The performance of Bitcoin (BTC -0.53%) this year has been nothing short of extraordinary. It’s now up about 46% since the election on Nov. 5, and 146% year to date. Best of all, Bitcoin recently broke through the $100,000 price level to hit another all-time high just north of $108,000.

But what if I told you that there is another top cryptocurrency that is up more than 120% since the election, and 430% year to date? And that this cryptocurrency also just set a new all-time high? That cryptocurrency is Sui (SUI -3.69%), which now ranks 14th among all cryptocurrencies with a $13 billion market cap.

What is Sui and why haven’t I heard of it before?

If you’ve never heard of Sui, that’s understandable. The cryptocurrency only launched in May 2023, just as the market was emerging from the crypto winter of 2022. So, in many ways, its launch flew under the radar of investors. There were bigger issues to consider. The industry was still coping with the aftermath of the collapse and scandal of crypto exchange FTX in November 2022, and nobody was very interested in hearing about another new cryptocurrency launch.

But fast-forward to August 2024. That’s when 21Shares — the company that partnered with Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest on the launch of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH -0.79%) — released a research report on Sui, detailing all of its unique characteristics. For example, it described how a new technical upgrade suddenly made Sui faster than any other top blockchain by a substantial margin. It pointed out how Sui was rapidly growing in terms of total value locked (TVL), which is a key metric showing the relative strength of a particular blockchain.

The title of the report (“Is Sui a Solana (SOL -0.00%) Killer?”) was very provocative, at least for crypto investors. It suggested that Sui had the technological chops to take on Solana, which now ranks as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency. For several years now, Solana has been positioned as the next Ethereum, so Sui being tabbed as a potential Solana killer is a big deal. In fact, 21Shares suggested that there might be a $68 billion market opportunity for Sui if it was able to take on Solana and win.

How high can Sui go in 2025?

My primary concern right now with Sui is that it may be overheating. Just like Bitcoin, it is smashing through all-time high after all-time high. Right now, Sui is trading at about $4.50 after briefly testing the $5 price level. From the perspective of crypto traders, $5 presents the same psychological price barrier for Sui that $100,000 did for Bitcoin. It took Bitcoin a while to break through the $100,000 level, so Sui may not be able to break through the $5 price level by the end of this year.

But, in 2025, watch out. Just take a look at this comparison chart of Bitcoin and Sui since the presidential election. That leads me to think that the market is very bullish on Sui’s prospects under the Trump administration.

Bitcoin / U.S. dollar chart by TradingView

Moreover, consider the trading volume that Sui is now seeing on Coinbase Global (COIN 1.75%). Sui has become one of the 10 most popular cryptocurrencies on the platform in terms of 24-hour trading activity. Granted, the trading volume in Sui is nowhere near that of Bitcoin or Ethereum. But there’s more activity in Sui than in popular cryptocurrencies such as Chainlink, Litecoin, Cardano, Shiba Inu, and Avalanche.

Best of all, Sui has a major new product launch coming in 2025. It’s a $599 handheld gaming device that is currently available for pre-order online. If that product launch is a success, then it could be off to the races for Sui. It could easily double in price to hit the $10 price level.

This cryptocurrency could soar even higher if it ever realizes its full potential as the next Ethereum. Imagine if you had invested in Ethereum just 18 months after its launch. Most likely, you’d be a crypto millionaire by now. In December 2016, Ethereum was trading around $5,  which is roughly where Sui is trading right now. Today, Ethereum trades for about $3,400.

That said, I can’t emphasize enough how speculative Sui is. It is still a baby in crypto terms. It has only been around for 18 months, and it can be difficult to get good data and reliable information about it. So, do your due diligence before investing in Sui, and keep your expectations in check. An investment opportunity like Ethereum might only come around once in a lifetime, so it’s asking a lot for it to happen with Sui as well.

South Korea and the United States are conducting joint research to strengthen protection against cryptocurrency heist attempts amid growing concerns of such attacks by North Korea-linked hackers, officials said Sunday.

Based on a recently signed technical annex between the South Korean government and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the two sides will jointly develop technologies to prevent cryptocurrency-targeted attacks and to track stolen assets, according to authorities and cybersecurity industry officials.

The science ministry plans to support such research through the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation until 2026.

The move comes as the price of bitcoin recently surged to $100,000 after the U.S. presidential election last month, raising concerns of increased attempts by hackers to steal virtual assets.

While the United States collaborates with other countries for cybersecurity research, it is known to have chosen South Korea for research on digital asset tracking technology as North Korea is seen as a key culprit behind cryptocurrency heists.

Under the program, South Korean and U.S. researchers, including those from Korea University and the RAND research institute, will focus on technologies to prevent and track hackers when they steal assets from a cryptocurrency exchange.

They will also focus on understanding how they convert or launder other financial assets they obtain into virtual assets through illegal ransomeware or other methods.

North Korea is known as a major player in cryptocurrency heists, with hackers linked to the country estimated to have stolen $1.34 billion worth of cryptocurrency across 47 incidents this year, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm. (Yonhap)

There is no question that the cryptocurrency industry witnessed explosive growth in 2024, with the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin continuing to lead the market. Data shows that the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has more than doubled over the past year.

While it has been challenging to find a common theme for how the market has improved in 2024, it is easy to point out the different aspects of growth in the digital asset industry this year. A prominent blockchain firm has identified five trends that reflect the shift experienced in the crypto market in the past 12 months.

5 Trends In The Crypto Space In 2024

In its latest weekly report, market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock explained the five major on-chain trends that reflect the growth of the cryptocurrency industry in the past year. It’s been all (or mostly) fireworks for the digital asset market, specifically Bitcoin, in 2024.

Firstly, IntoTheBlock pointed to the growth and the rising dominance of Bitcoin in the crypto market, especially after the approval of spot exchange-traded funds in the United States. As a result, the premier cryptocurrency’s market share hit its highest level in over three and a half years.

The crypto analytics firm highlighted that Trump’s success in the presidential elections also played a role in driving higher the value of Bitcoin. All in all, Bitcoin’s dominance has now moved from under 50% to 59% year-to-date.

Like Bitcoin, the meme coin market also witnessed unprecedented growth in 2024, with its aggregate market capitalization surging by over 400%. IntoTheBlock specifically mentioned the introduction of Solana-based launchpad Pump.fun, which catalyzed a meme coin explosion in the Solana ecosystem.

Source: IntoTheBlock

However, this meme coin trend on the Solana network left a negative impact on the Ethereum ecosystem and ETH’s price performance in 2024. With meme coins shifting to Solana and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) not making a strong return this bull cycle, there was a decline in Ethereum network fees, leading to less ETH being burnt.

Furthermore, decentralized finance (DeFi) saw a resurgence in 2024, as fresh capital flowed into various protocols and projects. As less value was lost to hacks and exploits and regulatory pressure was reduced in 2024, the aggregate market cap of the DeFi sector hit its highest since early 2022.

Finally, IntoTheBlock noted that new projects that were pioneered during the last bear market saw remarkable growth in 2024. For instance, restaking projects and basis trading protocols were some of the highlights in the crypto space in the past year.

Total Crypto Market Cap

As of this writing, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at around $3.49 trillion. According to data from TradingView, the crypto market cap has increased by more than 105% year-to-date.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization at $3.3 trillion | Source: daily TOTAL chart on TradingView

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView