more cost-effective alternative to Ethereum. For instance, Base uses optimistic rollups to process multiple transactions off-chain, which reduces the overall time it takes to process transactions.

It’s worth noting that the launch of Virtuals Protocol, a platform designed for creating virtual agents, has also developed significant momentum on Base in 2024, reaching an impressive $1.4 billion market cap.

7. AI & Crypto Became Allies

With consumer interest in AI remaining high, many crypto providers have started to offer AI crypto coins. These are digital assets that combine the capabilities of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency together.

As of December 2024, top AI crypto coins, including ShepskyAI (SEKY), The Graph (GRT), Fetch.ai (FET), Render (RNDR), and SingularityNet (AGIX).

For example, ShepskyAI uses large language models (LLMs) to provide real-time responses to crypto-related questions and tokens and launched its flagship native token SEKY in November.

Fetch AI has also earned a spot as one of the top crypto coins, offering an open marketplace where users can create and share AI agents made with LLMs. In August 2024, Fetch AI also pledged $10 million annually to support startups developing AI agent technologies with its systems.

Given the interest in AI and consumer chatbots like ChatGPT, it is likely that more crypto providers will also look to incorporate AI into their product offerings.

8. Memecoins Proved a Good Narrative Wins

It is hard to mention crypto and 2024 in the same breath without talking about memecoins. While they may have started as a joke with Dogecoin, 2024 proved they are here to stay.

The novelty and financial appeal of cryptocurrencies inspired by memes or online trends has led to new highs on Pepe, which surged 1,147.2% over the past year and helped DOGE achieve a market cap of over $46.26 billion.

Investors gravitate toward memecoins as a more speculative opportunity, where the risk of investment is worth the potential reward.

But what 2024 really taught us about memecoins, and what we suggest is the innovation, is truly understanding the importance and power of community, let alone the speed at which a memecoin can capture a zeitgeist and become a billion-dollar phenomenon.

Perhaps build the community first and add the tech later?

The Bottom Line

The best blockchain innovations in 2024 showed that the blockchain ecosystem is going nowhere — and perhaps the largest trend is that an industry once viewed with suspicion and skepticism is now treated as the logical next step in money across TradFi and governments.

We suspect 2025 will see further connections grow between AI and crypto, and with the U.S. looking like it might start taking cryptocurrency seriously, blockchain is likely to continue its march into society without a pause.

FAQs