Summing up 2021: Top 10 crypto highlights to look back on

When Bitcoin (BTC) revolutionised the global money payment system in 2009, experts deemed its concept to be a fad. Now that more than a decade has passed, BTC and other 6,000 digital currencies are ingrained in today’s global finance. To keep you on the loop, Gamdom invites you to revisit the industry’s 2021 through the top 10 most memorable crypto moments. 

2021 is quite a journey as it was heavily defined by the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic and the virus’ emergence of multiple variants. However, thanks to the major global rollout of vaccines, many important postponed events in 2020 continued in 2021. These include the Expo 2020, 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, 2020 Summer Olympics, and UEFA Euro 2020, among others. 

Along with the return of major events is also the continuous positive momentum of more economies recovering from the pandemic. While industries like airlines and leisure facilities were severely affected, the crypto industry seemed to have done well. 

The crypto industry may run in an ebb and flow system due to extreme market volatility and global political limbo, but 2021 is actually a huge year for its breakthroughs. For one, the iGaming industry saw impressive growth of the concept of a Bitcoin casino (or crypto casino in general). As the world welcomes 2022, take a look at some of the 10 biggest crypto stories, as well as the leading predictions for what could potentially happen next year. 

#10: Coinbase IPO

American crypto exchange Coinbase made history in the crypto industry by becoming a public company on April 14. Through direct listing, they posted their shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange, thus allowing you to buy shares of the company that helps you buy digital assets. 

However, many people seemed to have underestimated Coinbase’s leaping decision, especially after their share price has declined sharply. Instead, the event’s importance sheds light on crypto’s approval and support from the traditional finance sector, thereby influencing other big players in the market. As an example, Kraken announced in mid-June that they could go public in 2022. 

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#9: Explosive growth of smart contract adoption

Bitcoin may lead the crypto market in terms of coin value, but when it comes to functions, it is certainly no other than Ethereum. Far from the common misconceptions, it is not a digital coin, but an open-source blockchain-based platform intended as a marketplace for financial services, games, and apps. It empowers them to store transaction records, build and publish smart contracts and distributed applications (dApps).

Ethereum’s massive network was further emphasised in 2021, as its blockchain transaction usage and smart contract adoption blew up to about $3.5T volume on Ether (ETH). This growth is a positive forecast that smart contract networks like Ethereum and Solana will continue to expand going forward. 

#8: Crypto adoption among fintech and traditional payments

It’s no secret that many businesses are accepting digital currencies as an alternative form of payment. However, 2021 sees an unusual stride because fintech and traditional payments are embracing blockchain technology and crypto solutions. Major examples of this are, of course, American multinational companies like PayPal, Venmo, Mastercard, and even the social networking platform Twitter. 

#7: Bitcoin’s all-time high at $65,000 

Now that several businesses from various industries accept crypto and blockchain tech, the huge demand has resulted in Bitcoin hitting its all-time high at $65,000 in mid-April. Since it is the market’s leading coin, other digital currencies also followed the trend. 

Other factors that have contributed to BTC’s price surge are Coinbase’s successful listing and acceptance of Bitcoin payments of top-tier carmaker Tesla Motors. However, the latter case shifted to a different route in early May, which is further explained below. 

#6: China banned Bitcoin but implemented a sovereign digital currency

Crypto ban or deregulation by national governments isn’t new in the crypto world. While many countries are in the works of creating frameworks to properly manage digital currencies, others are just downright opposed. A prime example of this is China, which has had a ‘love & hate’ relationship with Bitcoin ever since its launch in 2009. 

What is interesting with China’s ban isn’t solely on the effect on BTC’s price value. Instead, its central bank is racing ahead with its own central bank digital currency (CBDC) project that has long been in progress since 2014. This is called ‘digital yuan’, or its official name the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), which aims to be legal tender and replace some of the nation’s cash in circulation. 

In early March, several news outlets said that China has already started real-world trials for the CBDC project. It started giving away millions of digital yuan in cities like Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Suzhou. 

#5: May crypto crash

As expected, not all days are golden in the crypto market. As it is among the world’s fastest-growing and changing industries, some instances are swimming in a sea of red. So far, the biggest crash in 2021 happened in May due to two serious incidents featured across global news. 

