Reviewing the Bitcoin market in 2024 reveals three deep structural changes:

**1. Paradigm Shift in Halving Cycle**

The traditional halving market has been restructured by institutional funds, with an average daily net inflow into ETFs exceeding $300 million creating new buying pressure, offsetting miner sell-offs (BTC balance in mining pools decreased by 18% throughout the year). For the first time, the market has experienced the phenomenon of "halving without a pullback," with derivatives trading volume in hash rate surging by 300%, indicating that capital is beginning to systematically hedge against hash rate volatility risks.

**2. Intensified Liquidity Layering**

CME Bitcoin futures open interest has surpassed $12 billion, but on-chain data reveals: the top 0.01% of addresses control circulation volume rising from 34% to 41%, with whales forming closed-loop trades through OTC markets and ETF market makers, leading to a 25% decline in spot exchange depth. Retail investors are turning to Bitcoin staking derivatives (such as Lido's BTC staking total value locked reaching $8 billion), where liquidity fragmentation is giving rise to new arbitrage strategies.

**3. Regulatory Arbitrage Driving Market Cycles**

After the approval of ETFs by the U.S. SEC, the regulatory focus has shifted to stablecoin issuance and cross-chain bridge compliance. The proportion of U.S. Treasury bonds in Tether's (USDT) reserves has increased to 82%, while the share of USDⓈ trading pairs on offshore exchanges has grown against the trend to 65%, indicating that regulatory pressures are squeezing liquidity into gray areas. The Monetary Authority of Singapore's "Project Guardian 2.0" is promoting the combination of tokenized government bonds and Bitcoin staking derivatives, creating a new track for regulation-friendly synthetic assets.

These structural changes indicate that Bitcoin is transitioning from a retail-driven speculative market to an institutional-led macro-hedging tool and a foundational asset for financial engineering, paving the way for traditional financial institutions' entry in 2025.