Bitcoin’s progress during the year 2021 was one that can be regarded as the “rollercoaster” ride. There were lows and highs, ups and downs and there were bumps and smoothness. However, within this time millions of people joined the crypto industry mostly because of Bitcoin.
It is said that when there is positive news for Bitcoin then the entire digital currency market gains positive momentum. For instance, when Tesla announced that it has initiated a Bitcoin payment system, Bitcoin value skyrocketed. In addition, there were more new people coming into the industry. But when Tesla ceased the Bitcoin payment option, many of them left the industry. Once again when El Salvador made Bitcoin a “Legal Tender”, there were more people joining the industry and embracing Bitcoin.
The year 2021 will always be remembered because it was the year for cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies dominated the headline sections in the newspapers, social media networks as well as TV channels. Within this year also, Bitcoin happened to even break its All-Time High (ATH) record and went past US$ 69,000 in value.
Side by side with Bitcoin was Ethereum, the second biggest crypto coin in the world. The game-changer for Ethereum was its latest upgrade known as “EIP-1559” which literally burned two-hundred Ether coins.
After all this phenomenal growth in the crypto industry, yet the industry is dominated mostly by men. Currently, the digital currency industry has 74% participants from males and 26% participants female. This proves that the disparity between the two is also can be found in the digital currency market.
2021 also saw exponential interest in two additional sectors i.e. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
Currently, the NFT market has been in the limelight and growing across the globe rapidly. More fuel to the NFT market has been provided by Metaverse. Recently, several projects based on Metaverse have sold in-game virtual lands to interested buyers. Approximately US$ 100 Million sales were carried out last week. The Sandbox and Decentraland were the leading Metaverse projects that sold virtual lands at exorbitant prices. However, interested buyers gladly paid the money because they believed that the lands were worth buying.
Metaverse projects have now attracted the attention of financial institutions as well. The banks want to incorporate their business models into the Metaverse because they have seen the potential opportunities of business. It wouldn’t be long now when banks would be lending finance facilities to people interested in buying virtual lands. Even virtual lands could potentially be given to banks as collateral against obtaining finance facilities.
The year has however not ended yet and anything is possible prior to the end. Crypto supporters are keen on witnessing the crypto industry rebounding to great extent. They have too many expectations from Bitcoin and Ethereum as both are the industry leaders presently.