1. Elon Musk’s highly influential tweet about Bitcoin

A month after Elon Musk announced that his company Tesla will accept BTC as a form of payment, he withdrew the decision due to environmental concerns. According to his tweet, the first-rate carmaker will further look at other digital currencies that consume less than 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) per transaction, which is far comparable with Bitcoin’s 700 kWh per transaction. 

Musk’s significant influence in the crypto world and his tens of millions of followers on Twitter led a large number of people to withdraw their BTC investments. Hence, it resulted in a 12% plunge that drastically impacted the entire market. 

Although Musk currently favours Dogecoin and has called it ‘the people’s crypto’, he generally supports Bitcoin despite having environmental concerns. As such, Tesla updated their terms saying that they will only allow Bitcoin payments once 50% of the network’s power comes from sustainable energy sources. 

2. ESG investors agreed with Musk’s environmental concerns about Bitcoin

Tesla’s fears regarding Bitcoin’s environmental concerns were shared by many ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investors. From then on, a domino effect followed that resulted in a drop in the coin’s transaction value. Meaning, its prices fell to $30,000 at the end of May due to the market's limited supply.

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#4: Bitcoin successfully carried out Taproot 

Finally, in late November, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) completed its most significant network update in the last four years. Known as Taproot, it is a 100 years soft fork that aims to simplify transaction processing by making it more effective in speed, cost, and privacy. Yet, more importantly, it can unlock the potential for smart contracts that can be used to remove middlemen from transactions. 

#3: El Salvador officially adopted Bitcoin as legal tender

2021 is truly a big year for El Salvador and their Bitcoin endeavours. After president Nayib Bukele accepted Bitcoin as legal tender, the country followed the support in November by planning to establish a Bitcoin City. 

Bitcoin City’s construction is set to begin sometime in 2022. According to recent announcements, it is planned to be created along the Gulf of Fonseca, a part of the Pacific Ocean composed of a group of volcanic islands. In terms of 

#2: The impressively rapid rise of metaverse tokens

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are one of the most recent key players in the crypto market, or to be precise, metaverse. From the portmanteau of ‘meta’ and ‘universe’, the latter is a blockchain-powered virtual environment that combines various kinds of technological aspects. According to American media tycoon Mark Zuckerberg, it is a vast space that empowers people to do many of the same activities they perform in real life. 

Metaverse is potentially home to profitable online gaming, empowering individuals to own, build, and trade digital assets like NFTs and digital currencies. Between the two, the former kind of token emphasises the importance of ownership in the digital world, which is a troubling space where online information is easily cut and pasted elsewhere. This is because NFTs are incredibly unique cryptographic assets that represent real-world aspects like art, music, and in-game items, among others. 

Metaverse is a rising profitable technology. While digital currencies have more than 6,000 kinds in circulation, it has 11,197 coins today with a current market value of $43.8 billion. 

#1: The crypto market reached a $3 trillion market cap

The crypto world continues to set new records, with its most significant break to date on November 8, 2021. Its market cap soared to an all-time high of more than $3 trillion. During that time, the leading coins by market cap and coin value are BTC, ETH, Binance Coin (BNB), Tether (USDT), and Solana (SOL), among others.

Sneak peek: Crypto predictions for 2022

Of course, along with crypto highlights are predictions for the upcoming year. Due to growth and continuity, the above-mentioned events are signs of what will go forward in 2022 and beyond. Hopefully, what will remain in this industry are challenges that will be addressed time and again to preserve digital currencies and blockchain technology’s prevalence in the mainstream. So far, here are the four biggest and most promising prospects in 2022. 

1. More crypto-based businesses will go public.
2. Experts believe that 1 BTC will be valued at $1 million. 
3. There will be more new sources of sustainable energy for crypto mining. 
4. The further rise of NFTs and their journey towards becoming the next generation of collectables. 
    

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The importance of the crypto market to the world

The future of global finance is bright because of the crypto industry. No matter how long and thorough they have been discussed and debated among national governments, one can’t diminish the fact that digital currencies are the ideal ‘internet currency’. This is particularly true in a crypto casino. 

The world is more connected than ever before, and digital currencies’ decentralised nature and ever-progressing technology are actually also changing the cultural landscape as we know it. From transformed concepts like ownership to secure online gaming like here at Bitcoin casino Gamdom, you are in for a fun ride in the massive crypto sphere. 

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Words: Antoinette Laraze