It should be on record that 2021 was a big year that saw enormous growth in the crypto industry. From achieving a market capitalization of over $3 trillion to El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender, all this makes a remarkable memory for all key stakeholders in the industry.
NFTs were not left out as they end the year with over $23 billion in trading volume, according to a report by DappRadar. An NFT also sold for $69.3 million in March which led to momentum in NFT sales. Captured below are ten of the most noteworthy moments for the year 2021.
- The two largest cryptocurrencies in terms of market value achieved an All-Time High
2021 was a tough year for investors due to fluctuations in prices for both bitcoin and ether. Nevertheless, it was a good year for the two coins as BTC, which began the year at $28,803.59 hits an all-time high price of $68,789.63 in November. It previously recorded an all-time high of close to $67,000 in October after recovering from a price drop below $30,000 in July.
Furthermore, for the first time in February, Bitcoin recorded $1 trillion in market value influenced by investors and companies who threw their weight behind the coin earlier this year among which are Tesla, MicroStrategy, and Square.
Ethereum bounced back as high as $4,815 in November after dropping to below $2000 in July. Its fast-paced success has been credited to the use of its blockchain in the rapidly growing decentralized finance and non-fungible token sectors. Bitcoin and Ethereum are priced at $46,457 and $3,815 respectively according to CoinMarketCap.
- El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender
In June, El Salvador enacted legislation that seeks to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender, making it the first country to do so. This will allow Bitcoin to be exchanged for goods, services, and taxes.
According to Ankitt Gaur, the CEO of EasyFi Network, “El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin is another notable outcome of this industry. It creates a new level of trust among users and could be instrumental in the future adoption of both blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.”
Furthermore, the country has been stocking bitcoins since her president, Nayib Bukele, announced the purchase of 21 more bitcoins in a tweet on December 21 in addition to the 1,370 bitcoins it previously held.
In a conference held on cryptocurrency, the president also made known the intention of the country to create a ” Bitcoin City” which will be established close to the Conchagua volcano to utilize the geothermal energy from the volcano to mine bitcoin. Though analysts are skeptical about its actualization due to the years it would take for such a project to materialize, the country is yet to unveil a technical plan for the project.
- Bitcoin achieved its first upgrade in four years
The first Bitcoin upgrade in recent memory was achieved in November. Taproot, as it is called, is the first major upgrade ever since the 2017 upgrade tagged the last civil war. Taproot brought about Schnorr signatures aimed at making transactions on the blockchain more efficient and confidential. The upgrade will facilitate the execution of smart contracts, making them less expensive and reducing their space consumption on the blockchain.
- Shiba Inu was named the most-watched cryptocurrency
Meme-based cryptocurrency, Shiba Inu, leads as the most viewed crypto coin for the year based on a report from the CoinMarketcap index. It garnered over 188 million views. Earlier in October, the coin with a market capitalization of over $21 billion experienced a surge in price hitting an all-time high of $0.000088 been the center of attraction.
Bitcoin, which previously topped the table, came second with 145 million views. SHIB is currently priced at $0.00003266, according to CoinMarketCap.
- 2021 experienced more capital investment than all years combined
Ever since the establishment of blockchain in 2009 making it 12 years, the investment in crypto for 2021 supersedes all other 11 years put together. According to Bloomberg, venture capitalist firms have committed $30 billion to various cryptocurrency projects in 2021 alone.
The highest investment achieved so far was in 2018 with a total investment of $8 billion which is close to one-fourth of 2021. Cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, gaming, and decentralized finance are the point of focus for investors. The cryptocurrency market is now valued at $2.02 trillion after briefly surpassing $3 trillion in November.
- NFT bloomed as it recorded its highest sales and trading volume
In March, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” owned by Mike Winkelmann known as Beeple, was auctioned as an NFT at the price of $69 million by Christie’s making it the first auction house to sell a digital NFT artwork and accept ether for payment. The sale made history as the third most expensive artwork purchased from a living artist and further brought NFTs to the limelight. According to DappRadar, an analytics platform that monitors NFT sales, 2021 happens to be the best year for the NFT market with over $23 billion in trading volume and a total sales volume of about $12 billion.
- First Bitcoin ETF made its first debut on the New York Stock exchange
Another yet positive moment in the crypto market was the listing of ProShares futures-based Bitcoin ETF on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “BITO” by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The bitcoin ETF focuses on future prices compared to current or spot prices.
- Metaverse and what’s in stock for the crypto niche
The metaverse will no longer exist in Sci-fi as Facebook, now known as Metaverse has announced a plan to bring it to fruition. Metaverse is the combination of the aggregation of both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
The term first appeared in the sci-fi novel “Snow Crash” written by Neal Stephenson in 1992. Users will be able to carry out their normal activities in the digital universe. It holds numerous opportunities for entertainment, commerce, and many more.
The metaverse will depend on blockchain and decentralized applications for its actualization. Many companies including Google, Microsoft are also investing in experiential reality. The metaverse will require a decentralized financial service bringing cryptocurrency technology to the picture. The virtual world of the metaverse could become its own trillion-dollar industry.
Some companies such as Decentraland have come up with virtual realms introducing cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange. NFTs will represent virtual characters, lands, and other items on the metaverse. Recently, an NFT of virtual estate sold for over $900,000 on Decentraland.
- Rapid growth in the gaming industry
Gone are the days gaming is regarded as a waste of time. With the advent of play-to-earn games which are established on the blockchain, players can now own digital assets in the game. It is estimated that the gaming industry will be worth $268 billion and 1.3 billion players by 2025. The number of players skyrocketed due to the pandemic, most of whom depend on it as a means of sustenance, especially in Vietnam and the Philippines.
- The biggest crypto scams
According to crypto security firm Chainalysis, crypto scams rose by 81% in comparison to 2020. Over $7.7 billion was reported stolen worldwide. The scammers took to various means such as phishing, email scams and rug pulls; a system of scam whereby developers abscond with investors’ funds after dumping a blockchain project and it accounts for more than $2.8 billion stolen of all cryptocurrency scams. Ignorant investors can easily fall prey to scams by not following due diligence for fear of missing out. Here’s how to spot a crypto rug pull and avoid it.
Among the notable scams that rocked the market was the Squid Game token which was derived from the South Korean movie, “Squid Game”. The coin rose as high as $3000 weeks after launch only for the developers to abandon the projects and initial investors were stuck with the tokens as they could not sell them.
Three ape NFTs were also reported stolen worth $1 million as claimed by Calvin Beccera, the owner of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs.
